Victoria L.M. Herrera MD
Professor, Cardiovascular Medicine
Graduate Faculty (Primary Mentor of Grad Students)
700 Albany St | (617) 638-4020vherrera@bu.edu

Sections
Cardiovascular Medicine
Centers
Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute
Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research
Biography
Victoria Herrera, MD, is a Professor of Medicine at Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute, Associate Director for Medicine at BU Nanotechnology Innovation Center. Dr. Herrera is a graduate of the University of the Philippines College of Medicine - magna cum laude, and former Visiting International Fellow at Harvard University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. She completed Pediatrics Residencey at Univerfity of Massachusetts Medical Center and Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School; Fellowship in Pediatric Cardiology and Molecular Cardiology at Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Hypertension Molecular Genetics at Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine. Dr. Herrera serves as reviewer for Journals and for the NIH: former CVB Cardiovascular Study Section member, Hypertension Study Section, and current ad hoc reviewer for Cancer BioTherapeutics and Development SBIR Study Section. Dr. Herrera is co-inventor in multiple patents on novel targeted therapies for cancer and stroke, and nanodelivery systems.
As an NIH physician scientist awardee, research interests focus on the understanding of molecular bases of complex diseases via translational research coupled with animal modeling that recapitulate complex disease phenotypes respectively with spontaneous progression to end-organ disease and comorbidities. These animal modeling insights provide novel approaches to identification and testing of novel therapeutic and/or theranostic paradigms prioritized for their respective potentials to become clinically relevant game changers. Research expertise span the integration of basic and clinical sciences, translation of nanotechnologies into nanomedicines, and the design of clinically relevant preclinical and translational efficacy and safety studies relevant to novel approaches for ARDS, Covid19-ARDS, stroke, cardiovascular disease and cancer.
A graduate of the University of the Philippines College of Medicine, Dr. Herrera served as the founding scientific advisor to the Philippine General Hospital Child Protection Unity and the Child Protection Network in the Philippines.
Websites
Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute's Training Program
Education
MD, University of the Philippines
BS, University of the Philippines
Publications
Cross AL, Wright HL, Choi J, Edwards SW, Ruiz-Opazo N, Herrera VLM. Circulating neutrophil extracellular trap-forming neutrophils in rheumatoid arthritis exacerbation are majority dual endothelin-1/signal peptide receptor+ subtype. Clin Exp Immunol. 2024 Oct 16; 218(2):163-168. PMID: 39110036.
Published on 4/18/2023Herrera VLM, Bosch NA, Lok JJ, Nguyen MQ, Lenae KA, deKay JT, Ryzhov SV, Seder DB, Ruiz-Opazo N, Walkey AJ. Circulating neutrophil extracellular trap (NET)-forming 'rogue' neutrophil subset, immunotype [DEspR?+?CD11b?+], mediate multi-organ failure in COVID-19-an observational study. Transl Med Commun. 2023; 8(1):12. PMID: 37096233.
Published on 2/15/2023Herrera VLM, Gromisch CM, Decano JL, Pasion KA, Tan GLA, Hua N, Takahashi CE, Greer DM, Ruiz-Opazo N. Anti-DEspR antibody treatment improves survival and reduces neurologic deficits in a hypertensive, spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (hsICH) rat model. Sci Rep. 2023 Feb 15; 13(1):2703. PMID: 36792616.
Published on 2/1/2023Herrera VLM, Bosch NA, Lok JJ, Nguyen MQ, Lenae KA, deKay JT, Ryzhov SV, Seder DB, Ruiz-Opazo N, Walkey AJ. Circulating neutrophil extracellular trap (NET)-forming 'rogue' neutrophil subset, immunotype [DEspR+CD11b+], mediate multi-organ failure in COVID-19 - an observational study. Res Sq. 2023 Feb 01. PMID: 36778407.
Published on 11/7/2022Whitaker RD, Decano JL, Gormley C, Beigie CA, Meisel C, Tan GA, Moran AM, Giordano NJ, Park Y, Huang P, Andersson S, Gantz D, Grant AK, Ruiz-Opazo N, Herrera VLM, Wong JY. Janus USPION modular platform (JUMP) for theranostic ultrasound-mediated targeted intratumoral microvascular imaging and DNA/miRNA delivery. Theranostics. 2022; 12(18):7646-7667. PMID: 36451861.
Published on 10/4/2022Carstensen S, Müller M, Tan GLA, Pasion KA, Hohlfeld JM, Herrera VLM, Ruiz-Opazo N. "Rogue" neutrophil-subset [DEspR+CD11b+/CD66b+] immunotype is an actionable therapeutic target for neutrophilic inflammation-mediated tissue injury - studies in human, macaque and rat LPS-inflammation models. Front Immunol. 2022; 13:1008390. PMID: 36275710.
Published on 7/25/2022Herrera VLM, Takahashi CE, Nguyen MQ, Mosaddeghi JZ, Denis R, Greer DM, Ruiz-Opazo N. "Rogue" [DEspR+CD11b+] neutrophil subset correlates with severity in spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage. Front Neurol. 2022; 13:935579. PMID: 35959408.
Published on 4/4/2022Herrera VLM, Walkey AJ, Nguyen MQ, Gromisch CM, Mosaddhegi JZ, Gromisch MS, Jundi B, Lukassen S, Carstensen S, Denis R, Belkina AC, Baron RM, Pinilla-Vera M, Mueller M, Kimberly WT, Goldstein JN, Lehmann I, Shih AR, Eils R, Levy BD, Ruiz-Opazo N. A targetable 'rogue' neutrophil-subset, [CD11b+DEspR+] immunotype, is associated with severity and mortality in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and COVID-19-ARDS. Sci Rep. 2022 Apr 04; 12(1):5583. PMID: 35379853.
Published on 11/17/2021deKay JT, Emery IF, Rud J, Eldridge A, Lord C, Gagnon DJ, May TL, Herrera VLM, Ruiz-Opazo N, Riker RR, Sawyer DB, Ryzhov S, Seder DB. DEspRhigh neutrophils are associated with critical illness in COVID-19. Sci Rep. 2021 11 17; 11(1):22463. PMID: 34789851.
Published on 9/13/2021Herrera VLM, Walkey AJ, Nguyen MQ, Gromisch CM, Mosaddhegi JZ, Gromisch MS, Jundi B, Lukassen S, Carstensen S, Denis R, Belkina AC, Baron RM, Pinilla-Vera M, Muller M, Kimberly WT, Goldstein JN, Lehmann I, Shih AR, Eils R, Levy BD, Ruiz-Opazo N. Increased Neutrophil-Subset Associated With Severity/Mortality In ARDS And COVID19-ARDS Expresses The Dual Endothelin-1/VEGFsignal-Peptide Receptor (DEspR): An Actionable Therapeutic Target. Res Sq. 2021 Sep 13. PMID: 34545358.
Media Mentions
Published on 8/22/2024
2024 Ignition Awards Aim to Bring BU Science and Tech to Market
View full list of 1 media mentions.