ANZBMS SecretariatIvone Johnson145 Macquarie StreetSydney, NSW 2000Phone: +61 2 9256 5405Fax: +61 2 9251 8174Email: anzbms@racp.edu.auWebsite: www.anzbms.org.au

Issue 3 . November 2005

i n s i d e t h i s i s s u e

OFFICE BEARERS:Prof. Jill CornishPRESIDENT

Prof. Philip SambrookPRESIDENT ELECT

Assoc. Prof Roger PriceTREASURER

A/Prof David FindlayHONORARY SECRETARY

COUNCIL MEMBERS:Assoc. Prof Rebecca S. MasonProf. Geoff NicholsonDr Peter NashAssoc. Prof Matt Gillespie

Australian & New Zealand Bone & Mineral Society

President’s Report

1 President’s ReportOutgoing President’sReport

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Treasurers Report

DesignMark StevensMarkIT Media

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New Members

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Sponsorship

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T.J. Martin Award

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POC Report

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MASC Report

910

Research Report

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Award & Grant Winners

Dates for the diary

Kia Ora / GiddayThe newly appointed Deanof the Faculty of Medicala n d H e a l t h S c i e n c e s ,U n i v e r s i t y o f A u c k l a n d ,New Zealand, quoted theabove Maori whakatauaki( p r o v e r b ; at right) a t t h ec o m m e n c e m e n t o f h i si n a u g u r a l s p e e c h t o t h eFaculty.

T h i s w h a k a t a u a k i , g i v e nby the first Maori King ina n a d d r e s s i n 1 8 5 8 ,r e f l e c t e d t h e K i n g ’ scommitment to the uni tyo f m u l t i p l e p a t h w a y s ,e s p e c i a l l y p e o p l e a n dcultures. A metaphor thatcan be developed from thisp r o v e r b i s t h a t m a n yd i f f e r e n t c o l o u r s o ft h r e a d s c a n b e w o v e ntogether to form a strongrope (united bond) and Ithink it is fitting to applythis metaphor in re lat ionto our Society. The threadso f t a l e n t w i t h i n o u rSoc ie ty are woven into astrong rope of knowledgef rom our d iverse pool o fe x p e r t s i n t h e b a s i c a n dcl inical bone areas. Also,we have partnerships witha variety of specialty ands u p p o r t g r o u p s ( R A C P ,OA, ONZ, ASMR, DiabetesA u s t r a l i a , E n d o c r i n eSociety and many others).T h e s e g r o u p s r e p r e s e n tadditional threads which Ib e l i e v e w i l l f u r t h e ri n c r e a s e t h e s t r e n g t h o four Soc ie ty . This wouldproduce a united approachto in f luence and educatep o l i c y m a k e r s t o f o r mpolicies that will assist thecommuni ty in aspec ts o fh e a l t h , e d u c a t i o n a n dresearch funding.

My first duty and pleasureas President of the Societyi s t o a c k n o w l e d g e t h et remendous energy , t imeand commitment that Ego

Seeman has put in to theA N Z B M S i n t h e l a s t t w oyears as Pres ident . Ego,w i t h h i s u s u a l f l a i r a n dc o l o u r , h a s a s s i s t e d t h eS o c i e t y i n m a n y w a y sw h i c h h a v e r a i s e d o u rinternational status. Thisi s i l l u s t r a t e d b y t h ee x c e p t i o n a l e f f o r t E g o ,along with the ProgrammeO r g a n i s i n g C o m m i t t e e ,c o n t i n u e s t o p u t i n t oo r g a n i s i n g t h e 2 0 0 6C o m b i n e d A N Z B M S / A s i aP a c i f i c R e g i o n a l I O FM e e t i n g . E g o i s a l s oc o n t i n u i n g t o b ei n s t r u m e n t a l i n r a i s i n gs p o n s o r s h i p f o r t h i si m p o r t a n t A n n u a lScientif ic Meeting.

Another committed, hard-w o r k i n g m e m b e r o f t h eC o u n c i l w h o h a s n o wret i red is Mark Forwood.Mark has mainta ined ther e s p o n s i b i l i t y o f b e i n gT r e a s u r e r o f t h e S o c i e t yf o r m a n y y e a r s a n d h a scompleted his tasks in animpeccable and dedicatedmanner.

Thank you Ego and Mark.

As a Society, we are verylucky to be the umbrel lau n d e r w h i c h v a r i o u scommittees operate. In thelast year, we have seen thei n c e p t i o n a n d g r o w t h o ft h e B o n e D e n s i t o m e t r yT r a i n i n g C o u r s e , w h i c heducates technic ians andp h y s i c i a n s . T h i s h i g h l y

rated course is proving tobe most successful, thanksto the phenomenal amounto f w o r k f r o m t h eD e n s i t o m e t r y C o m m i t t e el e a d b y R o g e r P r i c e a n dNick Pocock.

T h e o t h e r c o m m i t t e e sare:

Medical AffairsCommittee , leadby Geoff Nicholson

Therapeutics Committee ,lead by Philip Sambrook

Sponsorship Committee ,lead by Ego Seeman

RACP Liaison -Michael Hooper

Paediatric Bone GroupSub-Committee -Chris Cowell

Research Sub Committee- David Findlay

OA - Rebecca Mason

ONZ –Jill Cornish

POC - Chair for 2006 isEdith Gardiner

LOC Chairman for 2006is Mark Forwood

Kotahi te kowhao o te ngira

E kuhuna ai

Te miro ma

Te miro pango

Te miro pango

Osteoporosis NZ Report

President ’s Report.... continued

2

outgoing President’s Report

new members

Charitable Status

Council is addressing the possibility thatANZBMS should have a charitable status,which will enable us to receive monies forr e s e a r c h a n d e d u c a t i o n . W e a r ee n d e a v o u r i n g t o d o t h i s w i t h a nA g r e e m e n t o f M e m o r a n d u m o fU n d e r s t a n d i n g w i t h O s t e o p o r o s i sAustralia.

Future Annual Scientific Meetings

As mentioned above, in 2006 there is tobe a special ANZBMS/IOF Meeting, 23 –26 October 2006 at Port Douglas. In 2007a Meeting in Melbourne is being planned,2008 in Queenstown, New Zealand, and in2009 a special ANZBMS/IBMS combinedmeeting in Sydney.

