Physician-scientist Nancy Lane emphasizes the importance of understanding diseases to improve interventions. “Research really allows us to carefully evaluate where we are and how we can do better,” she stated. Lane, a distinguished professor of medicine and rheumatology, specializes in diseases of the immune system with a focus on osteoarthritis and osteoporosis.
Lane completed her medical education at UC San Francisco, followed by residency at Mount Zion Hospital and Medical Center, and a rheumatology fellowship at Stanford University Medical Center. “I was mentored and trained in basic research in the laboratory and clinical research,” she explained. Her early work identified that parathyroid hormone could reverse bone loss caused by steroids.
An assistant professor at UCSF before joining UC Davis Health in 2005, Lane established the Center for Musculoskeletal Health. She also directs the National Institute of Health’s Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) program and leads a project on sex differences in musculoskeletal diseases funded by NIH.
In 2012, Lane received $20 million from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to advance research on LLP2A-Aledonrate, aiming to promote new bone growth. By 2017, her team had progressed to Phase II clinical studies on its safety.
Recently, Lane co-authored a study identifying CCN3 as a molecule that stimulates skeletal stem cells to produce bone. The research began over two decades ago but was reinvigorated through collaboration with UCSF’s Ingraham Lab. “It does take a village to answer some of these scientific questions,” said Lane about teamwork’s role in scientific progress.
Beyond her lab achievements, Lane is proud of mentoring junior scientists through initiatives like the Young Investigators Workshop under the U.S. Bone and Joint Initiative. This effort has led to significant funding success for emerging researchers.
In recognition of her contributions spanning over three decades, Lane was elected to both the National Academy of Medicine in 2013 and the National Academy of Inventors in 2022. She values collaboration among scientists: “There’s a big community of scientists, and my science has always been improved by sharing it.”
