Research Program

Allergy & Immunology Fellowship Training

Fellows spend roughly 20% of year 1 and 75% of year 2 working on a research project.

The research portion of the fellowship provides fellows with the opportunity to pursue many different avenues of research, including basic science, translational, and epidemiological research. On the basic science level, our faculty is engaged in pioneering research in the areas of pulmonary immunology, stem cell biology, and genetic and clinical epidemiological investigation of asthma. There are many areas of clinical expertise coupled with research programs, which offer fellows research projects of a translational nature. These include, but are not limited to asthma, sarcoidosis, and interstitial lung disease related to CVID. Finally, the epidemiology group is a member of the NIH/NIAD Inner City Asthma Consortium and is also uniquely positioned to access to the Framingham database to answer fundamental questions related to airway disease (including asthma and COPD). All Pulmonary and Allergy/Immunology faculty are potential research mentors. Some of those faculty with particular focus in clinical or basic immunology are highlighted at the bottom of this page.

Fellows participate in the Pulmonary/Allergy Introduction to Research, a course conducted by the members of the Pulmonary Center research and ancillary medical school staff during the middle of their first year. This intense 1-week course (free of clinical responsibilities) is designed to facilitate and support the entry of fellows into research. The course consists of didactic sessions interspersed with lab practicums. Topics covered during this course include an array of basic and advanced laboratory techniques, ethics, how to design a clinical study, basics of epidemiology/outcomes research/implementation science, and beginning statistics. Most importantly, this time provides an opportunity to gain exposure to likely research mentors that actively participate in The Course.

Some fellows opt to supplement their research experience by taking graduate level courses in molecular biology, bioinformatics, public health, and statistics. These courses are offered at Boston University, without charge. As noted in the Program Overview, trainees with a strong commitment to a research career will apply for F32 funding in the fall of Year 2 and if successful will spend a 3rd year exclusively dedicated to research.

Immunology Research Faculty (All faculty, Section-wide, are available for research mentorship)

  • Joseph P. Mizgerd, ScD, Professor of Medicine, Microbiology, and Biochemistry; Director, Pulmonary Center
  • Matthew Jones, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine
  • Paul Maglione, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine
  • George O’Connor, MD, Professor of Medicine
  • Lee Quinton, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine