David C. Seldin, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. SeldinProfessor of Medicine and Microbiology

Center Director, The Amyloidosis Center 
Chief of the Section of Hematology-Oncology,
Boston Medical Center

Affiliations:

  • Medicine and Microbiology
  • Cancer Center
  • Women’s Health Interdisciplinary Research Center
  • BU Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute
  • Molecular Medicine Graduate Program
  • Hematology Training Program
  • Immunology Training Program

Education:  

  • Harvard Medical School and M.I.T. Program in Health, Science, and Technology; MD, PhD (Immunology)
  • Internship and Residency: Internal Medicine, Brigham & Women’s Hospital
  • Fellowship: Hematology and Medical Oncology, Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Dana Farber Cancer Institute
  • Post-Doctoral Fellowship: Genetics, Leder Lab at Harvard Medical School

Board Membership:

  • International Society for Amyloidosis Board member
  • Amyloidosis Foundation Scientific Advisory Board member
  • Amyloid Journal Editorial Board member

 Professional Societies:

  • International Society for Amyloidosis
  • American Society for Clinical Investigation
  • American Society of Hematology
  • American Society of Clinical Oncology
  • American Association for Cancer Research

Research Interests:
Dr. Seldin’s research focuses on causes and cures of amyloidosis. As a hematologist, he primarily sees patients with AL, or immunoglobulin light chain, amyloidosis. He is an active member of the Stem Cell Transplantation program at Boston Medical Center, and is an investigator on trials using high dose melphalan chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation, but also on trials for novel agents that have potential for activity against bone marrow plasma cells in AL, including lenalidomide, pomalidomide, bortezomib, MLN9708, and others. These studies are focused on improving survival, organ function, and quality of life for patients with AL amyloidosis.

Dr. Seldin also pursues laboratory research studies with the potential to translate discoveries into better treatments for patients. In collaboration with other investigators in The Amyloidosis Center and investigators at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and elsewhere, he studies the genetics of amyloid diseases, mechanisms of protein misfolding, and interactions of amyloid proteins with cells and tissues.

Recently, the first transgenic mouse model of AL amyloidosis has been developed, providing a platform for drug development that was previously unavailable in the field. This model system has been used to demonstrate that tetracycline family antibiotics can reduce amyloid formation in mice. Future studies will be devoted to studying the mechanism of action of tetracyclines, identifying the best tetracycline for each type of amyloidosis, and carrying these findings into patient trials.

Selected Publications:

  • Seldin DC, Skinner M:  Amyloidosis, In Kelly’s Textbook of Rheumatology, 9th edition, Ed by S Ruddy, CB Sledge, JS Sargent, RC Budd.  Elsevier, Philadelphia, in press, 2012.
  • Charlot M, Seldin DC, O’Hara C, Skinner M, Sanchorawala V:  Localized amyloidosis of the breast:  a case series.  Amyloid: J Prot Folding Disorders, 18: 72-75, 2011.  
  • 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.
  • Connors LH, Doros G, Sam F, Badiee A, Seldin DC, and Skinner M:  Clinical features and survival in senile systemic amyloidosis: comparison to familial transthyretin cardiomyopathy.  Amyloid:Journal of Protein Folding Disorders, 18 (Suppl 1):157-9, 2011.
  • Cowan AJ, Skinner M, Berk JL, Sloan JM, O’Hara C, Seldin DC, Sanchorawala V: Macroglossia—not always AL amyloidosis. Amyloid: J. Prot Folding Disorders, 18: 83-86, 2011.
  • Greene MJ, Sam F, Soohoo P, Patel R, Seldin DC, and Connors LH:  Evidence for a functional role of the molecular chaperone clusterin in amyloidotic cardiomyopathy.  J Am Path, 178(1):61-8, 2011.
  • Hovey BM, Ward JE, Soo Hoo, O’Hara C, Connors LH, and Seldin DC:  Preclinical development of siRNA therapeutics for AL amyloidosis. Gene Therapy, 18(12):1150-6, 2011.
  • 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, Skinner M: Amyloidosis, in Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine, 18th edition, Ed. By DL Longo, AS Fauci, DL Kasper, SK Hauser, JL Jameson, J Loscalzo. McGraw-Hill, New York, pp945-950, 2011.
  • Ward JE, SooHoo P, O’Hara C, Toraldo G, Jasuja R, Guan J, Liao R, Connors LH, and Seldin DC:  A transgenic mouse model of AL amyloidosis and its use in testing oral therapeutics.  Blood, 118(25):6610-7, 2011.
  • Ward JE, SooHoo P, Toraldo G, Jasuja R, Connors LH, O’Hara C, and Seldin DC:  Metabolic phenotype in an AL amyloidosis transgenic mouse model.  Amyloid:Journal of Protein Folding Disorders, 18 (Suppl 1):40-41, 2011.
  • Weng L, Spencer B, Soo Hoo P, Connors LH, O’Hara C, and Seldin DC:  Dysregulation of miRNAs in AL amyloidosis.  Amyloid:Journal of Protein Folding Disorders, 18(3):128-35, 2011.
  • Dey BR, Chung S, Spitzer TR, Zheng H, MacGillivray TE, Seldin DC, MsAfee S, Ballen K, Attar E, Wang T, Shin J, Newton-Cheh C, Moore S, Sanchorawala V, Skinner M, Madsen JC, Semigran MJ: Cardiac transplantation followed by dose-intensive melphalan and autologous stem-cell transplantation for AL amyloidosis and heart failure. Transplantation, 90:905-911, 2010.
  • Girnius S, Seldin DC, Skinner M, Finn KT, Quillen K, Doros G, Sanchorawala V: Short and long term outcome of treatment with high-dose melphalan and stem cell transplantation for multiple myeloma-associated AL amyloidosis. Annals of Hematology, 89:579-584, 2010.
  • Klimtchuk ES, Gursky O, Patel R, Laporte KL, Connors LH, Skinner M, Seldin DC: The critical role of the constant region in thermal stability and aggregation of amyloidogenic immunoglobulin light chain.  Biochemistry, 49: 9848-9857, 2010.
  • Ren R, Hong Z, Gong H, Laporte K, Skinner M, Seldin DC, Costello CE, Connors LH, and Trinkaus-Randall V: The role of glycosaminoglycan sulfation in the formation of immunoglobulin light chain amyloid oligomers and fibrils.  J Biol Chem, 285(48):37672-82, 2010.
  • Rosenzweig M, Seldin DC, Remick DG, Skinner M, Quillen K, Oran B: Febrile reactions occurring with second cycle of high dose melphalan and stem cell transplantation in patients with AL amyloidosis: a “melphalan recall” reaction.  Bone Marrow Transplantation: Bone Marrow Transplantation 45: 21-24, 2010.
  • Sanchorawala V, Seldin DC, Berk JL, Sloan M, Doros G, Skinner M: Oral cyclic melphalan and dexamethasone for patients with AL amyloidosis.  Clin. Lymphoma, Myeloma, Leukemia 10: 469-472, 2010.
  • Shi J, Guan J, Jiang B, Brenner D, del Monte F, Ward J, Connors LH, Sawyer D, Semigran M, Macgillivray T, Seldin DC, Falk R, and Liao R: Amyloidogenic light chains induce cardiomyocyte contractile dysfunction and apoptosis via a non-canonical p38a MAPK pathway.  Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 107(9):4188-93, 2010.