Daniel Philip Judge, MD

Daniel P. Judge, M.D. graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1993, followed by his post-graduate training in medicine and cardiology at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He then joined the faculty at Johns Hopkins in 2000. With the help of generous donations, Dr. Judge started the cardiovascular genetics program at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) in 2002, which officially became the Center for Inherited Heart Disease in 2006. Dr. Judge is currently an Associate Professor of Medicine in Cardiology and the Medical Director of the JHU Center for Inherited Heart Disease. He is active as a faculty member in patient care, research, and teaching with an overall focus on cardiovascular genetics.

Dr. Judges current research efforts include his work in inherited forms of heart disease that cause cardiomyopathy, heart failure, or structural heart problems. His clinical efforts extend from the evaluation of asymptomatic people at risk of inherited heart conditions to the management of end-stage heart failure and cardiac transplantation. His research is also focused on cardiovascular genetic disorders and on translating basic research discoveries into clinical practice. One area of his research is to understand the role of genetic mutations in Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Dysplasia (ARVD), an inherited heart condition that results in sudden cardiac death and right ventricular heart dysfunction. Although some funding has been provided by the National Institute of Health (NIH), additional funding is needed to more thoroughly investigate the following: 1) Development of novel genetic methods to identify causes of inherited forms of heart disease. This study will help faculty recognize causes of inherited heart disease, with the goal of developing better (individualized) treatments. 2) Treatment of cardiomyopathy and heart failure that accompanies certain forms of muscular dystrophy. 3) Treatment of inherited amyloidosis, a disorder that causes cardiomyopathy and heart failure. Dr Judge is testing new medications for people with this condition.

Dr. Judges laboratory is also working on treatments to improve cell division in the heart, in order to recover after heart attacks or other forms of cardiomyopathy. With the help of several generous donations, his laboratory was recently able to identify and characterize a new factor that influences cell division in the heart. He is working to modulate this factor as a potential treatment for heart failure. And Dr. Judge has a long-standing interest in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and inherited heart valve conditions. His laboratory is investigating causes for these conditions, with a goal of recognizing better treatments. The new ground-breaking genetic work is essential to the future of cardiovascular medicine.