Jeffrey Baron, M.D.

Senior Investigator

Section on Growth and Development

NICHD/DIR

View Site

NIHBC 10 - CRC 1-3330
20892

301-496-6312

jeffrey.baron@nih.gov

Research Topics

We investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms governing childhood growth and development. We particularly focus on growth at the growth plate, which drives bone elongation and therefore determines height. One goal of this work is to gain insight into the many human genetic disorders that cause childhood growth failure and overgrowth. A second goal is to develop new treatments for children with severe growth disorders.

Biography

Dr. Jeffrey Baron is a senior investigator and head of the Section on Growth and Development in NICHD. He received his M.D. degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. He completed a residency in pediatrics at Yale-New Haven Hospital and a fellowship in pediatric endocrinology in the Developmental Endocrinology Branch of NICHD.

The Section on Growth and Development, headed by Dr. Baron, investigates the cellular and molecular mechanisms governing childhood growth and development. In addition to his research role, Dr. Baron serves as an attending physician for the pediatric endocrinology clinic and consultative service and teaches clinical fellows in the NICHD pediatric endocrinology training program.

Selected Publications

  1. Lui JC, Wagner J, Zhou E, Dong L, Barnes KM, Jee YH, Baron J. Loss-of-function variant in SPIN4 causes an X-linked overgrowth syndrome. JCI Insight. 2023;8(9).
  2. Lui JC, Colbert M, Cheung CSF, Ad M, Lee A, Zhu Z, Barnes KM, Dimitrov DS, Baron J. Cartilage-Targeted IGF-1 Treatment to Promote Longitudinal Bone Growth. Mol Ther. 2019;27(3):673-680.
  3. Lui JC, Garrison P, Nguyen Q, Ad M, Keembiyehetty C, Chen W, Jee YH, Landman E, Nilsson O, Barnes KM, Baron J. EZH1 and EZH2 promote skeletal growth by repressing inhibitors of chondrocyte proliferation and hypertrophy. Nat Commun. 2016;7:13685.
  4. Lui JC, Jee YH, Garrison P, Iben JR, Yue S, Ad M, Nguyen Q, Kikani B, Wakabayashi Y, Baron J. Differential aging of growth plate cartilage underlies differences in bone length and thus helps determine skeletal proportions. PLoS Biol. 2018;16(7):e2005263.
  5. Lui JC, Raimann A, Hojo H, Dong L, Roschger P, Kikani B, Wintergerst U, Fratzl-Zelman N, Jee YH, Haeusler G, Baron J. A neomorphic variant in SP7 alters sequence specificity and causes a high-turnover bone disorder. Nat Commun. 2022;13(1):700.

Related Scientific Focus Areas

This page was last updated on Friday, November 3, 2023