Gideon Rodan

Dr. Gideon Alfred Rodan (born June 14, 1934 in Bucharest, Romania; died January 1 2006 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania) was an American biochemist and osteopath.

Rodan studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel.

He researched the deformation of bone cells. His most notable work was about Osteoporosis. Rodan researched the connection between osteoblasts and osteoclasts and helped to analyse and describe the two. In the 1990s, Rodan, now director of the department for bone biology and osteoporosis at the Merck Research Laboratories, helped to created a compound to block osteoblast-mediated bone-resorption. This compound became known as Alendronate or Fosamax. In further works he examined the role of steroid in bone metabolism and the communication between bones and hormones.

From 1970 to 1985, Gideon Rodan taught at the University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine until he swithched over to Merck. In 1987, Rodan became president of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research. He was the editor of the book Principles of Bone Biology (1996).

Gideon Rodan died on January 1, 2006 of cancer.