For the first time, BoneUP crosses the Atlantic.

David Armstrong and Richie Abel recorded brand new interviews at ASBMR 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. In this first episode the lads chatted to three guests.

Christopher Hernandez is Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Bioengineering at the University of California, San Francisco. He explains how the gut microbiome influences the material properties of bone matrix in mice.

Dr Marie-Eva Pickering is a consultant in rheumatology at the University Hospital Clermont-Ferrand. She discusses how pain is phenotyped in fibrous dysplasia.

Melissa Cuevas is a PhD student at CU Anschutz. She presents her work on the genetics of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

Join us for more interviews from the conference in the next part.

The lads sit down together and Richie interviews David about a career in osteoporosis care. David describes his move from lupus research to setting up the Fracture Liaison Service at the Western Trust in 2008. He explains how the service works and why advice to GPs, pharmacists and other specialists takes up much of a bone specialist's week. He also discusses the very high risk category in the National Osteoporosis Guideline Group guidance. David explains why romosozumab would be his first choice for these patients and why teriparatide is less convincing at the hip.

Prof David Armstrong is a Consultant Rheumatologist at the Western Trust in Londonderry and Visiting Professor at the Nutrition Innovation Centre for Food and Health at Ulster University. He built the Trust's Fracture Liaison Service in 2008 and still runs it. He is also a member of the National Osteoporosis Guideline Group.

The lads jetted off to sunny Girona for the European Calcified Tissue Society Congress, where they caught up with some brilliant boneheads about the latest in bone research.

In Part 2, we chat to Stuart Ralston about the TOPAZ trial for Brittle Bone Disease, Emma Duncan about the ASBMR and ECTS Societies and Kass Javaid about his conference highlights.

The lads jetted off to sunny Girona for the European Calcified Tissue Society Congress, where they caught up with some brilliant boneheads about the latest in bone research.

In Part 3, we chat to Friederike Schulte about combining physical loading with bone drugs, Mathilde Palmier about steroids weakening bone-building cells, and Melina Guillon about repurposing drugs for osteoporosis.

The lads jetted off to sunny Girona for the European Calcified Tissue Society Congress, where they caught up with some brilliant boneheads about the latest in bone research.

In Part 2, we chat to Marc McKee about biomineralization, Lidia Zhtynk and Laura Vintura about brittle bone disease (osteogenesis imperfecta), Ken Poole about the ECTS debate on the AI tools for osteoporosis and Judy Keen about the ASBMR and the Annual Meeting in Boston later this year.

The lads jetted off to sunny Girona for the European Calcified Tissue Society Congress, where they caught up with some brilliant boneheads about the latest in bone research. In Part 1, we chat to Louise Thomas about bone marrow fat and bone health, Bram van der Eerden about new bone model technologies that could help replace animals in research, Victoria Chatzimavridou about radiotherapy and insufficiency fractures, and Jelena Jadzic about her prize-winning work on alcohol-associated liver disease and vertebral fractures.

The lads sit down with Prof Neil Gittoes to discuss SCOOP (Screening in the Community to Reduce Osteoporotic Fractures). The study was a large UK trial (12,483 women, aged 70–85) finding that screening for fracture risk using FRAX and targeting treatment to high-risk individuals significantly reduces hip fractures.

Professor Gittoes is a Consultant Endocrinologist at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB), and Honorary Professor of Endocrinology at the University of Birmingham where he is Head of the Centre of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism (CEDAM). More importantly he is Chair of the board of trustees at the Royal Osteoporosis Society

The lads sit down with Prof Raj Thakker to unpack the body’s calcium thermostat and why it matters for bone strength. Raj explains how faults in calcium-sensing pathways can cause hormone and mineral imbalance, increasing bone loss and fracture risk. We also discuss how genetic diagnosis can help families through earlier testing and prevention. A practical conversation connecting molecular biology to better osteoporosis care.

Prof Raj Thakker is Professor of Medicine at the William Harvey Research Institute, Queen Mary University of London, and Emeritus Professor of Medicine at the University of Oxford. He is also a Fellow of Somerville College, Oxford, and Editor-in-Chief of JBMR.