Skip to main content

Cinthia Beskow Drachenberg, MD

Academic Title:

Professor

Primary Appointment:

Pathology

Additional Title:

Director Electron Microscopy Laboratory

Location:

UMMC, NBW49

Phone (Primary):

(410) 328-5560

Fax:

(410) 328-5508

Education and Training

Education:

1982: M.D., National University of the Northeast, Corrientes, Argentina, Physician Surgeon

Residency:

1987-1991: Pathology Resident, Univ. of Maryland Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland
1989-1991: Chief Resident, Pathology, Univ. of Maryland Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland
1991-1992: Surgical Pathology Fellowship, University of Maryland Hospital, with concurrent Renal Pathology Elective, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington, DC

Biosketch

Dr. Drachenberg is the primary renal and pancreas transplant pathologist at the University of Maryland Transplant Program since 1992 and Director of the Department of Pathology Electron Microscopy Laboratory since 1998.  Her main areas of expertise in the area of renal transplantation are: polyomavirus allograft nephropathy, the contribution of electron microscopy to the diagnosis of antibody mediated allograft rejection and chronic allograft rejection.  In the area of pancreas transplantation, Dr. Drachenberg has lead the groups that defined the clinicopathological guidelines for the diagnosis of acute and chronic T-cell mediated and antibody mediated allograft rejections.  More recently she is working on the identification of morphological correlations to partial and complete pancreatic islet failure after transplantation.  Dr. Drachenberg has authored more than 200 peer reviewed scientific articles and multiple book chapters on the pathology of renal and pancreas transplantation.  

Research/Clinical Keywords

Solid Organ Transplantation (Kidney, Pancreas, Liver), Acute Rejection, Chronic Rejection and Recurrence of Primary Diseases, Viral Infections in Organ Transplants. BK polyomavirus.

Highlighted Publications

Complete List of Published Work in MyBibliography.

Research Interests

1. Main area of expertise, renal transplantation with participation in the development of the Banff grading schemas for renal allograft rejection.

A: Haas M, Sis B, Racusen LC, Solez K, Glotz D, Colvin RB, Castro MC, David DS, David-Neto E, Bagnasco SM, Cendales LC, Cornell LD, Demetris AJ, Drachenberg CB, Farver CF, Farris AB 3rd, Gibson IW, Kraus E, Liapis H, Loupy A, Nickeleit V, Randhawa P, Rodriguez ER, Rush D, Smith RN, Tan CD, Wallace WD, Mengel M; Banff meeting report writing committee. Banff 2013 meeting report: inclusion of c4d-negative antibody-mediated rejection and antibody-associated arterial lesions. Am J Transplant. 2014 Feb;14(2):272-83. doi: 10.1111/ajt.12590. Erratum in: Am J Transplant. 2015 Oct;15(10):2784. Rangel, Erika [corrected to Rangel, Erika B]. PubMed PMID: 24472190.

B: Mengel M, Sis B, Haas M, Colvin RB, Halloran PF, Racusen LC, Solez K, Cendales L, Demetris AJ, Drachenberg CB, Farver CF, Rodriguez ER, Wallace WD, Glotz D; Banff meeting report writing committee. Banff 2011 Meeting report: new concepts in antibody-mediated rejection. Am J Transplant. 2012 Mar;12(3):563-70. doi:10.1111/j.1600-6143.2011.03926.x. Epub 2012 Feb 2. PubMed PMID: 22300494; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3728651.

C: Solez K, Colvin RB, Racusen LC, Sis B, Halloran PF, Birk PE, Campbell PM, Cascalho M, Collins AB, Demetris AJ, Drachenberg CB, Gibson IW, Grimm PC, Haas M, Lerut E, Liapis H, Mannon RB, Marcus PB, Mengel M, Mihatsch MJ, Nankivell BJ, Nickeleit V, Papadimitriou JC, Platt JL, Randhawa P, Roberts I, Salinas-Madriga L, Salomon DR, Seron D, Sheaff M, Weening JJ. Banff '05 Meeting Report: differential diagnosis of chronic allograft injury and elimination of chronic allograft nephropathy ('CAN'). Am J Transplant. 2007 Mar;7(3):518-26. PubMed PMID: 17352710.

D: Solez K, Colvin RB, Racusen LC, Haas M, Sis B, Mengel M, Halloran PF, Baldwin W, Banfi G, Collins AB, Cosio F, David DS, Drachenberg C, Einecke G, Fogo AB, Gibson IW, Glotz D, Iskandar SS, Kraus E, Lerut E, Mannon RB, Mihatsch M, Nankivell BJ, Nickeleit V, Papadimitriou JC, Randhawa P, Regele H, Renaudin K, Roberts I, Seron D, Smith RN, Valente M. Banff 07 classification of renal allograft pathology: updates and future directions. Am J Transplant. 2008 Apr;8(4):753-60. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-6143.2008.02159.x. Epub 2008 Feb 19. PubMed PMID: 18294345.

