Welcome to the Division of Allergy, Immunology, and Rheumatology!

The Division of Allergy and Immunologic Diseases provides comprehensive clinical services for children with allergic, immunologic, rheumatologic diseases, and Kawasaki disease in outpatient and inpatient settings at a variety of venues throughout San Diego County. The Division also maintains an internationally recognized research program in the areas of translational and clinical research in autoinflammatory disorders, genetics of rare inherited diseases, Kawasaki disease, the genesis and treatment of allergic diseases, and basic research in T cell immunology.

Division Chief

Harold M. Hoffman, MD

Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine

Dr. Hoffman received his BA (biology) at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, and his MD (Medicine) at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas.

Research Interests

Regulation of cytokines and inflammation by cryopyrin. Research focus on the genetics of inflammatory disorders, positional cloning of target genes and the function of such genes in the expression of inflammation.

Features

News

Harold Hoffman, M.D., recently co-discovered the gene for a cold urticarial (hives) syndrome that he originally described. His findings were published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Anthony Horner, M.D., recently published work identifying a novel role for house dust in the activation of NKT (natural killer T) cells, which are important in development of airway inflammation. This work was featured on the cover of the Journal of Experimental Medicine and reviewed in the Journal of Asthma Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Seema Aceves, M.D., Ph.D., was the senior author on recently published international guidelines for the diagnosis of eosinophilic esophagitis in adults and children.