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Our research aims to understand how and why immune dysregulation occurs. The insights we gain enable the development of innovative interventions to improve clinical outcomes and the quality of life for children with immune dysregulation and autoimmunity. Some of the highlights of our recently research are listed below.

Multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C)

Disorders of multiple autoimmunity and immunodeficiency

  • Lauren Henderson, Erin Janssen, Melissa Hazen, Talal Chatila, and colleagues presented the clinical features and outcomes of patients seen in the Multiple Autoimmunity and Immunodeficiency Disorders clinic, published in Clinical Immunology in February 2020.
  • Erin Janssen, Raif S. Geha, and colleagues identified molecular and cellular mechanisms essential for the generation of the antibody response involved in infections and autoimmunity, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation Insight in August 2020.
  • Craig Platt, Raif Geha, Janet Chou, and colleagues published the largest genetic study to date of patients with disorders of immunodeficiency, immune dysregulation, and autoimmunity, in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology in August 2020.

Kawasaki disease

  • Mary Beth Son, Robert Sundel, Jane Newburger in the Department of Cardiology, and colleagues constructed and validated a risk score to predict coronary artery aneurysms at the time of diagnosis of Kawasaki disease, which can be utilized to individually tailor therapy for high-risk children, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association in July 2019.
  • With colleagues in the Department of Cardiology, Mary Beth Son studied the impact of socioeconomic status (SES) on outcomes in Kawasaki disease and found that low SES was associated with delayed treatment and higher risk of large aneurysms, published in Pediatrics in June 2019.
  • Robert Sundel, Jane Newburger, and colleagues demonstrated that high doses of steroids did not improve coronary artery outcomes in children with Kawasaki disease, which was a significant finding published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2007.

Lupus

  • Esra Meidan, Pui Lee, and colleagues contributed to the understanding of lupus by identifying a protein needed for B cell function that may contribute to systemic autoimmunity, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation Insight in March 2020.
  • Mary Beth Son and colleagues assessed a pediatric population of lupus patients and found widespread disability as well as predictors of disability, which included higher pain scores and the presence of arthritis. Building upon prior work assessing disparities in SLE, she found that low income was associated with disability as well. This work was published in Lupus in March 2018.
  • Mindy Lo reviewed important advances in understanding the development of lupus and its treatment, published in Current Opinion in Rheumatology in March 2018.
  • Mary Beth Son, Mindy Lo, and colleagues identified important disparities in clinical outcomes in pediatric lupus patients, including that Black and Hispanic children were more likely to have end stage renal disease and higher in-hospital mortality, in an article published in Pediatrics in 2014.