Current Environment:

The Immunology Program at Boston Children’s Hospital evaluates and treats children with various types of immune system disorders. We view educating each patient as one of our most important goals. With each child and family, we discuss the basis of immunodeficiency and the possibilities for avoiding infection.

Primary immunodeficiencies

Our program has a rich history and deep expertise in the discovery, diagnosis, and treatment of primary immunodeficiencies and disorders of immune dysregulation. These complex, inherited conditions impact immune function, and patients with these disorders are susceptible to infections and autoimmunity.

Diagnostic testing and clinical care

Our approach brings together clinicians from services throughout the hospital, integrating leading-edge diagnostic technologies, molecular and cellular principles of immune function, and precision therapeutics. Our clinicians have authored national guidelines for the practice of clinical immunology. We are involved in organizations that support children with primary immunodeficiency diseases and their families including the Immune Deficiency Foundation, the National Primary Immunodeficiency Resource Center, the Jeffrey Modell Foundation, and the New England Primary Immunodeficiency Network.

Immunology Program research and innovation

Even though there are now more than 350 distinct primary immunodeficiency disorders that have been characterized, there is much that remains to be discovered. A number of patients seek to be part of the discovery process. Our physician-scientists are leaders in the discovery of causative mechanisms underlying primary immunodeficiencies. Ultimately, through our translational research, we aim to generate novel diagnostic and therapeutic advances for our patients.