Research Faculty

John Herrin, MBBS

Department Nephrology
Hospital Title Director, Dialysis Unit
Academic Title Associate Clinical Professor
of Pediatrics
Phone 617-355-6129
Fax 617-730-0569
Email John Herrin
Location 300 Longwood Avenue
Hunnewell-3
Boston MA 02115

Research Overview

John Herrin's work focuses on finding better treatments for children with end-stage kidney disease. His lab is engaged in comparing standard therapy with newer drug regimens through the North American Pediatric Renal Transplant Cooperative Study (NAPRTCS) and other coordinated group studies. The group is also participating in ongoing studies to track the development and progression of kidney disease in children.

The Herrin laboratory is conducting an open label comparison study of the effect of sirolimus--a newer immunosuppressant--vs standard treatment in arresting the progression of nephropathy in high risk pediatric transplant recipients. Herrin and colleagues are also evaluating the safety and efficacy of two drugs in pediatric dialysis patients: recombinant growth hormone (Nutropin) and HMR4396 (for the management of anemia).

The principal goals of Herrin's research are to:

  • Design better and evidence-based immunosuppression protocols for children requiring a kidney transplant.
  • Design protocols for administering immunosuppression more safely and efficiently.
  • More precisely define the natural history of renal cystic disease to enable better preservation of kidney function.

About John Herrin

Dr. Herrin is a native of Austrialia. He received his medical degree from University of Melbourne Faculty of Medicine, completed an internship at Saint Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, a residency at the Children's Hospital, Melbourne, and a postdoctoral fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is a member of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians.

Key publications

  • Schachter AD, Strehlau J, Zurakowski D, Vasconcellos L, KimYS, Zheng XX, Gunshin Y, Overstreet SL, Benfield MR, Tejani A, Harmon WE, Herrin JT, Strom TB. Increased nuclear factor- [kappa]B and angiotensinogen gene expression in post-transplant recurrent focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. Transplantation 2000; 70: 1107-1110.
     
  • Benfield MR, Herrin J, Feld L, Rose S, Stablein D, Tejani A. Safety of renal biopsy in pediatric transplantation. Transplantation 1999; 67: 544-547.
     
  • Benfield MR, Symons JM, Bynon S, Eckhoff D, Herrin J, Harmon W, Kohaut E. Mycophenolate mofetil in pediatric renal transplantation. Pediatric Transplantation 1999; 3: 33-37.