John L. Berk, M.D.

Associate Professor of Medicine

John Berk


Director, Clinical Trials for Familial Amyloidosis
Director, Localized Amyloid Clinic

Affiliation: Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine

Education:

  • Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine (CWRU)
  • Internship: University Hospitals, CWRU
  • Residency: University Hospitals, CWRU
  • Fellowship: Pulmonary Fellowship,
    Boston University School of Medicine
  • Other Post-doctoral Fellowships/Training:
    Research Fellow, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Research interests:

Editorial Board, Amyloid: the journal of protein folding disorders

Selected Publications:

  • Truong MT, Kachnic LA, Grillone GA, Bohrs HK, Lee R, Sakai O, Berk JL.  Long-term results of conformal radiotherapy for progressive airway amyloidosis.  Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2012 Jan 21 [Epub ahead of print]
  • Berk JL, Dyck PJ, Obici L, Zeldenrust SR, Sekijima Y, Yamashita T, Ando Y, Ikeda SI, Gorevic P, Merlini G, Kelly JW, Skinner M, Bisbee AB, Suhr OB; Familial Amyloidosis Consortium. The diflunisal trial; update on study drug tolerance and disease progression. Amyloid. 2011 June;18 Suppl 1:191-2.
  • Cibeira MT, Sanchorawala V, Seldin DC, Quillen K,  Berk JL, Dember LM, Segal A, Ruberg F, Meier-Ewert H, Andrea N, Sloan JM, Finn K, Doros G, Blade J, Skinner M: Outcome of AL amyloidosis after high-dose melphalan and autologous stem-cell transplantation: long-term results in a series of 421 patients. Blood, 118:4346-4352, 2011.
  • Cowan AJ, Skinner M, Berk JL, Sloan JM, O’Hara C, Seldin DS, Sanchorawala V: Macroglossia—not always AL amyloidosis. Amyloid: J. Prot Folding Disorders, 18: 83-86, 2011
  • Meier-Ewert HK, Sanchorawala V, Berk JL, Ruberg FL. Cardiac amyloidosis: evolving approach to diagnosis and management. Current Treatment Options in Cardiovascular Medicine. 2011;13(6):528-42
  • Seldin DC, Andrea N, Berenbaum I, Berk JL, Connors L, Dember LM, Doros G, Fennessey S, Finn K, Girnius S, Lerner A, Libbey C, Meier-Ewert H, O’Connell R, Quillen K, Ruberg FL, Sam F, Segal A, Shelton A, Skinner M, Sloan JM, Wiesman JF, and Sanchorawala V:  High dose melphalan and autologous stem cell transplantation for AL amyloidosis: recent trends in treatment-related mortality and one-year survival at a single institution.  XIIth International Symposium on Amyloidosis, Amyloid: J Prot Folding Disorders, 2011.
  • Seldin DC, Andrea N, Berenbaum I, Berk JL et al. High-dose melphalan and autologous stem cell transplantation for AL amyloidosis; recent trends in treatment-related mortality and 1-year survival at a single institutiton. Amyloid. 2011 Jun;18 Suppl 1:122-4
  • Sanchorawala V, Seldin DC, Berk JL, Sloan JM, Doros G, Skinner M. Oral cyclic melphalan and dexamethasone for patients with AL amyloidosis.  Clin Lymphoma Myeloma Leuk 2010; 10(6):469-72
  • Berk JL. Pulmonary amyloidosis. In: Diffuse Interstitial and Bronchiolar Disorders (NHLBI Lung Biology Series), Lynch III, J.P., Ed.  Taylor Francis Publishers, New York.  2008.
  • Berk, JL. Pleural effusions in systemic amyloidosis. Curr Opin Pulm Med 11(4):324-28, 2005.
  • Berk JL, Wiesman JF, Skinner M, and V Sanchorawala.  Diaphragm paralysis in primary systemic amyloidosis.  Amyloid Journal 12 (3):193-6, 2005.
  • Seldin DC, Anderson JJ, Sanchorawala V, Malek K, Wright DG, Quillen K, Finn KT, Berk JL, Dember LM, Falk RH, Skinner M. Improvement in Quality Of Life of Patients With AL Amyloidosis Treated With High Dose Melphalan and Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation. Blood 104 (6): 1888-93, 2004.
  • Berk, J.L., Keane, J., Seldin, D.C., Sanchorawala, V., Koyama, J., Dember, L.M., and R.H. Falk. Persistent pleural effusions in AL amyloidosis: Etiology and prognosis.  Chest 124(3):969-77, 2003.
  • O’Regan, A., Fenlon, H.M.,  Beamis, J.F. Jr., Steele, M.P., Skinner, M. and J.L. Berk.  Tracheobronchial amyloidosis: The Boston University experience from 1984 to 1999.  Medicine 79(2):69-79, 2000.
  • Berk, JL. Case Records of the Massachusetts General Hospital. New Engl J Med 338 (26):905-1913, 1998.