I a m d e l i g h t e d t o t a k e u p t h e r o l e a sPresident of the Society for the next twoyears . As a bas ic sc ient is t and a k iwifemale I am going to enjoy the challengeof keeping male, Australian clinicians incontrol!!! In real i ty, I look forward tokeeping in touch with all members of ourSociety and welcome any correspondence. Jill Cornish.

The overwhelming thought I have as I moveon from being President is just how quicklythese two years has passed. Theoverwhelming fear I have is that not enoughhas been achieved. By the time of the firstmeeting of the new council, 4-6 months havepassed and setting up the chess pieces on theboard is just complete. Then there is themiddle game of ideas, a 12-18 month periodwhere some sense of direction and rhythm isobtained and there is movement of ideas,familiarity and trust emerging in councillorsand just when you think its time to rock androll, it’s the end game, and time to becomecaretaker and buzz off.

A case can be made for a longer term than 2years for the President and Council but whatif they are all duds – how do you get rid ofthem? So, the saving grace is that a goodCouncil see a historical continuity and so theyrecognise that completion of any real task isnot feasible in a two year term. With thatknowledge comes a sense of peace providedthat some things have been initiated.

The council has forged a place for the societyon the global, hemi-global and National levelsand this is important to maintain the growth.I think this will continue as many of thecurrent councillors stay on to provide thiscontinuity. The society has grown, from 64

in 1992 to about 460 now. At out meeting in1992 there were 78 abstracts submitted, andthis number ranged between 23-105 before1998. Since1998 the abstract numbers rangebetween 105 and 194. Our links with the bonebiology community globally have increased.We have organised a range of meetings incollaboration with international societies andforged some links with many. The Coolummeeting brought 440 people together, many ofthe best minds because they came to honourour greatest investigator, T J Martin. Next yearwe have our annual scientific meeting combinewith the Third Asia-Pacific Regional IOFOsteoporosis meeting at which at least half the~26 invited guests are from the Asia-pacificrim and we play host. Discussions areunderway regarding a joint meeting with theIBMS.

Our members are more visible on the worldstage, John Eisman is Editor of JBMR, JudyStenmark i s the new Chai r o f the IOFCommittee of National Societies and IanReid is the President of IBMS. I have thepleasure of assuming Associate Editorshipof Osteoporosis International this month.The bone densitometry course has forgedlinks with the IOF and will offer trainingcourses in the Asian region with our ownfacul ty in co l labora t ion wi th the IOFtraining course.

Dr Gerald AtkinsMrs Azam BaheiraeiMs Rebecca BarnettMrs Mira BellonDr Ashild BjorneremDr Steve BouralexisMs Jenni BoyleDr Malgorzata BrzozowskaMiss Ming ChangMr Kuan-Sheng ChenDr Rong ChenMs Elle ClarkMs Lauren DayMrs Shona EssonMs Sharon GillDr Shyan L GohMr Andrew HattamMs Lauren HodgsonDr Charles InderjeethMrs Lorili JacobsMrs Susan KantorMr Leo KleinDr Grace KongMr Wing Fai LamMiss Zhen LinMs Lay Hoon LohMr Cheng Long LuDr Jarrod MeerkinDr Maree P MungomeryMr Nicholas NguyenDr Andrew PaszkowskiDr Tanya PhillipsMr Christopher SchultzMiss Susan SennMr Jaime SimpsonDr Seeva SivakumaranMrs Suzanne ToddMiss Claire Yi-Tzu WangMs Hayley WilsonMrs Jenny WormaldMs Ruyu YaoMs Cath YoungMs Tara ZammitDr Reza ZarrinkalamMs Huiqiong Zhou

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Do we need to have our toys in the international playground?Yes we do. The links forged are the door to continued scientificgrowth as these links offer opportunity for training of younginvestigators, research opportunities in collaboration with greatminds in the USA and Europe and funding opportunities incollaborative multi-centre trials. We need to be a strong voicein the hemi-global region as opinion leaders and forge strongrelations with our Asian neighbours as the United States ofOceania, the United States of the Asia-Pacific Rim - the newcradle of growth in the world. That’s the importance of nextyear’s meeting and our role as gracious host spoiling out guestsis our first and foremost priority.

The Society has also more visibility nationally. Do we needthis? Yes we do. Again, the clinical problems of metabolicbone disease are managed (and mismanaged) in manyspecialties and the growth in our understanding of thepathogenesis of bone fragility and advances in treatment needto be discussed and taught by us. We meet with the Endocrinesociety this year and have had symposia with two specialistsocieties (Arthritis, Respiratory). There is an opportunity tomeet with the Menopause society in Adelaide next year. Wehave not achieved any union with orthopaedics and this needswork. We need to meet with General Medicine and otherlearned bodies to educate regarding the neglected managementof osteoporosis and to draw young physician/scientists awayfrom them into our field as we need new kids on the block.

We have secured a range of activities that are increasing ourvisibility. Nick Pocock and Roger Price have done a spectacularjob in developing a physician and technician manual. Thedensitometry course is having its second meeting in Sydneythis last weekend in August and the next two are in place forMarch and October. The first two meetings were booked tocapacity, the third is already nearly filled by registrants.

In collaboration with Judy Stenmark, CEO of OsteoporosisAustralia, we have developed Physicians Update that has itssecond meeting in two weeks, the day prior to the ASM in Perth.This is a general education day and covers the importantclinical and practical issues of the epidemiology, pathogenesis,investigation and treatment of osteoporosis. It continues togrow with attendance of about 100 doctors and I am gratefulto Judy for this initiative and believe this is just one of manynew initiatives that will be forthcoming though thecollaboration that is taking place between OA and ANZBMS.

During its term, the Council, building on the work of previouscouncils, has returned on average 50% more to each memberthan the current registration fee. That is for your 80 dollarswe give you 120 dollars, that's not too bad and translated thisyear into 54 travel grants costing 32,000 dollars. At Coolumnet profit was 100,000 dollars. New awards include the threePhD scholarships given last year, the Kay Ibberston award, andsupport for the paediatric meeting, the confocal workshop, anddiscounted journal subscriptions.

We are obtaining charitable status. This is important becausethis opens doors to tax deductible funding from the rich andfamous. We cannot rely just on the support of the PharmaceuticalIndustry and that’s why we have set this up. The work begins forthe next President and council to make this happen. That’s whatI mean by a short time, just to get this mobilized, to get the rightsubcommittee of individuals to work on finding donors is a hugeand difficult task that will take a lot of thought, work andcommitment from councillors and the subcommittee formed to

spear-head this program. I do wish the new council luck in thisendeavour and I believe, if successful, will be a most importantongoing contribution. It deserves a lot of thought and membersof the society who feel they have skills, energy, vision, initiativeand ambition in this sort of work should step forwards.