E: Solez K, Benediktsson H, Cavallo T, Croker B, Demetris AJ, Drachenberg C, Emancipator S, Furness PN, Gaber LW, Gibson IW, Gough J, Gupta R, Halloran P, Häyry P, Kashgarian M, Marcussen N, Massy ZA, Mihatsch MJ, Morozumi K, Noronha I, Olsen S, Papadimitriou J, Paul LC, Picken M, Racusen LC, Ramos EL, Randhawa P, Rayner DC, Rush D, Sanfilippo F, Taskinen E, Trpkov K, Truong L, Yamaguchi Y, Yilmaz S. Report of the Third Banff Conference on Allograft Pathology (July 20-24, 1995) on classification and lesion scoring in renal allograft pathology. Transplant Proc. 1996 Feb;28(1):441-4. PubMed PMID: 8644308. F: Sis B, Mengel M, Haas M, Colvin RB, Halloran PF, Racusen LC, Solez K, Baldwin WM 3rd, Bracamonte ER, Broecker V, Cosio F, Demetris AJ, Drachenberg C, Einecke G, Gloor J, Glotz D, Kraus E, Legendre C, Liapis H, Mannon RB, Nankivell BJ, Nickeleit V, Papadimitriou JC, Randhawa P, Regele H, Renaudin K, Rodriguez ER, Seron D, Seshan S, Suthanthiran M, Wasowska BA, Zachary A, Zeevi A. Banff '09 meeting report: antibody mediated graft deterioration and implementation of Banff working groups. Am J Transplant. 2010 Mar;10(3):464-71. doi:10.1111/j.1600-6143.2009.02987.x. Epub 2010 Jan 29. PubMed PMID: 20121738.

G: Racusen LC, Solez K, Colvin RB, Bonsib SM, Castro MC, Cavallo T, Croker BP, Demetris AJ, Drachenberg CB, Fogo AB, Furness P, Gaber LW, Gibson IW, Glotz D, Goldberg JC, Grande J, Halloran PF, Hansen HE, Hartley B, Hayry PJ, Hill CM, Hoffman EO, Hunsicker LG, Lindblad AS, Yamaguchi Y, et al. The Banff 97 working classification of renal allograft pathology. Kidney Int. 1999 Feb;55(2):713-23. PubMed PMID: 9987096.

2. In the area of pancreas transplantation, leader of the the multidisciplinary discussion groups defining the morphological findings and clinicopathological correlation of pancreas allograft rejection.

A) Drachenberg CB, Torrealba JR, Nankivell BJ, Rangel EB, Bajema IM, Kim DU, Arend L, Bracamonte ER, Bromberg JS, Bruijn JA, Cantarovich D, Chapman JR, Farris AB, Gaber L, Goldberg JC, Haririan A, Honsová E, Iskandar SS, Klassen DK, Kraus E, Lower F, Odorico J, Olson JL, Mittalhenkle A, Munivenkatappa R, Paraskevas S, Papadimitriou JC, Randhawa P, Reinholt FP, Renaudin K, Revelo P, Ruiz P, Samaniego MD, Shapiro R, Stratta RJ, Sutherland DE, Troxell ML, Voska L, Seshan SV, Racusen LC, Bartlett ST. Guidelines for the diagnosis of antibody-mediated rejection in pancreasallografts-updated Banff grading schema. Am J Transplant. 2011 Sep;11(9):1792-802. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-6143.2011.03670.x.

B) Drachenberg CB, Odorico J, Demetris AJ, Arend L, Bajema IM, Bruijn JA, Cantarovich D, Cathro HP, Chapman J, Dimosthenous K, Fyfe-Kirschner B, Gaber L, Gaber O, Goldberg J, Honsová E, Iskandar SS, Klassen DK, Nankivell B, Papadimitriou JC, Racusen LC, Randhawa P, Reinholt FP, Renaudin K, Revelo PP, Ruiz P, Torrealba JR, Vazquez-Martul E, Voska L, Stratta R, Bartlett ST, Sutherland DE. Banff schema for grading pancreas allograft rejection: working proposal by a multi-disciplinary international consensus panel. Am J Transplant. 2008 Jun;8(6):1237-49. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-6143.2008.02212.x.

