Mark Bolland has made major contributions to the treatment of osteoporosis. He led research establishing that calcium supplements increase the risk of heart attacks, and that these harms outweigh any benefits. This research has changed clinical practice: calcium supplements previously were taken by the majority of older adults, but are no longer routinely recommended. In New Zealand, prescriptions for calcium have fallen by more than 90%, saving the country more than $1million/year. He has also led research showing that vitamin D supplementation does not have important health benefits for otherwise healthy adults, and so is unnecessary, and that bone health is not a significant concern in HIV infection. Additionally, he developed techniques for checking the validity of research publications and exposed a major medical research fraud. In 2015 he was part of the team that won the Prime Minister’s Science Prize for work on osteoporosis.
