Allergy-Immunology & Pediatric Rheumatology

Allergy-Immunology

The division of Allergy-Immunology (AI) in the Department of Pediatrics has a long and storied history at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. Comprehensive care for patients of all ages, with a wide range of diseases of allergy-immunology, is provided by our nationally- and internationally-recognized and award-winning allergist-immunologist faculty. Collectively, these faculty have more than 50 years of clinical experience. Clinical and consultation services are available via two outpatient clinical sites, and inpatient at both the Children’s Hospital of Georgia and Augusta University Medical Center. All faculty have dual appointments in the Departments of Pediatrics and Medicine. Complex cases are reviewed at AI section conference, weekly.

The AI section supports a foundational allergy-immunology fellowship program, established in 1977 at the Medical College of Georgia by Drs. Betty B. Wray and Chester T. Stafford, and continuously training new allergist-immunologists for more than 40 years. The program is known throughout the United States and in many parts of the world for state-of-the-art patient care, excellence in academics and clinical research, and for training superb clinician-educators in the subspecialty of allergy-immunology. Graduates of this training program have become leaders and innovators in community practice, and clinician-educators in major medical centers.

The AI section has become an incubator for national organizational leadership and mentorship. Our current faculty collectively have held/hold key leadership positions within the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (ACAAI), American Board of Allergy and Immunology (ABAI), American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (AAAAI), and on the Allergy-Immunology Residency Review Committee (RRC) of the ACGME.

Clinical research and quality improvement are major ongoing foci of the AI section. We support clinical research in the areas of pediatric atopy, asthma, and the microbiome, with numerous publications in this area, and in conjunction with the Georgia Prevention Institute (GPI) at Augusta University which has a focus on rural Georgia. The faculty have co-authored seminal clinical immunology publications and other original research, in addition to major textbook chapters, and review articles. Some of the faculty serve(d) as reviewers and on editorial boards of peer-reviewed national allergy-immunology journals. Our faculty are broadly sought for presentations at state, regional, national and international meetings in the field, on a variety of topics. 

• An elective in allergy-immunology is available to interested pediatric, internal medicine, otolaryngology residents who are in training at Augusta University.
• A space-available month-long elective in allergy-immunology is also possible for external pediatric and internal medicine residents in ACGME-accredited training programs at other institutions. If interested, please contact Ms. Joanie Fichtel, AI Program Administrator, for details well in advance of the anticipated elective timeframe.
• Fourth year medical students at MCG at Augusta University may also select a month-long elective in allergy-immunology. We also welcome the participation of motivated third-year students, as space allows.

Patients