Lynda F. Bonewald is the founding director of the Indiana Center for Musculoskeletal Health (ICMH), a center with over 100 members from 27 schools and four campuses. She received her Ph.D. in Immunology/Microbiology from the Medical University of South Carolina, was promoted from assistant professor to professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and served as director of the Bone Biology Research Program and as vice chancellor for research at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She is a past president of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) and the Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities. She has served as chair of the Board of Scientific Counselors for the NIH National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research and served on the council for the NIH National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. She received the Basic Research in Biological Mineralization Award from the International Association for Dental Research, the RIB Award from the Orthopaedic Research Society's Musculoskeletal Biolog Workshop at Sun Valley, and the prestigious Wiliam F. Neuman Award from the ASBMR and is an AAAS Fellow.
Bonewald has been continually funded by NIH for over 30 years and is best known for her work in the study of astrocytes; she is responsible for tools used by researches globally to determine osteocyte biology and function. A leading expert on astrocytes, she is singularly responsible for the rapid advancement of the field of osteocyte biology. Bonewald has authored over 200 publications, 42 reviews, and four commentaries, having been cited more than 30,000 times. She holds nine patents. She is currently studying bone and muscle crosstalk with aging.
Bonewald received the IU Bicentennial Medal in August 2020 in recognition of her distinguished contributions to Indiana University.