Mark Puder MD

Mark Puder, MD, PhD, Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts

Mark Puder M.D., PhD is Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and holds the William E. Ladd Chair at Boston Children’s Hospital. He is a leading expert in the field of fatty acid metabolism as it relates to hepatic disease in children and in angiogenesis as it relates to lung growth. The primary work in his laboratory is the study of parenteral nutrition and its toxic effects on the liver.

Through a variety of laboratory investigations within the Puder lab, several approaches for prevention of the liver injury have emerged. One therapy involves the replacement of the lipid emulsion with a second less toxic emulsion that is based on omega 3 fatty acids. This was made available for compassionate use by the FDA to over 300 patients at Boston Children’s Hospital and has received FDA approval. This has reduced the mortality from this disease at Boston Children’s hospital and is now being used in over 100 institutions in the United States and now worldwide. Prior to its use, the main treatment for this fatal complication was extreme lipid reduction, liver or multivisceral transplants. Dr. Puder received his MD from Vanderbilt University and his PhD from Harvard University. He trained in Pediatrics at Yale New Haven, completed his surgical residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital and Pediatric Surgery Fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital. He completed his postdoctoral fellowship under Dr. Judah Folkman. He has won the Jacobson award from the American college of Surgeons and the Stanly Dudrick Research Award from the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition as well as several teaching awards from Harvard Medical School.