Laura Calvi Installed as Endowed Professor
Laura Calvi, MD, has been named the SKAWA Foundation Professor in Endocrinology and Metabolism, to advance her research in bone biology and cancer.
Calvi currently serves as a tenured professor with appointments in Medicine, Pharmacology & Physiology, & Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. She also holds the position of vice chair for Basic & Translational Science in the department of Medicine. She is an active member of the Center for Musculoskeletal Research, where she serves as associate director of the University of Rochester Resource-based Center for Bone Muscle and Orthopaedic Research and as co-principal investigator of the Training Grant in Musculoskeletal Research.
The endowed professorship was established by UR School of Medicine alum Steven Grinspoon, MD, and his wife, Winifred Sandler Grinspoon, through their family foundation. The foundation supports their philanthropic interests. At the University of Rochester, this focuses on faculty research, the medical student experience, and the humanistic approach that guides medical education and clinical care. A professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, Steven Grinspoon, MD, is the chief of the Metabolism unit at Massachusetts General Hospital, and Winifred Sandler Grinspoon runs a philanthropic organization.
Calvi was selected for this professorship in part due to her international recognition as a researcher in the tumor micro-environment. Her interests include studying the interactions between the cell and tissue that take place between the bone marrow microenvironment and blood stem cells, where cancer arises. Targeting the tumor microenvironment is an emerging way of effectively treating cancers, and many of her basic science discoveries are now being tested in human disease. At the Wilmot Cancer Institute, Calvi is a co-leader of the Cancer Microenvironment Research Program. A national leader as well, Calvi was recently named president-elect of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
In addition to her research, Calvi is a renowned educator and mentor. She previously served as the director of the Endocrinology Fellowship Program, and currently serves as the co-director of the Rochester Musculoskeletal Training Program. Students and trainees at all levels have benefited from her mentorship.
Chair of Medicine Ruth O’Regan, MD, is excited to share this great news. “Laura is a natural choice for this honor, and the department offers our enthusiastic congratulations for her remarkable achievements and this well-deserved recognition. I also want to express my gratitude to Steve and Winnie Grinspoon for their generosity.”
