World Osteoporosis Day: Interview with Dr. Kathryn Diemer on Biannual Reclast

In Honor of World Osteoporosis Day

FDA approves Reclast® to prevent osteoporosis in postmenopausal women with convenient less frequent dosing.

• Single infusion of Reclast increases bone mass for two years in postmenopausal women with osteopenia, a condition that can lead to osteoporosis.

• Approximately 22 million women in US have osteopenia, or low bone mass, putting them at increased risk of fractures of hip, spine and wrist.

• Reclast already approved as once-yearly infusion for treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis (Novartis Press Release 2009).

To help us understand the implications, risks and benefits of this new drug approval Dr. Kathryn Diemer has graciously agreed to answer my questions about this new application of Reclast for the treatment of osteopenia. Dr. Diemer's biography is below explaining her expertise in this area and her involvement in this field of study.

Dr. Diemer's Bio:
Dr. Diemer was born and raised in St. Louis, Mo. She attended the University of Missouri -Kansas City, which is a six-year, combined BA-MD program. She graduated with Honors with a BA in biology and her Medical degree in 1985. She served her internship in obstetrics and gynecology at Truman Medical Center in Kansas City before returning to St. Louis. In 1986, Dr. Diemer began her residency training in internal medicine at the Jewish Hospital of St. Louis at Washington University School of Medicine. She served as chief resident in internal medicine in 1989. In 1990, she began work with Dr. Louis Avioli who was chief of the Division of Bone and Mineral Metabolism at Washington University School of Medicine. She has been a faculty member and attending physician in the Bone Health Program since 1990. Dr. Diemer presently serves as the clinical director of the Bone Health Program seeing patients with osteoporosis and other metabolic bone diseases. She is actively involved in the education of the Washington University housestaff, fellows, faculty and medical students on the subject of osteoporosis and bone densitometry. She is a certified bone densitometrist and is a faculty member for the International Society of Clinical Densitometry. She has lectured both nationally and internationally on the subjects of osteoporosis and bone densitometry. In recognition of her excellence in patient care, Dr. Diemer was recently named in the St. Louis Magazine as one of St. Louis' 100 Best Doctors.

Dr. Diemer is also involved with medical education. She served as the associate program director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program at the Jewish Hospital of St. Louis from 1992 - 1995. When Barnes and Jewish Hospitals merged their residency programs, Dr. Diemer was involved with the development of the Primary Care Residency Program and served as the associate program director from 1995 - 1999. She presently is the assistant dean of career counseling at Washington University School of Medicine where she writes the Dean's letters and counsels the fourth-year medical students on residency training.