Dwight A. Towler MD, PhD

Dwight A. Towler, MD, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center and a member of its Division of Endocrinology. He serves as the Associate Dean for Resident Research. A specialist in bone and mineral metabolism disorders – including osteoporosis and the vascular calcification that hardens arteries with aging, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease – he holds both the J.D. and Maggie E. Wilson Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Research and the Louis V. Avioli Professorship in Mineral Metabolism Research.

Dr. Towler earned his medical degree and doctorate in biochemistry at Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL). He completed his residency in internal medicine and fellowship in metabolism at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, Dr. Towler joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2015. He previously served at WUSTL as the Lang Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Lipid Research and as Chief of the Division of Bone and Mineral Diseases. A former regular member of the NIH Skeletal Biology Development and Disease and Atherosclerosis and Inflammation of the Cardiovascular System Study Sections, he also served as a member of the External Advisory Panel to the Illuminating the Druggable Genome Consortium for the NIH Center for Advancing Translational Sciences.

Dr. Towler’s thesis work focused on pioneering studies on the enzymology of protein fatty acid acylation. His current research, supported by the National Institutes of Health, emphasizes Wnt and PTH1R signaling in the endocrine physiology of bone and vascular disease, including cardiovascular calcification. In addition to his career in academic medicine, Dr. Towler spent four years in the pharmaceutical industry. He is co-inventor of novel, patented selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs) that have potential clinical applications in the treatment of musculoskeletal frailty. His research has been recognized by the Charles E. Culpeper Foundation, the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, the American Society for Clinical Investigation, and the Association of American Physicians.