Multidisciplinary Immune Dysregulation and Autoimmunity Syndrome (MIDAS) Clinic and Discovery Program

The Multidisciplinary Immune Dysregulation and Autoimmunity Syndrome (MIDAS) Clinic and Discovery Program is a multidisciplinary clinic and research program for children with immune dysregulatory syndromes. Founded by experts in rheumatology and immunology at Boston Children’s Hospital, the MIDAS Clinic is the first immune dysregulatory clinic in the country.

The MIDAS Clinic primarily provides consulting services. We work in collaboration with patients’ primary managing teams to provide recommendations. If needed, we may partner with a child’s care team in their ongoing care and follow-up.

Because immune dysregulation can lead to complications in multiple organ systems, appropriate treatment requires a team of experts with specialized knowledge of how immune dysregulation may affect particular organ systems or evolve over time.

The MIDAS Clinic is unique in that we have a fully integrated team of experts with the knowledge and skills necessary to diagnose immune dysregulation and the many different ways it affects patients. We diagnose, treat, and coordinate care for the complex needs of our patients, regardless of which organ systems are affected.

Moreover, we strive to offer each child a personalized therapeutic plan suited to their specific immune dysregulation-related condition. We also work to identify and define novel genetic causes of immune regulatory disorders. Through this work, we can better understand both normal and abnormal immune functioning and devise appropriate therapies for each patient.

Our team is made up of specialists from a wide array of fields, all with expertise in immune dysregulation. This includes:

• Rheumatology
• Immunology
• Hematology
• Gastroenterology
• Neuroimmunology
• Pulmonology
• Endocrinology

We also have dedicated specialists in:

• Bone marrow transplantation
• Infectious diseases

The unifying focus of the diverse specialists on our team is the diagnosis and management of complex immune dysregulation affecting numerous organ systems. In most cases, we recommend a care plan that is then carried out by the patient’s primary care team.

We are dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of immune dysregulatory disorders, including newly discovered and not yet identified disorders.

Many of the children we see have multiple autoimmune issues (the immune system makes a misdirected response against several organ systems, which may include the skin, joints, endocrine glands, blood cells, and gastrointestinal tract.) They may also experience frequent or unusual infections if immune deficiency interferes with their immune system’s ability to defend against bacteria, viruses, and other germs.

Some of the most common disease processes we diagnose and treat include:

• Aicardi Goutieres syndrome
• APS1, AIRE mutations, APECED, and APECED-like disease
• Autoimmune Lymphoproliferative Syndrome (ALPS)
• CTLA4 deficiency
• Evans syndrome
• IPEX and IPEX-like syndromes
• LRBA deficiency
• STAT5b
• STAT1 GOF mutations
• STAT3 GOF mutations