Friedhelm Hildebrandt, M.D.

Chief Director of Nephrology at Boston Children’s Hospital
Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Email: friedhelm.hildebrandt@childrens.harvard.edu 

Dr. Friedhelm Hildebrandt is a clinician and investigator who joined the Boston Children’s Hospital after a distinguished career at the University of Michigan. Dr. Hildebrandt’s clinical interests include hereditary renal disease. His laboratory focuses on identifying novel genes mutated in kidney diseases of children, including Nephrotic Syndrome. He has received multiple awards for his research, including the E. Mead Johnson Award for Pediatric Research from the Society for Pediatric Research, the highest research award given in pediatrics.

Dr. Hildebrandt received his M.D. from Heidelberg University in Germany, completed his clinical training in general pediatrics and pediatric nephrology at Freiburg University Children’s Hospital, and conducted postdoctoral research with Peter Aronson and Peter Igarashi at Yale.

Selected Publications

Gee HY, Ashraf S, Wan X, Vega-Warner V, Esteve-Rudd J, Lovric S, Fang H, Hurd TW, Sadowski CE, Allen SJ, Otto EA, Korkmaz E, Washburn J, Levy S, Williams DS, Bakkaloglu SA, Zolotnitskaya A, Ozaltin F, Zhou W, Hildebrandt F. Mutations in EMP2 cause childhood-onset nephrotic syndrome. Am J Hum Genet. 2014; 94(6), 884-890.

Lovric S, Fang H, Vega-Warner V, Sadowski CE, Gee HY, Halbritter J, Ashraf S, Saisawat P, Soliman NA, Kari JA, Otto EA, Hildebrandt F; Nephrotic Syndrome Study Group. Rapid detection of monogenic causes of childhood-onset steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2014; 9(6), 1109-1116.

Bates CM, Charlton JR, Ferris ME, Hildebrandt F, Hoshizaki DK, Warady BA, Moxey-Mims MM; Kidney Research National Dialogue. Pediatric kidney disease: tracking onset and improving clinical outcomes. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2014; 9(6), 1141-1143.

Ashraf S, Gee HY, Woerner S, Xie LX, Vega-Warner V, Lovric S, Fang H, Song X, Cattran DC, Avila-Casado C, Paterson AD, Nitschké P, Bole-Feysot C, Cochat P, Esteve-Rudd J, Haberberger B, Allen SJ, Zhou W, Airik R, Otto EA, Barua M, Al-Hamed MH, Kari JA, Evans J, Bierzynska A, Saleem MA, Böckenhauer D, Kleta R, El Desoky S, Hacihamdioglu DO, Gok F, Washburn J, Wiggins RC, Choi M, Lifton RP, Levy S, Han Z, Salviati L, Prokisch H, Williams DS, Pollak M, Clarke CF, Pei Y, Antignac C, Hildebrandt F. ADCK4 mutations promote steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome through CoQ10 biosynthesis disruption. J Clin Invest. 2013; 123(12), 5179-5189.

Gee HY, Saisawat P, Ashraf S, Hurd TW, Vega-Warner V, Fang H, Beck BB, Gribouval O, Zhou W, Diaz KA, Natarajan S, Wiggins RC, Lovric S, Chernin G, Schoeb DS, Ovunc B, Frishberg Y, Soliman NA, Fathy HM, Goebel H, Hoefele J, Weber LT, Innis JW, Faul C, Han Z, Washburn J, Antignac C, Levy S, Otto EA, Hildebrandt F. ARHGDIA mutations cause nephrotic syndrome via defective RHO GTPase signaling. J Clin Invest. 2013; 123(8), 3243-3253.