Michael J O’Brien, MD, MPH
Academic Title - Professor
Education -
- 1971 M.B., B.ch. (MD Equivalent), National University of Ireland , Galway .
- 1992 M.P.H. (Quantitative Methods), Harvard University , School of Public Health
Professional Qualifications and Diplomas -
- Membership of the Royal College of Pathologists, ( UK ), 1977
- American Board of Pathology, Certification in Anatomic Pathology, 1984
- American Board of Pathology, Special Competency in Cytopathology, 1994
Positions and Faculty Appointments
2003 – 06 Chairman, ad interim, Dept. of Pathology and Lab Medicine, BUSM
1996 - Chief of Anatomic Pathology, Boston Medical Center
1994 - Professor of Public Health (Epidemiology and Biostatistics), BUSPH
1991 – 03 Vice-chairman for Anatomic Pathology, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, BUSM
1988 - Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, BUSM
1986-87 Lecturer on Pathology, University College, Dublin, Ireland
1982-86 Associate Professor of Pathology, BUSM
1980- Faculty Member, Division of Graduate Medical & Dental Sciences, BUSM
1980-84 Lecturer on Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
1978-82 Assistant Professor of Pathology, BUSM
1976-78 Teaching Fellow, BUSM
Professional Societies and Committees
1989-. Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists(UK)
1986-. Fellow of the Royal Irish Academy of Medicine
1981-91 Consultant Pathologist, National Polyp Study
1988-98 Advisory Board, World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Prevention of Colorectal Cancer,
1992 Consultant to Committee on Practice Guidelines, Management of Colon Polyps, American College of Gastroenterology
1992- Committee on Guidelines for colorectal cancer screening and surveillance, WHO.
1995- Editorial Board, American Journal of Surgical Pathology
1997- Chairman, Task Force on Digital Imaging, International Academy of Cytology
2001- Member, Surgical Pathology Committee, College of American Pathologists
2003 - Fellow, American College of Gastroenterology
2004 - Member, US National Taskforce on Colon Cancer
2006- Fellow, Faculty of Pathology (Hon), Royal College of Physicians of Ireland
2006 - Consultant, Cancer Research Ireland, Irish Cancer Society
Research Interests -
Clinico-pathologic and molecular genetic aspects of the adenoma-carcinoma sequence in colorectal neoplasia have been a long term interest. Current studies in collaboration with Dr Shi Yang are focused on the role of methylation of CpG islands of the promoter regions of suppressor and mutator genes in the progression of serrated polyps to colorectal cancer in susceptible individuals. We are also pursuing studies, in collaboration with other scientists in the department, of basic molecular mechanisms, particularly activation of the RAS-RAF-MAP kinase signaling pathway, that may underlie hyperplastic polyp persistence, regression or progression to adenoma. In collaboration with Dr.s Sidney Winawer and Ann Zauber of MSKCC, New York, I have a continued interest in the analysis of the National Polyp Study pathology and clinical database in the context of new insights into colorectal cancer evolution that have been gained since the completion of this landmark clinical trial over a decade ago. I am also involved, as PI of the Pathology Review Center , with a new national clinical trial based at MSKCC, New York that is designed to evaluate the efficacy of a single screening colonoscopy in colorectal cancer prevention.
Recent Publications -
- Yantiss RK, Farraye FA, O’Brien MJ, Fruin AB, Stucchi AF, Becker JM, Reddy SI, Odze RD. Prognostic significance of superficial fissuring ulceration in patients with severe “indeterminate” colitis. Am J Surg Pathol. 2006 Feb;30(2):165-70.
- Rex DK, Kahi CJ, Levin B, Smith RA, Bond JH, Brooks D, Burt RW, Byers T, Fletcher RH, Hyman N, Johnson D, Kirk L, Lieberman DA, Levin TR, O’Brien MJ, Simmang C, Thorson AG, Winawer SJ Guidelines for Colonoscopy Surveillance After Cancer Resection: A Consensus Update by the American Cancer Society and the US Multi-Society Task Force on Colorectal CancerGastroenterology 2006,130, 6:1872-1885
- Winawer SJ, Zauber AG, Fletcher RH, Stillman JS, O’Brien MJ, Levin B, Smith RA, Lieberman DA, Burt RW, Levin TR, Bond JH, Brooks D, Byers T, Hyman N, Kirk L, Thorson A, Simmang C, Johnson D, Rex DK Guidelines for Colonoscopy Surveillance After Polypectomy: A Consensus Update by the US Multi-Society Task Force on Colorectal Cancer and the American Cancer Society. Gastroenterology 2006,130, 6:1886-1900
- Karagiannides I, Kokkotou E, Tansky M, Tchkonia T, Giorgadze N, O’Brien MJ, Leeman S E., Kirkland JL., Pothoulakis C. Induction of colitis causes inflammatory responses in fat depots: Evidence for substance P pathways in human mesenteric preadipocytes. Proc Nat Acad Sci, 2006 103: 5207-5212
- Stucchi A, Reed K, O’Brien, MJ, Cerda S, Andrews C, Gower A, Bshell K, Amar S, Leeman S, Becker J. A New Transcription Factor that regulates TNF-? gene expression, LITAF (Lipopolysaccharide Induced TNF-? Factor)is Increased in Intestinal Tissues from Patients with Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2006 Jul;12(7):581-7.
- O’Brien MJ, Yang S, Mack C, Xu H, Huang CS, Mulcahy E, Amorosino M, Farraye F. Comparison of Microsatellite Instability, CpG-Island Methylation Phenotype, BRAF and KRAS Status in Serrated Polyps and Traditional Adenomas Indicates Separate Pathways to Distinct Colorectal Carcinoma Endpoints. Am J Surg Pathol 2006;30:1491-1501.
- Katchar K, Kelly C, Keates S, O’Brien M, Keates A. MIP-3{alpha} Neutralizing Monoclonal Antibody Protects Against TNBS-Induced Colonic Injury and Inflammation in Mice. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol. 2007 Feb 1; [Epub ahead of print]
- Kokkotou E, Torres D, Moss AC, O’Brien M, Grigoriadis DE, Karalis K, Pothoulakis C. Corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 2-deficient mice have reduced intestinal inflammatory responses. J Immunol. 2006 Sep 1;177(5):3355-61.
- Chen X, Kokkotou EG, Mustafa N, Bhaskar KR, Sougioultzis S, O’Brien M, Pothoulakis C, Kelly CP. Saccharomyces boulardii inhibits ERK1/2 mitogen-activated protein kinase activation both in vitro and in vivo and protects against Clostridium difficile toxin A-induced enteritis.
J Biol Chem. 2006 Aug 25;281(34):24449-54. - Jass JR, O’Brien MJ, Riddell RH, Snover DC. Recommendations for the reporting of surgically resected specimens of colorectal carcinoma. Virchows Arch. 2007 Jan;450(1):1-13.
- Rosenberg DW, Yang S, Pleau DC, Greenspan EJ, Stevens RG, Rajan TV, Heinen CD, Levine J, Zhou Y, O’Brien MJ. Mutations in BRAF and KRAS Differentially Distinguish Serrated versus Non-Serrated Hyperplastic Aberrant Crypt Foci in Humans.
Cancer Res. 2007,67(8):3551-4.
Contact Information
- Telephone – 617-638-4500/ 617-414-4988
- Email – Michael.obrien@bmc.org
