Rickets is a condition that results in weak or soft bones in children, and is caused by either dietary deficiency or genetic causes. Symptoms include bowed legs, stunted growth, bone pain, large forehead, and trouble sleeping. Complications may include bone deformities, bone pseudofractures and fractures, muscle spasms, or an abnormally curved spine.
Vitamin D deficiency or hypovitaminosis D is a vitamin D level that is below normal. It most commonly occurs in people when they have inadequate exposure to sunlight, particularly sunlight with adequate ultraviolet B rays (UVB). Vitamin D deficiency can also be caused by inadequate nutritional intake of vitamin D; disorders that limit vitamin D absorption; and disorders that impair the conversion of vitamin D to active metabolites, including certain liver, kidney, and hereditary disorders. Deficiency impairs bone mineralization, leading to bone-softening diseases, such as rickets in children. It can also worsen osteomalacia and osteoporosis in adults, increasing the risk of bone fractures. Muscle weakness is also a common symptom of vitamin D deficiency, further increasing the risk of fall and bone fractures in adults. Vitamin D deficiency is associated with the development of schizophrenia.
Vitamin D is a group of fat-soluble secosteroids responsible for increasing intestinal absorption of calcium, magnesium, and phosphate, and for many other biological effects. In humans, the most important compounds in this group are vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) and vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol).
Kathryn Mary Stowell is a New Zealand academic. In November 2022 she was appointed professor emerita, having been a full professor from 2016 at the Massey University.
Wendi Dianne Roe is a New Zealand veterinary pathologist who specialises in researching marine mammals. She is Professor of Veterinary and Marine Mammal Pathology and Deputy Head of the School of Veterinary Science at Massey University.
Jane Coad is a New Zealand public health nutrition researcher and professor in nutrition at Massey University. She is co-director of Massey's Vitamin D Research Centre which she and Pam von Hurst founded in 2010.
Dianne Sika-Paotonu is a New Zealand immunologist, biomedical scientist and academic in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine and Associate Dean (Pacific) at the University of Otago Wellington. She is of Tongan descent and is the first Pasifika biomedical scientist to receive the Cranwell Medal for science communication in 2020 and the 2022 Prime Minister's Science Communicator of the Year prize.
Jackie Benschop is a New Zealand Professor of Veterinary Public Health at Massey University, specialising in the animal–human–environment interface, particularly for Leptospira, Campylobacter and Salmonella. She is a member of the World Health Organisation's Steering Committee for the Global Leptospirosis Environmental Action Network, and a co-founder of the African Leptospirosis Network.
Andrea Martine 't Mannetje was a New Zealand epidemiologist, and was a full professor at Massey University. She specialised in occupational causes of cancer, but also worked on environmental causes of neurodegenerative diseases, birth defects, and inflammatory bowel disease.
Ngaio Jessica Beausoleil is a New Zealand academic, and is a full professor at Massey University, specialising in animal welfare and the cross-disciplinary field of conservation welfare.
Pamela Ruth von Hurst is a New Zealand academic and is a full professor at Massey University, specialising in human nutrition.
Fiona Marion Florence McQueen is a New Zealand rheumatologist, environmentalist and children's writer, and was a full professor at the University of Auckland before retiring to run a private herbalist practice in Glenorchy in Otago. She was New Zealand's first woman professor of rheumatology.
Jennifer Faith Weston is a New Zealand veterinary scientist, and as of 2023 is a full professor at Massey University, specialising in dairy animals and their diseases.
Anna E. Brown is a New Zealand academic, and is a full professor at Massey University, specialising in book design, and design for the public good.
Nives Botica Redmayne is a New Zealand academic, and is a full professor at Massey University, specialising in audit services production. Botica Redmayne teaches advanced auditing and advanced financial reporting.
Jacqueline Louise Whalley is a New Zealand academic, and is a full professor at the Auckland University of Technology, specialising in software engineering and computer science education.
Bethan Kirstie Greener, also known as Beth Greener-Barcham, is a New Zealand academic, and is a full professor at Massey University, specialising in international security. As of 2024 she is the head of the School of People, Environment and Planning.
Nitha Palakshappa, also known as Nitha Dolli, is a New Zealand marketing academic, and is a full professor at Massey University, specialising in sustainability and marketing in the fashion and food sectors.
Barbara Anne Bollard also known as Barbara Breen and Bollard-Breen, is a New Zealand academic, and is a full professor at Auckland University of Technology, specialising in using remote sensing and drones to map and manage conservation areas.
Jacqueline Dianne Kidd (Ngāpuhi) is a Māori academic, and is a full professor at the Auckland University of Technology, specialising in Māori health and anti-racism in health practices and processes.
