Massachusetts General Hospital

Biography

Associate Pathologist
Massachusetts General Hospital

Associate Physician
Massachusetts General Hospital

Associate Professor
Harvard Medical School

Director, MGH Infectious Disease Pathology

Email: rkradin@partners.org

Pathology Associates
55 Fruit Street
WRN 2
Boston, MA 02114-2696
Phone: 617-726-2967

Dr. Kradin's career has integrated formal training in pulmonary medicine, anatomic pathology, basic immunology, and psychiatry. Dr. Kradin's primary area of expertise is the immunopathology of lung disease, to which he has made significant contributions to the areas of antigen processing by dendritic cells and the immunopathogenesis of acute and chronic interstitial lung injury. Dr. Kradin has contributed articles and texts in areas as diverse as infectious disease, meditation, and psychosomatic medicine. His concomitant practice of medicine and pathology allowed him to develop an NIH-funded clinical trial of the adoptive transfer of autologous tumor-specific activated lymphocytes and interleukin-2 in the treatment of advanced cancers. This was a pioneering study in the effort to "personalize" cancer treatment, and elements of this approach continue to be adopted by oncologists in the treatment of patients with advanced malignant melanoma and renal cell carcinoma.

Research

Dr. Kradin's research efforts have included the description of several new diseases, including nodular pulmonary lymphoid hyperplasia, a benign lymphoid hyperplasia seen in HIV-infections and numerous autoimmune disorders; a clinical variant of diffuse alveolar damage with features of organizing pneumonia seen in patients with ARDS that respond favorably to corticosteroids; a variant of alveolar lipoproteinosis that requires distinct therapeutic intervention; an accelerated clinical form of asbestosis; a form of interstitial lung disease that accompanies myelodysplasia and augurs leukemic transformation; and a novel malignant tumor of the lung (pulmonary blastoma). Research interests include pulmonary immunity, infectious disease, stress and immunity, and asbestos-related disease.

Techniques utilized include tissue culture and immunocytochemistry, flow cytometry, Northern blotting, and immunocytochemistry. Projects range from basic science to clinical research.

PublicationsBibliography of Richard L. Kradin via PubMed