Justin Berger, MD, PhD is an attending physician in the Division of Cardiology on the Pediatric Heart Failure and Transplantation service. His research and clinical interests focus on the development of pediatric heart failure and underlying metabolic causes. Dr. Berger sees infants, children and young adults for general pediatric cardiology as well as heart failure, cardiomyopathy and heart transplant.
Dr. Berger’s research focuses on how metabolic dysregulation drives cardiac dysfunction. He has particular interest in cardiomyocyte lipid homeostasis relevant to heart failure with emphasis on obesity-driven diastolic heart failure, a common entity in many forms of pediatric heart failure. This work combined basic science models with translational approaches, and has been supported by multiple intramural and NIH grants. Dr. Berger has also published on genetic causes of pediatric cardiomyopathy, risk factors for dyslipidemia in congenital heart disease, and appropriate lipid screening in these populations.
MD - Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University, Bronx, NY
Pediatrics - Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
Pediatrics - Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
Pediatric Heart Failure and Transplantation - Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
Pediatric Cardiology - Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
Pediatric Cardiology – American Board of PediatricsPediatrics – American Board of Pediatrics
PhD in Biochemistry - Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University, Bronx, NY
Attending Physician
Instructor in Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Berger JH, Faerber JA, Chen F, Lin KY, Brothers JA, O’Byrne ML. Adherence with lipid screening guidelines in children with acquired and congenital heart disease: An observational study using data from The Marketscan Commercial and Medicaid Databases. J Amer Heart Assoc, 2022 Apr 5: 11 (7):e024197. PMID 35301862; PMC9075474
Abath Neto OL, Medne L, Donkervoort S, Rodríguez-García ME, Hu Y, Guadagnin E, Foley AR, Brandsema JF, Glanzman AM, Tennekoon GI, Santi M, Berger JH, Megeney LA, Komaki H, Inoue M, Cotrina-Vinagre FJ, Hernández-Lain A, Martin-Hernández E, Williams L, Borell S, Schorling D, Lin K, Kolokotronis K, Lichter-Konecki U, Kirschner J, Nishino I, Banwell B, Martínez-Azorín F, Burgon PG, Bönnemann CG. MLIP causes recessive myopathy with rhabdomyolysis, myalgia, and baseline high serum creatine kinase. Brain. 2021 Oct 22;144(9):2722-2731. PMID: 34581780; PMC8536936.
Ritter A, Berger JH, Deardorff M, Izumi K, Lin KY, Medne L, and Ahrens-Nicklas RC. Variants in NAA15 cause pediatric hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Am J Med Genet A. 2021 Jan;185(1):228-233. doi: 10.1002/ajmg.a.61928. Epub 2020 Oct 26. PMID: 33103328. PMC8007079
Berger JH, Chen F, Faerber JA, O’Byrne ML, Brothers JA. Adherence with lipid screening guidelines in standard- and high-risk children and adolescents. Am Heart J. 2020 Oct 24; 232:39-46. PMID: 33229294. PMC7854880
Ritter A, Bedoukian, E, Berger JH, Copenheaver D, Gray C, Krantz ID, Izumi K, Juusola J, Leonard J, Lin KY, Medne L, Santani A, Skraban C, Yang S, and Ahrens-Nicklas RC. Clinical utility of exome sequencing in infantile heart failure. Genet Med 22, 423–426 (2020). PMID: 31527676. PMC7339672
Ahrens-Nicklas RC, Pappas CT, Farman G, Mayfield R, Larrinaga T, Medne L, Ritter A, Krantz ID, Murali C, Lin KY, Berger JH, Yum SW, Carreon CK, and Gregorio CG. Disruption of cardiac thin filament assembly arising from a mutation in LMOD2: a novel mechanism of neonatal dilated cardiomyopathy. Science Advances. 2019; 4;5 (9). PMID: 31517052. PMC6726455
Berger, JH, Charron MJ, Silver DL. Major Facilitator Superfamily Domain-containing protein 2a (MFSD2A) has roles in body growth, motor function, and lipid metabolism. PLoS ONE. 2012; 7:e50629. PMID: 23209793.
Berger JH. “Use of SGLT2 inhibitors in Pediatric Heart Failure,” CHOP Senior Transplant Fellow lecture series. Aug 2022.
Berger JH. “Role for SGLT2i in pediatric heart disease and cardiomyopathies,” JFCM Meeting. June 2022.
Berger JH. “Clinical practice variation of statin use in pediatric heart transplantation,” ISHLT 2022 Meeting Oral Abstract. Apr 2022.
Berger JH. “Role of MondoA in the metabolic development of diastolic heart failure,” CHOP Division of Cardiology T32 Research seminar series. Dec 2021.
Berger JH. “Harnessing the EHR to improve cardiovascular risk assessment,” CHOP Cardiac Center QI Forum. Nov 2021.
Berger JH. “Returning to lab as a young physician-scientist,” CHOP Physician-Scientist Program Fall meeting. Oct 2021.
Berger JH. “Shared decision-making in pediatric HCM – Adjusting to the updated 2020 guidelines,” JFCM Meeting. June 2021.
2022, ISHLT2022 Annual Meeting Travel Award
2021, CHOP Department of Pediatrics Fellow Research Lectureship
2019, CHOP Cardiac Center Research Award
2014, Edward Weinstein Award for Outstanding Scholarship and Human Commitment, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
2013, Dean’s Recognition Award, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
2004, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Fellow, Bowdoin College
2021-present, Ad Hoc reviewer, Cardiology in the Young
2020-present, Ad Hoc reviewer, Pediatrics
2020-present, Ad Hoc reviewer, Pediatrics in Review
2020-present, Ad Hoc reviewer, American Heart Journal
2020-present, Ad Hoc reviewer, Journal of Pediatric Genetics
2020-present, Ventricular Assist Device Committee2
2019-present, Cardiac Center QI working group: Improving Cardiovascular Risk Factor Screening in the Outpatient Cardiology Setting
2022-present, International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation
2020-present, Advanced Cardiac Therapies Improving Outcomes Network (ACTION)
2019-present, American Heart Association, Council on Cardiovascular Disease in the Young
2014-present, American Academy of Pediatrics