Lorenz Hofbauer was born in 1968 and studied Medicine at the University of Munich where he obtained his MD degree in 1995 in the thyroid field. His interest in bone research was stimulated during a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester (USA) under the mentorship of Drs Larry Riggs and Sundeep Khosla from 1996 to 1999. In 1999 he moved to Philipps-University of Marburg, Germany, where he established his own research group focusing on the role of the RANKL/OPG pathway in bone disease, malignant disease, and vascular diseases. In parallel, he completed his clinical education in internal medicine, gastroenterology, endocrinology, and diabetes with board exams. From 2004 to 2007 he was a Heisenberg Senior Fellow and Consultant in Medicine. In May 2007, he became Head of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Bone Diseases, Department of Medicine III at the Technical University Medical Center at Dresden, Germany.