The osteoporosis community lost an important young member with the passing of Dr. Sergio Ragi-Eis on 22 February 2012. Sergio was a dynamic leader in the osteoporosis community in Brazil, and his influence extended far beyond the country's borders. His contributions advanced the education of health professionals and improved international relations among individuals and organizations.

Trained in medicine and orthopedics in Rio de Janeiro, Sergio developed an interest in the management of osteoporosis and especially the use of densitometry as an assessment tool. He established the Osteoporosis Diagnosis and Research Center of Espirito Santo (CEDOES) in 1990 and served as its medical director and principal investigator. That clinic has grown into one of the largest centers for clinical research in South America.

In 1993, he was a founding member of the Brazilian Society for Clinical Densitometry (SBDens), serving as its president in 1995 and again in 2007. With a small group of colleagues, Sergio began DXA training programs for clinicians and technologists and developed the national Professional Certification for DXA program. As a result, Brazil became the first country where certification was a requirement for the practice of bone densitometry. In 1996, he and SBDens developed the Brazilian Site Accreditation Program for densitometry centers, a program that is still ongoing with more than 500 accredited centers.

Sergio actively served in many international organizations. He was an original member of the International Relations Committee of ISCD and served on the ISCD board of directors for six years. His work in that society was recognized by his being named “Physician of the Year” in 2000 and receiving the John Bilezikian Global Leadership Award in 2008. He was aware that he was to be awarded the ISCD Paul Miller Service Award in 2012. He was also a founding member of the Latin American Society for Clinical Densitometry (SOLAD) and served as its president from 2001 to 2003. He was instrumental in the incorporation of that society into ISCD in 2004 as the ISCD Iberian American Committee. He also served on the Osteoporosis Task Force of the World Health Organization from 1999 to 2001.

Sergio was one of those special people who could get things done – and make everyone who worked with him look and feel good. He believed strongly in collaboration. He contributed actively to the Latin American Epidemiology Study (LAVOS) and had recently organized a multicenter study to assess hip fracture incidence in Brazil (BRAVOS). He frequently supported other Latin American societies by participating in osteoporosis and DXA training courses in many countries. In these activities, he could envision how a simple suggestion could be amplified into a more interesting and effective project. Sergio was usually the force that drove the project to its completion. He accomplished that with optimism, a focus on quality, and with infectious humor. While he did much of the work himself, he generously, graciously, and genuinely shared the credit of a completed project with his colleagues. It is no wonder that we all enjoyed working with and being with him.

His collaborative spirit extended to his involvement with organizations. Sergio was singularly instrumental in uniting the three Brazilian societies, including SBDens, that dealt with metabolic bone diseases. The first step was organizing, with his colleague, Antônio Carlos Araujo de Souza, joint meetings of the three societies as the Brazilian Congress on Densitometry, Osteoporosis and Osteometabolism (BRADOO), beginning in 2007. Through his persistence and persuasiveness, he made the announcement of the formal merger of the three societies into a single organization (ABrASSO) in October 2011 - one of his most satisfying professional moments. Sergio also worked to establish the joint IOF-ISCD program to provide world-wide DXA training and certification. Through his efforts, that program has become a reality in Latin America and contributed to a stronger relationship between the two societies. Sergio was very proud of his affiliation with the IOF. He was especially pleased to have been elected recently to the IOF Board by his Latin American peers, and he was enthusiastically looking forward to his role there and in the first Latin American Regional Meeting of IOF in Brazil in May.

Sergio enjoyed and appreciated the support of a wonderful, loving family that included his wife and partner Irani, daughters Isabella and Marina, and mother Oriete Ramos Eis. He missed them dearly during his many travels and was always pleased to share updates and pictures of his daughters.

Sergio will be remembered as a passionate and dedicated clinician, an exciting and energetic teacher, a dynamic leader, and a special friend and inspiration to many of us. In losing him, we will miss his ebullient spirit, his boundless energy, and his appreciation of living life to the fullest each day. His jokes and his songs still ring in our ears, and his friendship still resides in our hearts. While his presence will be missed, the legacy of his role in advancing the care of patients with osteoporosis in Brazil and Latin America will endure.

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