Awards

Bicentennial Medal - 2020

Distinguished Professor - 2019

Titled Professor - 2007

Glenn W. Irwin, Jr. Professor of Endocrinology and Metabolism

About Michael J. Econs

Dr. Michael J. Econs earned his B.A. from Johns Hopkins University in 1979 and his M.D. from the University of California in 1983. Upon graduation, he completed an internal medicine residency at the University of Maryland in 1986 and an endocrinology fellowship at Duke University Medical Center in 1989. He joined the Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) faculty in 1997 as an associate professor of medicine. He was promoted to full professor in 2002 and was awarded the additional title of Glenn W. Irwin, Jr. Professor of Endocrinology and Metabolism in 2007. He was also named a distinguished professor, the highest academic title for IU’s most renowned scholars and researchers, in 2019

A leading geneticist in metabolic bone diseases, Econ’s research focuses on rare and poorly understood disorders, such as X-linked hypophosphatemic rickets and autosomal dominant hypophosphatemic rickets. His research has played a critical role in the discovery of the genes responsible for both of these disorders. Econs' work has led to new diagnostic and therapeutic tools, including the recent approval by the European Union and the FDA of Burosumab, the first treatment for X-linked hypophosphatemic rickets in 30 years. The treatment has already had an impact on patients' lives, restoring height in children, healing fractures and giving them the likelihood of avoiding many orthopedic surgeries. His discoveries represent the first time in the history of the IU School of Medicine that a faculty member has driven the science from concept through an FDA-approved therapy.

Econs received the IU Bicentennial Medal in August 2020 in recognition of his distinguished contributions to Indiana University.