Jonathan Himmelfarb, MD

Department of Medicine
Director, Division of Nephrology and Renal Transplantation
Director, Clinical and Translational Research
Maine Medical Center
22 Bramhall Street
Portland, Maine 04102
(207) 662-2417 Office
(207) 662-6306 Fax
himmej@mmc.org

Biosketch

Dr. Himmelfarb received his medical degree from George Washington University Medical School in 1983 and he came to Portland for his internship and residency at Maine Medical Center. He completed a Nephrology Fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Maine Medical Center in 1988. Dr. Himmelfarb is the Associate Chair for Research of the Department of Medicine, and a Clinical Professor of Medicine at University of Vermont College of Medicine. He serves on the Graduate Faculty, in the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Molecular Biology at the University of Maine. He is the Chairman of the New England Organ Bank Board of Trustees and on the Executive Committee of the Medical Staff at Maine Medical Center. In addition he participates in Faculty 1000 Medicine, “Dialysis and Renal Transplantation,” and serves on other committees including the External Review Committee of the KEEP Program of the National Kidney Foundation, and the Dialysis Access Consortium at the National Institutes of Health. He serves on editorial boards including Kidney International, Advances in Renal Replacement Therapy, Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, and American Board of Internal Medicine – Nephrology.

Research Interests

His research interests include the pathophysiology of the disease process that links uremia, inflammation, and malnutrition with cardiovascular complications in uremic patients; oxidative stress and the pro-atherogenic milieu of uremia; the effects of antioxidant therapy on inflammatory biomarkers; cytokine production in acute renal failure; renal replacement therapy, malnutrition and adverse cardiovascular outcomes in uremic patients; anti-inflammatory and antioxidative effects of tocopherols in hemodialysis patients; hemodialysis graft thrombosis; complement and granulocyte activation during hemodialysis; and biocompatible dialysis membranes in acute renal failure.   

Selected Publications

Himmelfarb, J, Tolkoff-Rubin, N, Chandran, P, Parker, RA, Wingard, RL, Hakim, RM:  A Multicenter Comparison of Dialysis Membranes in the Treatment of Acute Renal Failure.  J Am Soc Nephrol, 9:257-266, 1998.

Himmelfarb J, McMonagle E, Holbrook D, Hakim R:  Increased susceptibility to erythrocyte C5b-9 deposition and complement-mediated lysis in chronic renal failure.  Kidney Int, 55:659-666, 1999.

Himmelfarb J, McMonagle E, McMenamin E:  Plasma Protein Thiol Oxidation and Carbonyl Formation in Chronic Renal Failure.  Kidney Int, 58:2571-2578, 2000.

Himmelfarb J, McMonagle E:  Albumin is the major plasma protein target of oxidant stress in uremia.  Kidney Int, 60:358-363, 2001.

Himmelfarb J, McMenamin E, Loseto G, Heineke JW: Myeloperoxidase-catalyzed 3-chlorotyrosine formation in dialysis patients. Free Radical Biology & Medicine, 31(10):1163-1169, 2001.

Himmelfarb J,  Evanson J, Hakim RM, Freedman S, Shyr Y, Ikizler TA: Urea volume of distribution exceeds total body water in patients with acute renal failure. Kidney International, 61(1):317-323, 2001.

Himmelfarb J, McMenamin E, McMonagle E: Plasma aminothiol oxidation in chronic hemodialysis patients. Kidney International, 61(2):705-716, 2002.

Himmelfarb J, Kane J, McMonagle E, Zaltas E, Bobzin S, Boddupalli S, Phinney S, Miller G: Alpha and gamma tocopherol metabolism in healthy subjects and patients with end-stage renal disease. Kidney Int 64:978-991, 2003.

Himmelfarb J, McMonagle E, Freedman S, Klenzak J, McMenamin E, Le P, Pupim LB, Ikizler TA, and the PICARD Group: Oxidative stress is increased in critically ill patients with acute renal failure. J Am Soc Nephrol, 15:2449-2456, 2004

Himmelfarb J, Le P, Klenzak J, et al: Impaired monocyte cytokine production in critically ill patients with acute renal failure. Kidney Int 66:2354-2360, 2004.