The Society is young. We started with a small group, and thisbeginning is very much the child of Michael Hooper, the Presidentbefore me and so I would like to thank you Michael for yourinitiative and I hope you feel your child is growing into a brightyoung adult with a future that will contribute to the world ofscience. Your contribution, your initiative is not forgotten.

Life is short and before you know it, we are in the End game. Ileave a little sad as I have enjoyed my time as Presidentenormously for many reasons. I thank Rebecca for her wisdomand wise council, for keeping the reigns tight on me wearing downmy molars with her archetype of the great Mother Teresa andTalmudic scholar. I thank Jill for her strength and support andclarity of thinking, Egyptian Goddess-like decision making, andnever ending reminders of two of the letters in the ANZBMS, I’msure these will loom larger than ever in the next two years and sothey should. I thank Roger for his total devotion to the ANZBMSand his tremendous energy in getting the densitometry coursegoing under more than difficult circumstance. I thank GeoffNicholson for his quick decision making and guidance, PhilSambrook for his many initiatives, and David Findlay for hissupport and practicality, and all for giving me a hard time fromtime to time. I also especially thank Mark Forward for thethankless task of the Treasurer, everything that goes wrong isthe Treasurer’s fault of course and nothing has gone wrong andit’s been nothing but a pleasure to work with him. I would alsolike to thank Edith Gardiner for her hard work during the lastthree years as chair of the program organising committee, it’shard to make everyone happy but you have.

As for you, the members of the society, I was upset anddisappointed that only 130 of 440 members voted at this election.I don’t know why that occurred. I urge you to keep the continuity.There is no loneliness in a mind filled with questions and indialogue with colleagues around the world so just see this is yoursand it’s a privilege so keep it going. Without you we are lost butwithout the society so are you. A mistake I made was to fail tocreate subcommittees involving chairmanships from members.We confined this to councillors and I hope that Jill might considerchanging this. Shyness is probably why several of you did notthrow in your hats for election as councillors even though youdid express an interest to do so.

I would like to thank the members of the Pharmaceutical Industryfor their support. Our working relationships are good, rarely badand never ugly and will continue as our survival is yours. Thedialogue will continue.

Lastly, first amongst equals is Ivone, her energy and quickness isat the heart, is the heart of commitment and the continuity of theSociety. Her selfless ability to just get on and push all of us aroundto get what needs to be done is spectacular and we are lucky tohave you. You make work play and the chores of responsibilityeasy to fulfil. I will miss your hundreds of emails driving mecrazy.

E SeemanOutgoing President

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Chjristine and T. J. Martin researchtravel grant – Kerrie Sanders

ANZBMSgratefullyacknowledges:

SynopsisStudy centre visits:

1. Dr Eugene McCloskey and Prof JohnKanis, Centre for Metabolic Bone Disease(WHO Collaborating Centre)University of Sheffield Medical School,Sheffield, UK

2. Prof Olof Johnell , Department ofOrthopaedics, Malmo General Hospital,Malmo, Sweden

3. Dr A Oden; StatisticianSolberg, Romelanda, Sweden

4. Prof Huibert Pols and Dr AG UitterlindenThe Rotterdam Study Eramus MedicalCentre and University Hospital,Rotterdam The Netherlands

Conference: attendance and presentation1. Tenth National Osteoporosis Society

conference; Harrogate, UK.

ReportThe travel opportunities afforded to me by theChristine and TJ Martin ResearchTravel Granthelped establish valuable collaborative workfor the Geelong Osteoporosis Study and alsogave me a huge morale boost to continue acareer in research. The experience helped meto gain a worldwide perspective on theresearch field of osteoporosis. Through myvisits to several study centres in Europe andthe UK I developed a sense of camaraderie anda united ‘front’ in the battle against fracturesand osteoporosis. The researchers, althoughwell aware of work done in Australia, wereeager to know more. The study centre visitswere as much about promoting osteoporoticresearch in Australia as they were about megaining knowledge and learning from theirexperiences. I hope I was a worthyambassador.

My initial study visit was to the Orthopaedicsdepartment, Malmo General Hospital, Sweden.Professor Olof Johnell is a well-knowncollaborator with many European and UKstudy groups. He is a chief investigator inseveral continuing population-based studiesusing the populations of Malmo (similarpopulation size to Geelong) and Gothenburg.His expertise in the osteoporosis field includesgenetics, epidemiology and cost analysisalthough our discourse highlighted a commoninterest in the epidemiology of diet, cancer andbone. He has published extensively on therelationship between bone mineral density andother predictors of fracture. Along with ProfJohn Kanis, he is an integral team member onthe WHO collaboration to establish aninternational model in the use of clinical riskfactors to enhance the performance of BMD inthe prediction of osteoporotic fractures. Myimpression is that the European osteoporosisresearch groups have more established links

of collaboration than similar Australiangroups. The significance of the findings thatcontinue to emerge from the landmark studiesof the European Vertebral Osteoporosis Studythat later became known as the EuropeanProspective Osteoporosis Study (EVOS/EPOS)suggest that Australian research couldcontribute more globally through jointpublications of our regional studies.

From Malmo it was a three-hour train tripheading northwest to Gothenburg.Accommodation options were limited as myvisit coincided with a medico conference of10,000 registrants! Prior to the visit I hadbeen corresponding via email withDr Helena Johansson, a statistician who worksfor Dr Oden. My command of foreignlanguages is unfortunately abysmal butthankfully Helena’s English was quite good.Our emails regarding the Geelong databasehad included her wish for it to snow while Iwas in Gothenburg. As so often happens, itsnowed before and after my visit but notduring my stay. Nevertheless the beauty ofour location took me aback. Dr Oden is awidely published statistician in privatepractice. He has an ongoing contract with theWHO collaborating group led by Prof JohnKanis. We conducted our work in Prof Oden’shome office. He lives about one hour’s drivefrom the city of Gothenburg. His house is setin a sparsely populated area of Sweden where,during winter the locals ski to the nearbyshops. We sat at his table having hot souplistening to the sound of a small creek flowingoutside his front door. Prof Oden was overlyconcerned that I would not add to the fracturestatistics by slipping on his wet front lawn.They keep ski poles by the garage to assist thewalk from the drive to the door. Despite thedisparities of our work environments we hada lot in common. Prof Oden has worked on avast array of clinical research projects and isextremely competent in identifying theobjectives and the possible clinicalconfounders affecting statistical analysis.

