Dr. Thomas J. Gardella

Massachusetts General Hospital & Harvard Medical School

Thomas Gardella, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in Medicine and Biochemistry at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He conducts laboratory research within the MGH Endocrine Unit, of which he has been a member since 1988.

Dr. Gardella’s research concerns the basic mechanisms by which peptide hormones interact with their cell-surface receptors, and specifically focuses on the parathyroid hormone (PTH) receptor. The PTH receptor is a G protein-coupled receptor that acts as a critical regulator of intracellular signaling processes involved in bone growth and blood calcium ion homeostasis. Alterations that perturb the PTH receptor cell signaling system are associated with a number of diseases of bone and mineral ion physiology. By dissecting the molecular mechanisms by which the PTH receptor functions, Dr. Gardella hopes to reveal clues that may help in the development of new therapies for such diseases, including Jansen’s chondrodysplasia, hypoparathyroidism and osteoporosis.