The American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) is a professional, scientific and medical society established in 1977 to promote excellence in bone and mineral research and to facilitate the translation of that research into clinical practice. The ASBMR has a membership of nearly 4,000 physicians, basic research scientists, and clinical investigators from around the world. Mission The mission of the ASBMR is to promote excellence in bone and mineral research, foster integration of clinical and basic science, and facilitate the translation of that science to health care and clinical practice. The Society's broad goals include supporting the educational development of future generations of basic and clinical scientists, and disseminating new knowledge in bone and mineral metabolism. Founding In the 1970s, a growing number of US-based scientists began to focus their research on the understanding of basic bone biology and the disease osteoporosis. This led to the rise of a new field – bone and mineral research. In 1974, while attending the annual meeting of The Endocrine Society in Chicago, Illinois, USA, bone scientists Louis Avioli, Claude Arnaud, Norman Bell, William Peck, John Potts and Lawrence Raisz, along with Shirley Hohl, met at the Drake Hotel. The group laid the groundwork for an organization that would promote the study of bone and mineral research, support scientists involved in such research, and facilitate the discussion and exchange of new developments in the field. Three years later, in November 1977, the group's goals were realized with the official incorporation of the ASBMR as a nonprofit organization in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. The first ASBMR Annual Meeting was held June 11–12, 1979, at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, California, USA, with approximately 150 people in attendance. Growth In 1984, ASBMR leaders established The Osteoporosis Foundation, which was later renamed the National Osteoporosis Foundation. The Journal of Bone and Mineral Research (JBMR), the official journal of the ASBMR, was established in 1986. Initially a bi-monthly publication, it became a monthly journal in 1990. Lawrence G. Raisz served as the first Editor-in-Chief of the JBMR. The ASBMR published the first edition of The Primer on the Metabolic Bone Diseases and Disorders of Mineral Metabolism, a textbook for medical and graduate students, in 1990. Murray J. Favus served as the Editor-in-Chief for the first six editions of the Primer. The rise of new pharmacological treatments for osteoporosis in the 1990s, most notably the class of