The next stop on my travel agenda was theNational Osteoporosis Society conference inHarrogate (near Leeds) in the UK. There I metwith Prof John Kanis and was introduced toDr Eugene McCloskey from the University ofSheffield’s Centre for Metabolic BoneDiseases. During his keynote presentationJohn Kanis stirred up the audience with aflippant dismissal of the relationship betweenfalls and fractures. He appeared to be usingEgo’s tactics to stimulant the audience into aheated discussion. It worked! The NOSconference was quite different to ASBMRmeetings I have attended. The ‘national’ statusof the Harrogate NOS conference meant therewere few international attendees. While this

Major Annual ScientificMeeting Sponsors

Eli Lilly

Merck Sharp & Dohme

Roche Products

Sanofi Aventis

Servier Laboratories

Other Annual ScientificMeeting Sponsors

ANZBMS AwardSponsors

Merck Sharp & Dohme -Christine andT Jack Martin ResearchTravel Grant

Inderlec Medical Systems

InSight

Key Pharmaceuticals

Medtel

Novartis

Surgical SynergiesThomson ScientificInstruments

ANZBMS CorporateSponsors

Major

Servier Laboratories

Minor

Amgen

Kerri Sanders

limited the range of presentations it facilitated a very friendlyand relaxed interaction between presenters and the audience.The program was well planned with mid afternoon “wake meup” sessions consisting of panel debates conducted along thelines of a Geoffrey Robertson ‘Hypotheticals’ television debate.New findings on metabolic bone research were cleverlyportrayed as quiz questions based around a set of disparatephotos of celebrities, the royal family and a spineless lizard ina “spot the difference” competition. Prof Michael Holick’spresentation on Vitamin D although stopping short of the mostrecent study findings, was a highly entertaining summary ofthe clinical history of vitamin D leading up to its present daystatus as a potentially important modifiable risk factor. Mypresentation on the “Anti-fracture treatment of nursing homeand hostel residents is cost-effective” was well received andwon a PAM award. Thanks to Servier for their generoussponsorship of this award. Prof Cyrus Cooper, as the incomingPresident of the NOS, was particularly welcoming of myrepresentation of the ANZBMS and immediately offered to hosta visit to his MRC Epidemiology Resource Centre inSouthampton.

This year I have commenced a postgraduate course in healtheconomics. While I had been considering this for some timethe decision was made after attending a workshop at theHarrogate conference entitled ‘Health Economics versusclinical practice: did NICE get it right? (NICE = NationalInstitute for Clinical Excellence). With health economists onone side and clinicians on the other, a rather heated discustssion evolved. The health economist obviously had extensiveexperience in health economics and prescription benefitschemes but had only received a crash course in clinicalpractice of osteoporotic patients. The professionals arguingfor a change in the eligibility criteria for antiresorptive therapyhad a wealth of experience in clinical practice and boneresearch but the decision for NICE regulations ultimately laywith the economist. While clinician’s discussion aroundclinical practice issues was well informed, members of theaudience offered little insight into the economic problem ofmaximising the marginal benefit of each and every dollarpotentially spent on osteoporotic therapy. The need to balancehealth economic issues with clinical practice is relevant to mostageing populations including Australia. The ability to be ableto speak both ‘languages’ would seem like a big advantage!

From the very pretty surroundings of Harrogate it was a fairlyshort train journey to Dr Eugene McCloskey’s department inSheffield. The department has many ongoing studies onarthritis and osteoporosis. In a unique study the Sheffieldgroup have a randomly selected cohort of 5,600 women aged70+ years who were initially assessed for skeletal statusbetween 1993 and 1999. The women were randomly allocatedto treatment with placebo or the bisphosphonate Clodronate.Femoral neck BMD was measured in over 2,150 participants.The study had two buses that collected these older women eachmorning between 7.30 and 8.30am. After the obligatory cupof tea upon arrival, the women were assessed using a varietyof tests including postural sway, falls frequency, heelultrasound, Hologic BMD and questionnaires. The womenwere driven home by 3pm but were not informed as to whatdisease/disorder was being investigated. The investigatorsfound the common bias in participation weighted towards themore healthy women with the prospective fracture rate only50% of the expected rate. Importantly the women wereassessed for baseline vertebral fractures and prospectivelyfollowed. Dr McCloskey’s group have subsequently publishedwidely on the epidemiology of vertebral fractures from thisvaluable dataset.

My final study visit was to the Rotterdam Study group locatedwithin the Erasmus Medical Centre and Erasmus UniversityRotterdam. There I met with Prof Hubert Pols, Head ofDepartment; Dr Uitterlinden who specialises in bone geneticsand Dr Rivadeneira Ramirez, a medical practitioner fromColumbia who had recently completed his PhD on geneticsepidemiology of osteoporosis. Within the Erasmus MedicalCentre there are several large studies investigating a variety ofchronic diseases including osteoporosis, ocular maculardegeneration and coronary heart disease. The Rotterdam Studycommenced in 1990 and is an ongoing prospective cohort studythat aims to examine and follow up all residents aged 55+ yearsliving in Ommoord, a district of Rotterdam. Medical eventsincluding fractures are ascertained through an automatic linkwith general practitioner computer systems, hospital admissiondata and centralised pharmacy data. With a 78% response rate,there are almost 8,000 residents involved in the study. Initiallyall participants were visited at home (8,000!) for signing theconsent and completion of the study questionnaire. This wasfollowed by two half-day study visits to the hospital thatincluded pathology and hip BMD. The Erasmus RucphenFamily (ERF) Study is a separate study that is part of the GRIPprogram – Genetic Research in Isolated Populations. Over2,500 people have been invited to participate. These peopleare all descendants of Catholic families living within eightadjacent villages in The Netherlands who were baptised in thecommunity church between 1890 and 1900. Phenotyping onthis group of participants begun in mid 2002 and will becompleted this year. The ERF study visit included multi-siteDEXA scans, anthropometrics, muscle strength, physicalactivity estimates and medication use. The third initiativemulti-disease study in Rotterdam is a longitudinal studyinvolving 10,000 invitees. All pregnant women residing withina study region are invited to participate at 20 weeks gestation.Initial tests at this stage include ultrasound, pathology andquestionnaire data. It is anticipated that these infants will befollowed throughout their entire lives from ‘in utero’ to death.Bone parameters are measured neonatally and will be repeatedat a specific time periods during their life. In conjunction withDNA profiles and phenotyping these assessments will berelated to bone status and fracture risk later in life.