C) de Kort, H., et al., Pancreas allograft biopsies with positive c4d staining and anti-donor antibodies related to worse outcome for patients. Am J Transplant. 2010 10(7): p. 1660-7.

3. In the area of polyomavirus infection in renal transplant patients a main contributions has been to schematize the patterns of polyomavirus nephropathy and describe in clinical samples the morphological process of viral cell entry.

A: Alexiev BA, Randhawa P, Drachenberg CB, Papadimitriou JC. BK virus-associated urinary bladder carcinoma in transplant recipients: productive or nonproductive polyomavirus infections in tumor cells?--reply. Hum Pathol. 2013 Dec;44(12):2871-2. doi: 10.1016/j.humpath.2013.08.018. PubMed PMID: 24262021

B: Papadimitriou JC, Randhawa P, Rinaldo CH, Drachenberg CB, Alexiev B, Hirsch HH. BK Polyomavirus Infection and Renourinary Tumorigenesis. Am J Transplant. 2016 Feb;16(2):398-406. doi: 10.1111/ajt.13550. Epub 2016 Jan 5. PubMed PMID: 26731714.

C: Alexiev BA, Randhawa P, Vazquez Martul E, Zeng G, Luo C, Ramos E, Drachenberg CB, Papadimitriou JC. BK virus-associated urinary bladder carcinoma in transplant recipients: report of 2 cases, review of the literature, and proposed pathogenetic model. Hum Pathol. 2013 May;44(5):908-17. doi: 10.1016/j.humpath.2012.09.019. Epub 2013 Jan 11. Review. PubMed PMID: 23317548.

D: Drachenberg CB, Hirsch HH, Ramos E, Papadimitriou JC. Polyomavirus disease in renal transplantation: review of pathological findings and diagnostic methods. Hum Pathol. 2005 Dec;36(12):1245-55. Epub 2005 Oct 19. Review. PubMed PMID: 16311117.

E: Hirsch HH, Drachenberg CB, Steiger J, Ramos E. Polyomavirus-associated nephropathy in renal transplantation: critical issues of screening and management. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2006;577:160-73. Review. PubMed PMID: 16626034.

F: Drachenberg CB, Hirsch HH, Papadimitriou JC, Gosert R, Wali RK, Munivenkatappa R, Nogueira J, Cangro CB, Haririan A, Mendley S, Ramos E. Polyomavirus BK versus JC replication and nephropathy in renal transplant recipients: a prospective evaluation. Transplantation. 2007 Aug 15;84(3):323-30. PubMed PMID: 17700156.

G: Drachenberg CB, Papadimitriou JC, Ramos E. Histologic versus molecular diagnosis of BK polyomavirus-associated nephropathy: a shifting paradigm? Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2006 May;1(3):374-9. Epub 2006 Feb 8. Review. PubMed PMID: 17699234.

H: Hirsch HH, Brennan DC, Drachenberg CB, Ginevri F, Gordon J, Limaye AP, Mihatsch MJ, Nickeleit V, Ramos E, Randhawa P, Shapiro R, Steiger J, Suthanthiran M, Trofe J. Polyomavirus-associated nephropathy in renal transplantation: interdisciplinary analyses and recommendations. Transplantation. 2005 May 27;79(10):1277-86. Review. PubMed PMID: 15912088.

I: Drachenberg CB, Beskow CO, Cangro CB, Bourquin PM, Simsir A, Fink J, Weir MR, Klassen DK, Bartlett ST, Papadimitriou JC. Human polyoma virus in renal allograft biopsies: morphological findings and correlation with urine cytology. Hum Pathol. 1999 Aug;30(8):970-7. PubMed PMID: 10452511.

J: Drachenberg CB, Papadimitriou JC, Wali R, Cubitt CL, Ramos E. BK polyoma virus allograft nephropathy: ultrastructural features from viral cell entry to lysis. Am J Transplant. 2003 Nov;3(11):1383-92. PubMed PMID: 14525599.

K: Drachenberg RC, Drachenberg CB, Papadimitriou JC, Ramos E, Fink JC, Wali R, Weir MR, Cangro CB, Klassen DK, Khaled A, Cunningham R, Bartlett ST. Morphological spectrum of polyoma virus disease in renal allografts: diagnostic accuracy of urine cytology. Am J Transplant. 2001 Nov;1(4):373-81. PubMed PMID: 12099383.

L: Drachenberg CB, Papadimitriou JC, Hirsch HH, Wali R, Crowder C, Nogueira J, Cangro CB, Mendley S, Mian A, Ramos E. Histological patterns of polyomavirus nephropathy: correlation with graft outcome and viral load. Am J Transplant. 2004 Dec;4(12):2082-92. PubMed PMID: 15575913.

