Allergy/Immunology and Rheumatology

Our division is actively involved in the education of both residents and medical students. Our fellows play an integral role in educating these rotating trainees.

Our combined fellowship program between the departments of Medicine and Pediatrics allows for strong clinical training and excellent research opportunities across the broad spectrum of allergic and immunologic medicine (asthma, food allergy, atopic dermatitis, primary immunodeficiencies and other allergic conditions).

Pediatric, internal medicine and otolaryngology residents spend 2-4 week electives in our various clinical settings. Residents learn the fundamentals of evaluating patients who have recurrent infections, food allergies, environmental allergies and asthma.

Medical students within our allergy/immunology section have the opportunity for elective rotations in pediatric or adult allergy/immunology as well as a combined pediatric allergy/dermatology and pediatric allergy/rheumatology rotations. In addition, the preclinical immunology course for first-year medical students is taught by our allergy/immunology faculty.

Our rheumatology section provides specialized summer experiences for medical students who have completed their first year of medical school. These summer experiences, funded by the American College of Rheumatology, provide exposure to both clinical and research activities within our section.

We have ongoing research in the mechanisms of action of intravenous immunoglobulin, and the immune-modulating effects of vitamin A and retinoids on B-cell function and dendritic cell maturation. We also have an active research program on the immunobiology of chronic sinusitis.

In rheumatology, our research programs focus on understanding the basic molecular mechanisms leading to therapeutic response in juvenile idiopathic arthritis. We are using these basic studies as a means to understand how we can develop effective biomarkers that will assist in diagnosis or guide therapy. We also have a new research program aimed at understanding how inflammation is regulated at the maternal-fetal interface during pregnancy.  

We are a New York State regional referral center for severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) newborn screening.

We provide services for the clinical evaluation and management of pediatric and adolescent patients with asthma and allergic disease, as well as for patients with a history of recurrent infections and inherited immune deficiency disorders.

Our rheumatology specialists care for a broad range of children with chronic inflammatory/autoimmune diseases, including juvenile idiopathic arthritis arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus and juvenile dermatomyositis. Our board-certified pediatric rheumatologists also organize and coordinate infusion services for children with these diseases who need complex biological therapies.