It is difficult to fully convey the huge advantage I gained fromvisiting these groups ‘on site’. Although there is no disputingthe value of conferences, the opportunity of discussing workwithout the time constraints of a conference programme, toobserve other facilities and equipment, to meet other staff inthe department and to observe the day-to-day procedure of eachresearch project, is an invaluable opportunity that I am surewill reap many benefits in the future. In the short term thedirect results of this trip include a collaborative manuscriptcurrently in draft form, the PAM award from NOS and myhealth economics study. I am extremely grateful to Merck,Sharpe and Dohme for the sponsorship of this travel award.Prof Jack Martin is a medical scientist that I hold in huge regardand so feel especially privileged to be the 2004 recipient of theChristine and TJ Martin Research Travel Grant. My sincerethanks are also extended to the ANZBMS committee whocontinue to offer such fantastic opportunities to boneresearchers from Australia and New Zealand.

I hope that this report adequately conveys theimmense professional satisfaction and personalgrowth I gained from this travel opportunity.

5

Kerrie Sanders

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Program Organising CommitteeReport 2005

The 15th ANZBMS Annual Scientific Meetingis being held at the Burswood Resort, Perth,7-9 September 2005. The scientific programconsists of 19 invited presentations, 48 freeoral presentations from abstracts and 97poster presentations. Three of the ninesessions consist of concurrent clinical andbasic presentations. The 222 registrants are135 full members, 70 student members, 8non-members and 9 day registrants.

We are very grateful to our internationalguests Professor Raj Thakker, ProfessorBrendan Boyce, and Professor RichardEaste l l , for t ravel l ing the long way toAustralia and for participating in the meetingin multiple ways. The excellence of theircontr ibut ions has added great ly to thescientific standard of the meeting as well asto its breadth of interest and educationalvalue.

A feature of the 2005 meeting is the sharedmorning session on 7 September with theEndocrine Society of Australia at the PerthConvent ion Centre, and the sharedafternoon sess ion on the same day atBurswood. The adjoining of the ANZBMSand ESA meet ing schedules sought toenhance interaction between practitioners inbone and the other endocrine specialties.The integrated nature of endocr inephysiology makes this a pract ica limperative.

The ANZBMS/ Osteoporosis Austra l iaClinical Update Day preceded this year’sASM. This important event, attended by 118registrants, reinforces the clinical dimensionof the ASM and we are very grateful to JudithStenmark of OA for her efforts in organisingthe day and to Merck Sharp & Dohme, SanofiAvent is & Wyeth for their generoussponsorship of the event.

The success of the ASM is, of course, due tothe generous support of our major sponsorsMerck Sharpe & Dohme, Roche Products,Sanofi Aventis, Servier Laboratories, and EliLilly, as well as Osteoporosis Australia andour exhibitors. Each has contributed invarious ways to enable us to assemble a highquality and successful meeting, includingthe luncht ime educat ional symposiasponsored by Servier and Sanofi Aventis.

F inal ly , I thank the Local Organis ingCommittee, chaired by Kathy Briffa, for theirpersistent focus on delivering a pleasant andefficient meeting, and the organisationalteam at Conference Action, particularlyEmma Waygood, for their profess ionalapproach. It has been a pleasure to workwith them in the planning and execution ofthis meeting. I also thank Ego Seeman andmy fe l low members of the ProgrammeOrganis ing Committee for theircontributions and wisdom.

Edith Gardiner

MEDICAL AFFAIRS AND SCIENTIFICCOMMITTEE (MASC)

Position statements

“Vitamin D and adult bone health inAustralia and New Zealand: a positionstatement. Working group of the Australianand New Zealand Bone and Mineral Society,Endocrine Society of Australia andOsteoporosis Australia” was published in theMedical Journal of Australia in March (MJA2005; 182:281-285). The working groupmembers were Terry Diamond, John Eisman,Rebecca Mason, Caryl Nowson, Julie Pasco(Chair), Philip Sambrook and John Wark.Many thanks to these members who workedtirelessly and cohesively to produce thisexcellent document.

Position statements on the following topicsremain in preparation: Calcium (Chair KerrieSanders); Ultrasound (Nic Pocock); Paget’sDisease (Michael Hooper); Bone Markers(Peter Ebeling); Anabolic therapies (PeterNash); Osteoporosis Management (EgoSeeman). Clearly, it is not practical to havemore than 1 or 2 of these published inAustralia each year. Members interested incontributing should contact the relevant Chair.

SubscriptionFees

At the AGM in Perthmembers passsed a motionthat the ANZBMSsubscription fees beincreased in 2006.

The new fees(excluding GST) will be:

Full member$100.00;

Overseas Full member$100.00;

Student member$35.00;

Overseas student member$35.00;

Retired member$30.00.

Three, one-year postgraduate scholarships were awarded for2005. At this time, it is likely that no more scholarships willbe awarded until the financial status of the Society improves.Efforts are underway to obtain sponsorship.

PBS subsidy for drug treatment in individuals with lowBMD without fracture.

Members of MASC have participated in a second meetingwith the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee(PBAC). Problems still exist in defining the group(s) wheretreatment is cost-effective. Another obstacle is equitableaccess to DEXA scans for individuals without fracture. Aseparate Commonwealth committee (the Medical ServicesAdvisory Committee, MSAC) is responsible for Medicarebenefits for DEXA scans and neither PBAC nor MSAC seemable to move forward alone. The recently formed ANZBMSTherapeutics Committee (Chaired by Philip Sambrook) willnow be responsible for this issue.

ANZBMS Postgraduate ResearchScholarships

Vitamin D and Calcium Forum, Melbourne 28-29 July 2005

The forum, chaired by John Eisman and Peter Ebeling was ajoint endeavour of the Commonwealth Dept of Health andAged Care, Osteoporosis Australia and ANZBMS. Eighteenspeakers comprehensively reviewed the evidence and issuesrelated to vitamin D and calcium. The forum formulatedrecommendations that will be written-up by the Chairs andshould be available to members shortly.

Geoff Nicholson

ANZBMS Research Committee Report, 2005

The Research Committee seeks to progress Bone and Mineralresearch, both basic and clinical. The treasurer’s report listssome of the numerous practical ways, in which the Societyassists its members in research endeavour. These includethe award of the Christine and T Jack Martin Research TravelGrant, Outstanding Abstract awards at the ASM, The RogerMellick and Chris and Margie Nordin Young Investigatorawards, PhD scholarships and the Kaye Ibbertson Award forMetabolic Bone Disease. The outcomes of member researchbeing conducted in Australia and New Zealand are evident,with numerous high quality bone-related publications(see, for example, a recent publ icat ion l i s t : ht tp ://www.anzbms.org.au/news/ANZBMSnews_Apr05.pdf).

