The Allergy/Immunology Fellowship program offers a wide range of clinical and research experiences to prepare fellows for careers in academic allergy as a clinician, educator or physician scientist, or in private practice.

Allergy/Immunology Fellowship

The IU School of Medicine Allergy/ Immunology Fellowship is an ACGME-accredited two-year program that prepares physicians in the expert care and management of allergy and immunology issues for both children and adults. Allergy/immunology fellows acquire a wide range of clinical and research experiences and are prepared for academic careers as a physician-scientist or clinician-educator. The fellowship produces specialists who excel in patient care skills and diagnostic acumen and who know how to analyze and apply research. On completion of the fellowship, the physician is eligible to sit for the board certification exam of the American Board of Allergy and Immunology.

The Allergy/Immunology Fellowship program is based in the Division of Pediatric Pulmonology, Allergy, and Sleep Medicine, at Riley Hospital for Children.

Clinical and Didactic Experience

Pediatric and adult care experiences in academic, suburban, community and research settings
Training in an array of allergy procedures, including skin prick and intradermal testing, allergen immunotherapy initiation and management, food and drug challenges, immunoglobulin treatment, pulmonary function testing, insect sting testing and use of immune-modulatory therapies
Multidisciplinary high-risk asthma and gastrointestinal eosinophilic digestive diseases clinics
Fellows' continuity clinics
Assessment and care of positive newborn SCIDs screens
Over 200 outpatient food challenges per year at a FARE Center of Clinical Excellence
Drug allergy de-labeling programs, in- and out-patient
Weekly didactic sessions with faculty using allergy and immunology texts and reviews
Journal clubs, case conferences, safety sessions and quality improvement initiatives
Additional training pathways such as the Clinician-Educator Training Pathway or Global Health Pathway
Morris Green Scholars Program

Program Leadership

Apply for Fellowship

Physicians interested in applying for the Allergy/Immunology Fellowship at IU School of Medicine should submit an application through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) and include the following documents: personal statement, CV, three letters of recommendation from medical school faculty members, including one from the residency program director, and medical school transcript (ECFMG Status Report for international medical graduates).

ERAS

Program Curriculum

Program Director

Jay J. Jin, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics

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Kara Welch

Program Coordinator

Associate Program Director

Girish V. Vitalpur, MD

Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics

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See what the Allergy/Immunology Fellowship program has to offer.

A Letter from the Program Director

The IU School of Medicine Allergy/Immunology Fellowship program offers a wide range of clinical and research experiences to prepare fellows for careers in academic allergy as a clinician, educator or physician scientist, or in private practice. Current research includes projects in peanut allergy, airway microbiome in relation to airway inflammation, and antibiotic allergies. The program offers an excellent mix of experiences in pediatric and adult clinical care, didactics and research. Fellows have the option for an additional third research year.

Fellows interested in academic education have the opportunity to pursue the Clinical-Educator Training Pathway. Other pathways are available in global health, health equity and leadership. The Morris Green Physician Scientist Training Program provides career development programs and stipends to benefit fellows and residents interested in careers as physician-scientist.

We encourage fellows to pursue their interests in research, quality improvement and clinical care. We have grown significantly in recent years, and look forward to meeting you.

two researchers talk together about a project

Research

Fellows are expected to act as a principal investigator in at least one research project in which they design and implement a study, analyze the data, present the findings at regional and/or national meetings, and prepare a manuscript draft for publication. Numerous opportunities are available for fellows to identify research topics with faculty engaged in basic science and clinical research.

Food Allergy Research Programs

IU School of Medicine allergists are actively involved in research for emerging treatments for food allergy, including both oral and “patch” (transcutaneous) immunotherapy. Outcomes of Food Challenges are monitored, and these studies have been published and presented at national meetings.

Allergy/Immunology faculty work with the Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE) Clinical Network, and Riley Hospital for Children holds a Center of Clinical Excellence designation. Through this affiliation, IU School of Medicine faculty have access to clinical trials and innovative new research for the treatment of food allergies. Collaborating with the FARE Clinical Network also provides access to the latest evidence-based, advanced treatments and standards for pediatric food allergies.

Kirsten Kloepfer, MD, is pursuing a longitudinal study following a group of neonates recruited at birth. To study the relationship between the upper airway microbiome and both airway inflammation and airway function Kloepfer is using: 1) advanced methods for bacterial detection (16S rRNA sequencing); 2) cytokine analysis to measure cellular proteins linked with inflammation; and 3) infant airway function testing.

Basic science research is conducted at the Herman B Wells Center for Pediatric Research, located in a facility attached to Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health (Indianapolis). Investigators study the initiation, pathogenesis and progression of allergic diseases in order to identify better ways to treat or prevent allergic symptoms. Research spans many areas from examining the regulation of genes important for the development of T cells involved in allergic inflammation, to the biology of cytokines and other factors that promote allergic disease and examining lung development and function and how changes contribute to lung reactivity to allergens.