HEERLEN, Netherlands—Royal DSM N.V., the global life sciences and materials sciences company , granted the DSM Nutrition Award 2009 for research on human nutrition to professor Michael F. Holick of Boston University, and professor Heike A. Bischoff-Ferrari of the University of Zurich, Switzerland, in recognition of their seminal contributions to research on vitamin D and its role in human nutrition and health.
Holick is known for his lifetime contribution to the basic understanding of the formation of vitamin D in the skin, the regulation of vitamin D absorption in the gut, and the metabolism and activation of vitamin D by liver and kidney. He also established the evidence that most human populations have a limited capacity to form vitamin D by sun exposure, thus resulting in a critical need for an adequate supply of vitamin D by diet and dietary supplements.
Bischoff-Ferrari is recognized for her contributions on the effects of vitamin D in the field of population health and her demonstration of a widespread vitamin D deficiency, particularly in the elderly. She demonstrated the critical role of vitamin D in assuring muscle strength and bone health to prevent falls and fractures.Â