This productivity is no doubt at least partly due to theincreased research funds available in recent years, but thisperiod of increase may now have reached a plateau. To quotefrom the July Newsletter of the ASMR, “As you would beaware, the Howard Government’s doubling of the NHMRCbudget between 2000 and 2005 in response to the WillsReview is now complete. The Investment (Grant) Review ofHealth and Medical Research released in December of 2004has validated the Government’s investment, reporting apositive return in both health and economic terms. The Grantreview calls for further substantial investment, which willbring Australian spending up to the current OECD averageon a %GDP basis. The Federal Government is currentlyconsidering these recommendations.”

It is incumbent on all of us to support the lobbying ofgovernment to further increase its investment in health andmedical research in general, and in bone-related researchin particular. This will primarily take the form of writing toour Federal Members of Parliament. It is also important to

support the work of ASMR to highlight the necessity forcontinued high level funding and patient advocacy groups,such as Osteoporosis Australia, to draw attention to theimpact of bone and joint disease.

I would also like to suggest that we make better use of thefunds avai lable by seeking synergies with otherinvestigators, both within the bone field and in otherdisciplines, and on our own campuses and beyond. I amconvinced that new understandings and better approachesto patient care will emerge from an expanded view ofbiomedical research. I congratulate you all on an excellentyear and encourage you to ‘power on’ into 2006.

David Findlay

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ANZBMS 2005 Awardand Grant winners

R o g e r M e l i c k Y o u n g I n v e s t i g a t o r A w a r dThe Roger Mel ick Young Invest igator Awardwas presented to James Doecke who presenteddata on “Differential activity of human RUNX2P2 promoter al leles associated with an al lele-specif ic DNA-protein interact ion”

Christopher and Margie NordinPoster Award

Christine and TJ Martin Research Travel GrantThe Chr is t ine and T J Mart in Research TravelGrant, sponsored by Merck, Sharp and Dohme,w a s a w a r d e d t o S u s a n A l l i s o n f r o m T h eGarvan Institute of Medical Research.

James Doecke and Ego Seeman

Mark Bolland and Christopher Nordin

Jack Martin and Susan Allison

Julian Quinn, Ego Seeman and Markus Seibel

Roger Zebaze and Kaye Ibbertson

Congratulations toANZBMS MemberDr Jiake Xu who haswon the 2005 CareerEnhancement Awardfrom ASBMR

The ASBMR CareerEnhancement Awardsprogram was developedto foster the academicpotential and careers ofclinical, basic andtranslational scientists inthe bone and mineralfield. We hope this grantwill facilitate acquisitionof skills and knowledgenot otherwise availableto you, and we lookforward to learning aboutthe results of yourresearch efforts.

Dr. Xu is a SeniorLecturer at the School ofSurgery and Pathology atthe University of WesternAustralia. Dr. Xu is toacquire new skills intwo major areas: 1) anovel system for long-term gene silencing usingretroviral and/orlentiviral vectors, and 2)to gain knowledge andinformation on thegeneration of knockoutand transgenic mousemodels to study the invivo role of tctex-1 inosteoclast function. Thementor, Dr. PatrickRoss, is a Professor ofPathology andImmunology atWashington UniversitySchool of Medicine.

2005 CareerEnhancementAward

Ming Zheng accepting for Catherine Wang

Christopher and Margie Nordin Poster Awardswere presented to Mark Bolland whose posterwas t i t l ed “HIV in fec t ion i s no t a ssoc ia tedwith reduced bone density in Caucasian men”and Catherine Wang whose poster was t i t led“ T r u n c a t i o n m u t a n t s o f R A N K L i n h i b i tRANKL-induced osteoclast differentiation andact ivat ion”

Outstanding Abstract AwardOutstanding abstract awards were presentedt o M a r k u s S e i b e l , w h o p r e s e n t e d d a t a o n“High bone turnover predicts mortal i ty in thefrai l elderly : A prospective cohort study” andJul ian Quinn, who presented data on “IL-11and I l -6 s t imulat ion of osteoclast format iond e p e n d s o n S T A T - b u t n o t E R K - m e d i a t e dpathways in osteoblasts”.

Kaye Ibbertson AwardThe Kaye Ibbertson Award was presented toRoger Zebaze from Austin Health, Victoria.

Treasurer’s Report 2004-2005

If this low level of Corporate sponsorship continues, it islikely that the Society will experience deficit budgets in thefuture. This will occur as our liabilities are realised, unlesswe can convince industry of the value of our Society to theiractivities (even during periods of market pressure) and alsogenerate alternative sources of income as discussed in thePresident’s report. Although profit is not an objective of ourmeetings, the ASM has become an important contributor tothe Society’s income. These have returned a surplus for thepast 5 years as indicated: 2000 ASM - $100,000; 2001 ASM -$24,556; 2002 ASM - $40,609; 2003 ASM - $77,928; 2004 ASM- $25,341.

The last increase in subscriptions for full members wascarried at the AGM in 1999. Council agrees that i t isreasonable to increase fees for 2006 and proposes thefollowing motion to members:

MOTION. Council proposes that subscription fees (excludingGST) be increased in 2006 according to the followingrecommendations: Full member $100.00; Overseas Fullmember $100.00; Student member $35.00; Overseas studentmember $35.00; Retired member $30.00.

Finally, this is my last report as Honorary Treasurer. It hasbeen an honour to serve with the numerous Councillors andfour President’s over the past eight years. Once again I mustre inforce that dai ly maintenance of our accounts ,management of GST responsibilities and Company detailsare undertaken by Ivone Johnson, with assistance by MelissaDupavillon. We are fortunate to have Ivone who reduces theburden of bookkeeping from ANZBMS Treasurers. I cannotthank Ivone enough for her work with ANZBMS and hopethat she continues to serve the next Council with the samecare and enthusiasm.

paediatric committee report

Dr Mark R. ForwoodHonorary Treasurer

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Vitamin D DeficiencyIn March, the ANZBMS publ ished in the MJA theircomprehensive report on vitamin D deficiency in adults inAustralia and New Zealand. The paediatric sub-committeeis drafting a similar publication to address the health issuesof vitamin D deficiency in infants, children and theirmothers. This is a significant issue with a rapidly increasingprevalence of clinical nutritional rickets being seen in thecapital cities as a consequence of the current refugee intakefrom Africa. The draft has been circulated to the individualsof the writing group and hopefully should be submitted forpublication in November 2005.

