Martin H. Steinberg, MD

Professor, Medicine

Martin Steinberg
617.980.1903
72 East Concord Street

Biography

Martin H Steinberg, MD, is a hematologist/internist whose clinical and research focus has been on disorders of the red blood cell with special emphasis on sickle cell disease. He has published 450 articles and 3 textbooks on the science and clinical features of sickle cell disease and related disorders. A graduate of Cornell University and Tufts University School of Medicine he completed post-graduate training in New York and Boston. He conducts basic, translational and clinical studies devoted to understanding the pathophysiology and genetic basis of sickle cell phenotypic heterogeneity. He modeled the HbF concentration among red blood cells showing that only patients with very high HbF levels were likely to have major benefit, therefor setting a standard for HbF induction therapies. He identified cis- and trans-acting elements that help explain the high HbF levels of Saudi patients from the Eastern Province whose sickle hemoglobin gene is associated with the Arab-Indian haplotype. Using candidate gene, genome-wide association studies and next-generation sequencing to understand the genetic determinants of sickle cell disease heterogeneity, Dr. Steinberg and his coworkers modeled disease severity and selected subphenotypes of disease to discover hitherto unsuspected genetic associations. He has also reimagined the pathophysiologic features of sickle cell anemia, establishing with his collaborators a new widely accepted paradigm that the pathophysiology of sickle cell disease is a combination of both sickle vasoocclusion and intravascular hemolysis that has important prognostic and therapeutic implications. He also reported the first of a new class of hemoglobin disorders, the thalassemic hemoglobinopathies, wherein a single exonic mutation causes both a variant hemoglobin but also phenotype of thalassemia because of hemoglobin hyper-instability and catabolism.

Other Positions

  • Professor, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
  • Professor, Pediatrics, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
  • Member, Center for Regenerative Medicine, Boston University
  • Member, Center of Excellence in Sickle Cell Disease, Boston University
  • Member, Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research, Boston University
  • Member, Genome Science Institute, Boston University
  • Graduate Faculty (Primary Mentor of Grad Students), Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Graduate Medical Sciences

Education

  • Tufts University School of Medicine, MD
  • Cornell University, AB

Publications

  • Published on 11/21/2023

    Heitzer AM, Rashkin SR, Trpchevska A, Longoria JN, Rampersaud E, Olufadi Y, Wang WC, Raches D, Potter B, Steinberg MH, King AA, Kang G, Takemoto CM, Hankins JS. Catechol-O-methyltransferase gene (COMT) is associated with neurocognitive functioning in patients with sickle cell disease. Curr Res Transl Med. 2023 Nov 21; 72(2):103433. PMID: 38244277.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 7/14/2023

    Steinberg MH, Gladwin MT. "Severity" in adult sickle cell disease. Am J Hematol. 2023 Oct; 98(10):1508-1511. PMID: 37449407.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 5/12/2023

    Ribeil JA, Pollock G, Frangoul H, Steinberg MH. An integrated therapeutic approach to sickle cell disease management beyond infancy. Am J Hematol. 2023 Jul; 98(7):1087-1096. PMID: 37170801.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 11/30/2022

    Sebastiani P, Steinberg MH. Fetal hemoglobin per erythrocyte (HbF/F-cell) after gene therapy for sickle cell anemia. Am J Hematol. 2023 Feb; 98(2):E32-E34. PMID: 36420999.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 10/17/2022

    Cyrus C, Vatte C, Al-Nafie A, Chathoth S, Akhtar MS, Darwish M, Almohazey D, AlDubayan SH, Steinberg MH, Al-Ali A. miRNA Expression Associated with HbF in Saudi Sickle Cell Anemia. Medicina (Kaunas). 2022 Oct 17; 58(10). PMID: 36295630.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 9/8/2022

    Minniti C, Brugnara C, Steinberg MH. HbSC disease: A time for progress. Am J Hematol. 2022 Nov; 97(11):1390-1393. PMID: 36073655.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 7/1/2022

    Steinberg MH. World Sickle Cell Day 2022: Progress & prospects. Indian J Med Res. 2022 Jul; 156(1):10-13. PMID: 35946231.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 4/26/2022

    Steinberg MH. Targeting fetal hemoglobin expression to treat ß hemoglobinopathies. Expert Opin Ther Targets. 2022 Apr; 26(4):347-359. PMID: 35418266.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 3/19/2022

    Steinberg MH. Fetal hemoglobin in ß hemoglobinopathies: Is enough too much? Am J Hematol. 2022 Jun 01; 97(6):676-678. PMID: 35253929.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 3/15/2022

    Heitzer AM, Longoria J, Rampersaud E, Rashkin SR, Estepp JH, Okhomina VI, Wang WC, Raches D, Potter B, Steinberg MH, King AA, Kang G, Hankins JS. Fetal hemoglobin modulates neurocognitive performance in sickle cell anemia?,??. Curr Res Transl Med. 2022 Jul; 70(3):103335. PMID: 35303690.

    Read at: PubMed

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