Joan A. McGowan, Ph.D.
Dr. McGowan is the Director of the Musculoskeletal Diseases
Branch at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal
and Skin Diseases, leading a program of research on
orthopaedics, osteoarthritis, bioengineering, basic skeletal
biology, osteoporosis and related bone diseases. Before joining
NIH, Dr. McGowan was a faculty member at the Harvard
Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. She
received training at Cornell University (Master in Nutritional
Science) and Brown University (Ph.D. in Biomedical Science).
Dr. McGowan has been very active in osteoporosis and
women's health activities at NIH including serving as a Project
Officer in the Women's Health Initiative, a clinical trial and
observational study that has recruited over 160,000
postmenopausal women. The study is designed to test
promising interventions in cardiovascular disease, breast and
colon cancer andosteoporosis. The study involves 40 clinical
centers all over the country including the three centers focusing
on osteoporosis.
Dr. McGowan served as a member of the Advisory Board of the Canadian Institute of
Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis (2001 –2004) and serves on the Editorial Board of the
journal Aging: Clinical and Experimental Research.
Dr. McGowan chairs the Federal Working Group on Bone Diseases whose members represent all
of the U.S. federal agencies with activities in osteoporosis and related bone diseases. This group
serves to develop and foster collaborative activities among the government agencies in bone
diseases. She was the NIH organizer of a Consensus Development Conference on Optimal
Calcium Intake in 1994 and one on Osteoporosis held in March, 2000. She served as the Senior
Scientific Editor of Bone Health and Osteoporosis: A Report of the Surgeon General published in
October 2004.