To ascertain the incidence of nutritional rickets in Australia,Dr Craig Munns with co-investigators in all states hasdeveloped a protocol for reporting children and infants withclinical rickets to the Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unitover a 2 year period. It is hoped that the New ZealandPaediatric Surveillance Unit will collect similar data over the

same time period. The collection of these data will be mostuseful in trying to address the public health issues ofnutritional rickets in children in Australasia.

Paediatric Bone Symposium 2006

The Paediatric Bone Symposium held in 2004 just prior tothe ANZBMS ASM in the Hunter Valley was a very usefulinteractive forum and enjoyable meeting. A similar meetingis planned to be held in association with the ANZBMS ASMin October 2006. A key international speaker will be invitedto the meeting which provisionally will be held in Brisbanewith Professor Jenny Batch as convenor. More informationwill be available about the meeting in early 2006. Profitsfrom the 2004 Paediatric symposium will be used to helpfund the 2006 meeting.

Chris Cowell

The Society remained in a sound financial state during 2004-2005, achieving a surplus of $13,053, and with growth in itscapital as indicated by the accumulated funds of over$500,000. This is a result of the continued growth inmembership, surpluses from the ASM, other meeting incomeand support from our industry partners.

The moderate surplus represents the philosophy of thesociety to support members to achieve their educational,clinical and scientific goals. We use resources to provide ahigh level of education to members and support of research,and clinical education. The financial support we provide tomembers includes travel grants to attend the ASM, theChris t ine and T Jack Mart in Research Travel Grant ,Outstanding abstract awards at the ASM, The Roger Mellickand Chris and Margie Nordin Young Investigator awards,financial support for life members to attend the ASM, and aPhD scholarship. In 2005 we have also initiated the ANZBMSKaye Ibbertson Award for Metabolic Bone Disease. We haveabout 300 financial members (470 members in total), someof whom are student members. Full members pay $80.00p.a. Based on 470 members, average returns to members(excluding the PhD scholarship) suggest we pay back$120.00 per member. The ANZBMS is generous insupporting all aspects of bone and mineral metabolism.

For this level of support to be sustainable, the income tothe Society needs to be higher. Until recently, our corporatepartners were major supporters of the Society ’sadministration. In the last year, we are grateful that ourindustry partners have continued to support the ASMgenerously with symposia and exhibition space. Despiteextensive discussions with industry as a group andindependently, annual corporate sponsorship of the Societyper se has dropped markedly in 2004-2005 to $12,500. Thishas resulted from increasing market pressure on someindustry partners, reluctance to commit beyond fundingperiods of 12-months, and issues of scientific independencethat Council applied to some formal sponsorship packages.

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Osteoporosis New ZealandReport

The last 18 months have seen manychanges, one of the most significant beingThe Hon. Margaret Austin stepping downfrom her role as Chair in early 2004. Wesaid farewell to Margaret at the 2004 ‘YouDeserve a Medal’ Award ceremony held atParliament in September last year, whereProf Ian Reid warmly congratulatedMargaret on the major contribution she haspersonally made to improving the health ofNew Zealanders.

Mrs Claire Mackintosh was appointed to therole of Chair with the unanimous supportof the Board. Claire has a background inPublic Relations and Fundraising and isDevelopment Director at Rangi Ruru Girls’School in Christchurch.

2004

World Osteoporosis Day was celebrated ina number of ways with a press release thatgained national coverage quoting Dr PeterSnell (famous NZ runner), who aided ourendorsement and support of theInternat ional Osteoporosis Foundat iontheme-Osteoporosis and Men.

We were proud to announce theappointment of our Bone Ambassadors –Georgina and Caroline Evers-Swindell –Olympic Gold medal rowers, who werethrilled to take on the role of promotingbeautiful bones to young women. The girlsare committed to encouraging their peers tolead active healthy lifestyles to preventosteoporosis.

F inal ly we had the pr iv i lege of beingappointed the charity aligned with the 2004Air New Zealand Fashion Week – at whichour newly appointment Bone Ambassadorsspoke, emphasising the importance of ahealthy lifestyle.

2005

The third National Osteoporosis – DEXAMeet ing was held in May withrepresentatives from nearly every bonedensi tometry service in the countryattending, together with over 30 physicians.This meeting was supported by ANZBMSwith Dr Nick Pocock attending as a bonedensitometry expert from Sydney. Theevent was sponsored by Merck Sharp andDohme NZ Ltd with an unlimited educationgrant; enabling us to continue to keep costsof attendance to minimum to enabling asmany people as possible to attend. Themeeting included a political forum, attended

by the f ive main pol i t ica l par t ies , a l lsupporting our endeavours to reduce theeffects of osteoporosis on New Zealanders.The Hon Ruth Dyson opened the meeting aswell as participating in the forum, at whichattendees were able to question both thepoliticians and also PHARMAC.

We have been working with a number of newsponsors and partners in 2005, withHealtheries of NZ Ltd joining Merck Sharp andDohme NZ Ltd as a principal sponsor. ACC,PHARMAC, SPARC and Mainland Products Ltd(Calcitrim brand) join us as supporters of the‘You Deserve a Medal’ Awards and we havereceived considerable pro bono support fromPead PR and Dashwood Design of Auckland.SHE Magazine also support our cause, and forthe second year wil l be running a majorfeature article on osteoporosis to support ourAwareness Week in October.

The restrictive access criteria for alendronateare currently under review by PHARMAC,something we have strived for over the lasts ix years . We welcome this review andsupport their proposed changes fully. Successwill mean that our focus moves to improvingaccess to bone density scans and lobbying foralternate treatments to bisphosphonates beingmade available.

. . . . . so it has been another action packedyear with the promise of more to come!

OsteoporosisAustralialiaison

The relationshipbetween OA andANZBMS continues tobe very positive, withmutually beneficialoutcomes. Apart fromraising awareness ofosteoporosis with thepublic andgovernment, OA nowfunds several PhDscholarships andresearch fellowships.Most of the recipientsare ANZBMSmembers. This year,OA and ANZBMS havemade a number ofcoordinatedsubmissions to thePharmaceuticalBenefits AdvisoryCommittee andMedical ServicesAdvisory Committee.A recent, government-sponsored, joint OAand ANZBMS forumon Calcium andVitamin D was highlysuccessful and willresult in brochures forgeneral practitionersand the public. Jointposition statementshave been published,including one onvitamin D, which wasalso coordinated withthe Cancer Councils ofAustralia. A jointposition statement onCalcium is soon to besubmitted forpublication. Clinicalupdate days, underthe OA and ANZBMSbanners, have beenorganized.

Rebecca Mason

ANZBMS is a professional medical / scientific societyestablished in 1989 to bring together clinical and experimentalscientists and physicians actively involved in the study of boneand mineral metabolism in Australia and New Zealand.

Dates for the Diary

20062006200620062006

18-22 March 2006Frontiers of Skeletal BiologyEleventh Workshop on CellBiology of bone andCartilage DiseaseDavos, SwitzerlandWebsite: www.ibmsonline.org/cellbiology.htm

29-31 March 20065th Meeting of the Hip Sectionof the Asia Pacific OrthopaedicAssociation (Hip APOA-06)Adelaide, SAWebsite:www.hipapoa06.org.au

8-12 April, 2006Lotus Ponds BuildingYunan ConferenceResort,Kunming,ChinaWebsite: http://www.chinaosteofound.org/en

8-9th April 2006ANZBMS Clinical DensitometryCourse MelbourneContact: Ivone JohnsonEmail: anzbms@racp.edu.auWebsite: http:/anzbms.org.au/densitometryCourse/index.htm

22-24 May 2006The 10th Conference of theInternational Society forFracture Repair (ISFR)Adelaide, SAWebsite: www.isfr06.org.au

2-6 June, 2006IOF World Congress onOsteoporosis Toronto, CanadaWebsite: www.osteofound.org/wco/2006

24-27 June 2006ENDO 2006Boston Convention & ExhibitCenterWebsite: www.endosociety.org

19-20th August 2006ESA Clinical WeekendRoyal Pines Resort, Gold CoastContact: ASN EventsWebsite: http://www.esaclinicalweekend.org.au/

20-23rd August 2006ESA/SRB Annual ScientificMeetingGold Coast Convention CentreContact: ASN EventsWebsite: http://

www.esasrb.org.au/

23-25th August 2006ADS/ADEA Annual ScientificMeetingGold Coast Convention CentreContact: ASN EventsWebsite:http://www.ads-adea.org.au/

15-19 September 2006Annual Meeting, AmericanSociety for Bone and MineralResearchPhiladelphia ConventionCenterPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania,USAPhone: (202) 367-1161Fax: (202) 367-2161E-mail:asbmr@smithbucklin.com

20-22 September 2006Australasian PaediatricEndocrine Group AnnualScientific MeetingHotel Grand Chancellor,Hobart, TasmaniaWebsite:www.willorganise.com.au/apeg06

22-26th October 2006Combined Third IOF Asia-Pacific Regional Conference onOsteoporosis and 16th Annual

Scientific Meeting of theAustralian and New ZealandBone and Mineral SocietySheraton Mirage, Port Douglas,QueenslandContact: Ms Ivone JohnsonEmail: anzbms@racp.edu.auWebsite: www.anzbms.org.au

10-14 December 2006Cancer and Bone society’s(CABS) International Meetingon Cancer Induced BoneDiseaseSan Antonio, Texas, USAWebsite: www.ibmsonline.org/cabs06.htm

20072007200720072007

24-29 June 2007IBMS 17th Scientific MeetingMontreal, PQ, CanadaEmail: ibms@dc.sba.com

16-20 September 2007ASBMR 29th Annual ScientificMeetingHonolulu, Hawaii, USAEmail:asbmr@smithbucklin.com

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The 3rd IOF Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Osteoporosis&

The 16th Annual Meeting of theAustralian and New Zealand Bone and Mineral Society

Monday 23 October – Thursday 26 October 2006Sheraton Mirage Resort, Port Douglas, Queensland, Australia

Conference SecretariatIvone Johnson

ANZ Bone & Mineral Society

145 Macquarie Street

SYDNEY NSW 2000

Australia

Phone: +61 2 9256 5405

Fax: +61 2 9251 8174

anzbms@racp.edu.au

Meeting ManagerJenny Blanchard

Phone/Fax: +61 8 8388 6164

jennyb@senet.com.au

ConvenerProfessor Ego Seeman

Phone: +61 3 9496 5489

egos@unimelb.edu.au

ANZBMS Membershipwww.anzbms.org.au

Key Dates1 June 2006Deadline for submission of

abstracts, early-bird registrations

and hotel reservations

1 August 2006last possible date of

acceptance of abstract

Invited Plenary LecturesEpidemiology and GeneticsGoodbye T and Z, hello Absolute risk on the Y-axisEpidemiology of Fractures – Known and UnknownGenetics – What are the Questions, how to answer themGenetics – What are the AnswersCentral Control of Bone Material and StructurePathogenesis Modelling and RemodellingWhy do Bones Break – the Material and Structural Basisof Bone StrengthPathogenesis of Bone fragility – Racial and Sex DifferencesPathogenesis and Prevention of ArthritisGrowth Related Origins of Bone DiseaseCellular Symphony of OsteoclastogenesisOsteoblast to Osteoclast, a Two Way TicketImmune Mechanisms in OsteoclastogenesisNuclear Receptor Targets in Bone Mesenchymal/Haemopoietic Interactions in OsteoclastogenesisMechanical stress-induced AP-1 and Smad signalling forosteoblastic differentiationTherapeuticsNew Drugs, New Mechanisms (Strontium Ranelate,AMG 162, Vit K)Anabolic Agents – Approaches to The Holy Grail for BoneFuture of new Vitamin D analogs

Other TopicsCorticosteroids and Bone – Mechanisms, TreatmentMultiple MyelomaCancer and Bone - a New Frontier in Drug Discoveryin OncologyGrowth – Choosing the Right ParentsFGF 23 PhosphatoninSignaling for Cartilage Differentiation

Plenary orals - 72 orals chosen from abstract submissionsPoster sessions - daily, posters mounted throughout the meetingIndustry sponsored symposia - 5 x 2 hour slotsExpert Committee Working discussion groupsInter and intracellular signallingBone Quality - what is it, can it be measured and applied clinicallyTreatment - why, who, when, what drug, how long? - Thursday

Weekend priorDensitometry training course for Technicians and PhysiciansIOF MeetingPaediatric satellite meeting

w w w . a n z b m s . o r g . a u