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Allergy and Immunology FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

The Division of Basic and Clinical Immunology at UC Irvine's School of Medicine offers a rigorous two-year, Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) – accredited fellowship program that emphasizes a broad spectrum of clinical experience with the goal of preparing highly skilled allergists and immunologists.

We value clinical excellence as the bedrock for any career in allergy and immunology while actively cultivating an environment of respect for a diversity of backgrounds, learning styles, and ideas in order to serve the diversity of our patients’ backgrounds and experiences. Our expectations include honesty, integrity, and transparency at all levels including clinical leadership, clinical educators, and all learners. Our training program emphasizes and promotes self-reliance and life-long learning.

Our fellows, residents and medical students have ample opportunities to participate in clinical activities as well as clinical and laboratory research in allergy and immunology. The division also organizes regular lectures and seminars by physicians and scientists who are experts in their fields.

Clinical Training »

The first year of the fellowship is focused on improving core clinical skills in communication, history taking, physical examinations, decision making, and evidence-based medicine in allergy and immunology. This is achieved through weekly adult and pediatric allergy and immunology continuity clinics at UC Irvine Medical Center, Orange County's only academic medical center, and at adult clinics at the VA Long Beach Healthcare System. In addition, fellows are actively involved in inpatient allergy and immunology consultations at UC Irvine Douglas Hospital, Orange County's only university hospital, and at the VA in Long Beach. Second-year fellows take on increasing levels of responsibility for patient care, teaching and leadership in a multidisciplinary approach.

In addition to bedside teaching, education of the fellows includes core didactics which are built in weekly lectures in basic and clinical immunology, as well as clinical allergy conferences, journal clubs and case discussions that focus on decision-making strategies. Fellows also attend Department of Medicine Grand Rounds that are relevant to allergic and immunologic conditions.

Fellows participate in didactic lectures as well as academic activities including journal club, M&M, and quality improvement.  Our fellowship program has a 100% board pass rate in Allergy and Immunology over the past ten-year period.

Research »

Fellows are required to actively participate in clinical and/or laboratory research under the supervision of a research mentor. During the first year, fellows begin exploring research options around their individual interests. Fellows are expected to develop sufficient research experience by the end of their training to be able to prepare papers for presentation at national and regional meetings and manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed medical journals.

 Fellows' List of Publications — 2019-2021 (fellows names appear in bold)

1-     Gupta S, Su H, Narsai T, Agrawal S. SARS-CoV-2-Associated T-Cell Responses in the Presence of Humoral Immunodeficiency. Int Arch Allergy Immunol. 2021;182(3):195-209. doi: 10.1159/000514193.

2-     Narsai T, Gupta S. Progression of primary selective immunoglobulin M deficiency to common variable immunodeficiency. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2021 Feb 17;S1081-1206(21)00131-9. doi: 10.1016/j.anai.2021.02.012.

3-     Kahwash BM, Deshpande DR, Guo C, Panganiban CM, Wangberg H, Craig TJ. Allergy/Immunology trainee experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic: AAAAI Work Group Report of the Fellows-in-Training Committee. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2021 Jan;9(1):1-6.e1.

4-     Panganiban CM, Sudhir Gupta. Actinotignum schaalii abscess in a patient with common variable immunodeficiency. Pathogens.2020 Jun 22;9(6):494. doi: 10.3390/pathogens9060494.

5-     Reeder D, Gupta S. Reconstitution of IgG Subclasses Following Immunoglobulin Administration in Adult Patients with Common Variable Immune Deficiency. Accepted. Int Arch All Immunol 2020

6-     Kokhar A, Gupta S. Clinical and Immunological Features of 78 Adult Patients with Primary Selective IgG Subclass Deficiencies. Arch Immunol Ther Exp 2019

7-     Lucuab-Fergurgur DL, Gupta S. Comprehensive clinical and immunological features of 62 adult patients with selective primary IgM deficiency. Am J Clin Exp Immunol 2019

8-     Gupta A, Wang B, Gupta S. Granuloma-like lesion at subcutaneous immunoglobulin site in a common variable immunodeficiency patient. Immunotherapy 2019

9-      Sharma T, Gupta S. Reconstitution of IgG subclasses following immunoglobulin therapy in adult primary hypogammaglobulinemia. Int Arch All Immunol 2019

10-  Agrawal S, Khokhar A, Gupta S. Cytomegalovirus colitis in primary hypogammaglobulinemia with normal CD4+ T Cells: deficiency of CMV-Specific CD8+ T Cells. Front Immunol 2019

11-  Gupta S, Gupta A. Defining primary selective IgM deficiency. J Clin Immunol 2019

Eligibility »

Fellowship candidates must have completed their residency in an ACGME-accredited Internal Medicine or Pediatric residency program. Applicants also should be able to demonstrate their interest in the subspecialties of allergy and immunology.

Candidates must be a U.S. citizen, permanent resident or hold a J-1 visa with ECFMG sponsorship at the time of application submission.

Candidates also must have a valid California medical license before beginning the fellowship program as required by state law. For graduates of medical schools outside the United States, please note that the licensure process can take six to 12 months or longer.

If you are not already licensed in the state, contact the Medical Board of California at 1426 Howe Ave., Suite 54, Sacramento, CA 95825-3236.

Application process »

The Allergy and Immunology Fellowship Program accepts one or two new fellows each year. Applications for positions will be accepted through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS), sponsored by the Association of American Medical Colleges.

For questions about the application process, go to ERAS or call 215-966-3940.

For more information, please email fellowship coordinator Suzan Lee or call 714-456-3870.

 

Program administration:

Program Director: Yeshim Demirdag, MD

Associate Program Director: Yvonne Hsieh, MD

Program Coordinator: Mindy Huynh

Division Chief: Sudhir Gupta, MD, PhD

Primary clinical faculty:

Sudhir Gupta, MD, PhD

Yesim Yilmaz Demirdag, MD

Yvonne Hsieh, MD

Tiffany Jean, MD

Donald Levy, MD

Anshu Agrawal, PhD

 

For more information, contact:

Mindy Huynh
Fellowship Coordinator
Phone: 714-456-3870
Fax: 714-456-3871
E-mail: suzanl@hs.uci.edu

or

The Division of Basic and Clinical Immunology
UCI Department of Medicine
333 City Blvd. W.
Suite 400, C2
Orange, CA 92868