4.Over the last 7 years collaboration with  a group studying the role of muscarinic receptors in small and large intestinal tumors. 

A) Cheng K, Xie G, Khurana S, Heath J, Drachenberg CB, Timmons J, Shah N, Raufman JP. Divergent effects of muscarinic receptor subtype gene ablation on murine colon tumorigenesis reveals association of M3R and zinc finger protein 277 expression in colon neoplasia. Mol Cancer. 2014 Apr 3;13:77. doi: 10.1186/1476-4598-13-77.

B) von Rosenvinge EC, Cheng K, Drachenberg CB, Fowler CB, Evers DL, Xie G, Raufman JP. Bedside to bench: role of muscarinic receptor activation in ultrarapid growth of colorectal cancer in a patient with pheochromocytoma. Mayo Clin Proc. 2013 Nov;88(11):1340-6.

C) Peng, Z, Heath, J, Drachenberg, C, Raufman JP and Xie, G: Cholinergic muscarinic receptor activation augments murine intestinal epithelial cell proliferation and tumorigenesis. BMC Cancer 2013 Apr 24;13:204

D). Raufman JP, Shant J, Xie G, Cheng K, Gao XM, Shiu B, Shah N, Drachenberg CB, Heath J, Wess J, Khurana S. Muscarinic receptor subtype-3 gene ablation and scopolamine butylbromide treatment attenuate small intestinal neoplasia in Apcmin/+ mice. Carcinogenesis. 2011 Sep;32(9):1396-402.

E) Khurana, S., et al., Scopolamine treatment and muscarinic receptor subtype-3 gene ablation augment azoxymethane-induced murine liver injury. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2010 333(3): p. 639-49.

F) Cheng, K., et al., Acetylcholine release by human colon cancer cells mediates autocrine stimulation of cell proliferation. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol, 2008. 295(3): p. G591-7

5. Collaborated in multiple clinical studies of gastrointestinal diseases, including liver processes.

A). Khurana, S., et al., Scopolamine treatment and muscarinic receptor subtype-3 gene ablation augment azoxymethane-induced murine liver injury. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2010 333(3): p. 639-49.

B) Khurana, S., et al., Dialysis reduces portal pressure in patients with chronic hepatitis C. Artif Organs.2010 34(7): p. 570-9.

C) Aslinia FM, Wasan SK, Mindikoglu AL, Adeyemo OA, Philosophe B, Drachenberg C, Howell CD. End- stage renal disease and African American race are independent predictors of mild liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C infection. J Viral Hepat. 2012 May;19(5):371-6.

D) Crosse, K., et al., Racial differences in liver inflammation and fibrosis related to chronic hepatitis C. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol, 2004. 2(6): p. 463-8.

E) Kennedy, A.S., et al., Pathologic response and microdosimetry of (90)Y microspheres in man: review of four explanted whole livers. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys, 2004. 60(5): p. 1552-63.

F) Regev, A., et al., Reliability of histopathologic assessment for the differentiation of recurrent hepatitis C from acute rejection after liver transplantation. Liver Transpl, 2004. 10(10): p. 1233-9.

G) Hopkins, R.J., et al., Loss of Helicobacter pylori hemagglutination with serial laboratory passage and correlation of hemagglutination with gastric epithelial cell adherence. Pathobiology, 1996. 64(5): p. 247-54.

H) Melis, M., et al., Full thickness transanal re-excision following endoscopic removal of malignant rectal polyps. Int J Colorectal Dis, 2009. 24(5): p. 531-6.

Awards and Affiliations

  • 1980, 1981: Scholarship award for academic performance – NationalUniversity of the Northeast, Corrientes, Argentina
  • 1982: Magna Cum LaudeSchool of Medicine, National University of Northeast, Corrientes, Argentina
  • 1998: Recognition for service and interest in science. NCRR K-12 Program. NIH.
  • 2001: Best attending pathologist and teacher in anatomic pathology. In recognition for outstanding efforts in resident education.
  • 2002-2003: Faculty Teaching Award in Pathophysiology & Therapeutics Course (Gastroenterology-Hematopathology Unit), Class of 2005
  • 2002-2003: Faculty Teaching Award in Pathophysiology & Therapeutics Course (Nephrology-Endocrinology Unit), Class of 2005

 

  • 1990-1991: Clinical OncologyFellowshipUniversity of MarylandSchool of Medicine
  • 1992-1996: Assistant Professor, University of MarylandSchool of Medicine
  • 1996-2001: Associate Professor, University of MarylandSchool of Medicine
  • 7/1/01-present: Professor, University of MarylandSchool of Medicine