2023 Department of Pediatrics Academic Annual Report

Pediatric Allergy & Immunology

PEDIATRIC FACULTY Dr. Prescott Atkinson.................................Director | Professor Dr. Amy CaJacob...... Associate Director | Assistant Professor Dr. Sunena Argo...............................................Assistant Professor Dr. JaneMarie Freeman..................................Assistant Professor Dr. Kathleen Grisanti.......................................Assistant Professor Dr. Suthida Kankirawatana.............................Assistant Professor

FEATURED RESEARCH The UAB Division of Pediatric Allergy & Immunology faculty are dedicated to research in the field of allergy and immunology and advancing knowledge in the diagnosis and care of patients with allergic diseases such as drug allergy, food allergy, asthma and atopic dermatitis, and those with primary and secondary immunodeficiencies. Since 1990, the division has been home to the UAB Allergy & Immunology Fellowship Program, which continues to graduate one or two fellows annually. The faculty have ongoing collaborations with clinical immunologists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that have resulted in the identification of novel immunodeficiency diseases in several patients and extended knowledge in the clinical manifestations, diagnosis and treatment of these disorders. Prescott Atkinson, M.D., Ph.D., has a long-standing collaboration with the UAB Diagnostic Mycoplasma Lab studying the role of these parasitic bacteria in chronic diseases such as asthma and in opportunistic infections in patients with primary and secondary immunodeficiencies. The current focus of Dr. Atkinson’s laboratory lies in identifying key genes involved in surface protein glycosylation and biofilm production in the emerging sexually transmitted organism Mycoplasma genitalium, a sexually transmitted urogenital pathogen with a similar prevalence and disease spectrum to Chlamydia trachomatis. The goal of these studies is to identify new methods of controlling this frequently antibiotic-resistant infection.

Ongoing research suggests that the FDA-approved drug disulfiram (Antabuse), a copper-chelating compound that has copper-dependent antimicrobial and anti neoplastic properties, exhibits potent antimicrobial activity against M. genitalium, with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 15 nM. Shown below is the inhibition of bacterial growth by increasing concentrations of disulfiram in the presence of 0.2 mM copper sulfate. Both the drug and the copper concentrations are physiologically relevant. Members of the Atkinson laboratory presented five abstracts at the 24th Congress of the International Organization for Mycoplasmology in Osaka, Japan, in July 2023. Clinical Allergy: Amy CaJacob, M.D., and Katie Grisanti, M.D.

A diagnosis of penicillin allergy is usually acquired in childhood, and up to 20% of the population carries a diagnosis of penicillin allergy. Studies have shown that less than 5% of patients with a diagnosis of penicillin allergy are truly allergic. The high rate of penicillin allergy in the population carries a high cost to society due to the higher use of alternate, more expensive antibiotics, which may also be less effective, and the use of such alternate antibiotics risks increasing antibiotic resistance in circulating strains of pathogenic bacteria. Since early 2020, Drs. Amy CaJacob and Katie Grisanti have served as allergy champions for a UAB-wide effort to protocolize a beta-lactam de-labeling program. Despite the rising prevalence of pediatric food-induced anaphylaxis, provider recognition of anaphylaxis remains poor. Dr. CaJacob is studying the effectiveness of simulation in recognizing and managing infant anaphylaxis for pediatric residents and medical students. The use of medical simulation in medical education is well established. The study will assess the confidence level of learners in treating anaphylaxis and using an epinephrine auto-injector before and after the simulation.

2023 Academic Annual Report

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