Dr. Roland Baron

Biography

Roland Baron is a Professor at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine with a focus on Oral Medicine, Infection, and Immunity. His research interests center around the molecular and cellular genetic basis of cell function and the differentiation and crosstalk within bone development, homeostasis, disease, and repair. He explores dynamic tissue interactions among cells in the bone, bone marrow, muscle, and tendons. Baron is particularly interested in the identification and characterization of genes that regulate bone development and homeostasis, with an emphasis on molecular signaling pathways such as parathyroid hormone signaling and WNT signaling mechanisms. His lab studies bone fragility diseases due to bone loss, as well as conditions with abnormally high bone mass. He has a major interest in elucidating mechanisms involved in rare skeletal diseases that can lead to bone loss and deformities in childhood. Recent work has focused on the role of Wnt ligands in skeletal homeostasis, and he employs genetic manipulation in mouse models to explore the cellular and molecular dynamics of bone cells, particularly osteocytes.

Research Interests