Education

The Fellowship Training Program utilizes the world-class basic immunology program at UCSF, which includes well-funded investigators who study all aspects of immunology and allergic inflammation.

The Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, and Blood and Marrow Transplant Division established an Allergy and Immunology Fellowship in 2012. Two trainees (one Pediatric and one Internal Medicine) will be accepted each year for the two-year program. A third year of research training is highly encouraged. The UCSF AI Fellowship Training Program is currently accepting pediatricians and internists (or Med-Peds trained physicians) who desire to train for a career in allergy/immunology. The goal of the program is to provide outstanding clinical and research training in pediatric and adult allergy and immunology to physicians with a primary interest in an academic career. Complementary clinical resources include a wealth of physician faculty in pediatrics, internal medicine, and allied subspecialties to train clinical fellows in immunology and allergy. A unique aspect of the program is its strong relationship with the UCSF Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplantation Program, which is ranked among the top programs of its size in the U.S., with expertise and special emphasis in treating children with primary immunodeficiency disorders. UCSF is the lead institution for the Primary Immunodeficiency Treatment Consortium, which has the objective of advancing our understanding and treatment of primary immunodeficiency as well as training junior scientists and clinicians in primary immunodeficiency diagnosis and definitive treatment. UCSF is a leader and referral center for the California SCID newborn screening program. Finally, UCSF is an active member of the NIH-sponsored Asthma Clinical Research Network of clinical centers dedicated to advancing the understanding and treatment of asthma and airway disease as well as a center for trails involving food allergy treatment. In summary, the breath of the Allergy & Immunology training at UCSF is unparalleled with respect to clinical and research opportunities.

Clinical Experience

Fellows will be exposed to a wide range of pediatric and medicine allergy and immunology clinical experiences. These range from complex primary immunodeficiency, to pediatric food allergy and eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders, to adult severe asthma, and BMT for primary immunodeficiency.

First Year and Second Year Block Schedule

Approximately 5 months will be devoted to inpatient consult service, 5 months to outpatient clinics and 2 to 6 weeks to the pediatric BMT service.

Research Training

The Fellowship Training Program utilizes the world-class basic immunology program at UCSF, which includes well-funded investigators who study all aspects of immunology and allergic inflammation. We have outstanding graduate training in the UCSF Biomedical Sciences (BMS) Program, with approximately 50 current advanced trainees in Immunology. An NIH T32 Training Grant supports postdoctoral research in the Immunology program.

Training in Clinical Research (TICR) through UCSF Medical School. The program supports fellow training in clinical research in the second year.

Mentoring

The fellow will be mentored and supervised by the allergy and immunology attending staff in both the outpatient clinic and inpatient consult service, as well as during procedures in the treatment center. All major care plan decisions will be done in conjunction with the allergy and immunology attending. Trainees will receive verbal evaluation of clinic patient evaluations, inpatient consults, procedures, and presentations. At the end of each rotation and at 6 month intervals fellows will receive written evaluation including milestones achieved. Fellows will choose a research mentor from within or outside of the division, depending on their area of research interest.

Rotation Schedule

Approximately 5 months will be devoted to inpatient consult service, 5 months to outpatient clinics and 2 to 6 weeks to the pediatric BMT service.

Conference Schedule

Fellows are expected to attend: 1) Weekly Immunology Clinical Conference; 2) Weekly Basic Immunology Reviews; 3) Weekly Allergy Immunology Core Didactic Lectures. There are also a variety of elective educational sessions in both Pediatric and Medicine Allergy Immunology related topics that are available campus wide.

Goals and Objectives

The goal of the program is to provide outstanding clinical and research training in pediatric and adult allergy and immunology to physicians with a primary interest in an academic career. The Fellowship Training Program utilizes the world-class basic immunology program at UCSF, which includes well-funded investigators who study all aspects of immunology and allergic inflammation.

Past Trainees

1. Alice Chan, MD, PhD. Completed 2014. Previous Position: Pediatric Residency at UCSF. Current Position: Assistant Adjunct Professor, UCSF.

2. Kiran Patel, MD, MS. Completed 2015. Previous Position: Pediatric Residency at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Current Position: Assistant Professor, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA.

3. Aisha Ahmed, MD. Completed 2015. Previous Position: Medicine Residency at University of Texas Southwestern. Current Position: Assistant Professor, UCSF.

4. Ilisten Jones, MD. Completed 2016. Previous Position: Pediatric Residency at UCLA. Current Position: Allergy and Asthma Medical Group, Pleasanton, CA.

5. Miren Guenechea-Sola, MD. Completed 2016. Previous Position: Medicine Residency, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Current Position: Assistant Professor, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA.

6. Angela Chang, MD. Completed 2017. Previous Position: Pediatric Residency at Chicago Lurie Children’s Hospital. Current Position: Assistant Professor, UCSF.

7. Chloe Wan, MD. Completed 2017. Previous Position: Medicine Residency at University of Chicago. Current Position: Asthma and Allergy Associates, San Jose, CA.

8. Lauren Sanchez, MD. Completed 2018. Previous Position: Pediatric Resident at Children’s Hospital Philadelphia. Current Position: Assistant Professor, UCSF.

9. Jenna Nguyen, MD. Completed 2018. Previous Position: Medicine Resident at UCSF. Current Position: Clinician, Palo Alto Medicine Center, Volunteer Clinical Faculty Stanford Medical Center, Palo Alto, CA.

10. Sara Seghezzo, MD. Completed 2019. Previous Position: Pediatric Resident at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital. Current Position: Clinician, Northwest Asthma and Allergy Center, and Volunteer Clinical Faculty Seattle Children’s Hospital, Seattle, WA.

11. Meng Chen, MD. Completed 2019. Previous Position: Medicine Resident at New York University Medical Center. Current Position: Southwest Asthma and Allergy Associates, Houston, TX.

12. Karen Anstey, MD. Completed 2020. Previous Position: Resident at UCSF. Current Position: TBD

Current Fellows

1. Farhan Murshed (First Year). Previous Position: Pediatric Resident at University of California San Diego

2. Fernanda Delgado (First Year). Previous Position: Pediatric Resident at University of Southern California

3. Matthew Kan (First Year). Previous Position: Pediatric Resident at UCSF

4. Jonathan Witsonsky (Second Year). Previous Position: Pediatric Resident at UCSF.

5. Lulu Tsao (Second Year). Previous Position: Medicine Resident at UCSF.

6. Eric Wohlford (Third Year). Previous Position: Pediatric Resident at UCSF.

How to Apply

Please apply through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) at the earliest deadline. Interested applicants will receive a secondary question from the fellowship program. Candidates will be matched to the program via the National Residency Match Program (NRMP) in the Fall.

Special Requirements: Applicants must hold or be able to obtain a California medical license and be American Board of Pediatrics or Internal Medicine eligible or certified.

Contact Information

Program Director: Morna Dorsey, MD, MSSc
Phone: (415) 476-2171 
Fax: (415) 502-2625
Email: [email protected]

Associate Director: Iris Otani, MD
Phone: (415) 353-2725
Fax: (415) 353-3529
Email: [email protected]

Program Coordinator: Natalie Maria
Phone: (415) 476-2981
Email: [email protected]

The division established a Bone Marrow Transplantation Fellowship in 2009. One trainee will be accepted each year for the one-year program. The UCSF Pediatric BMT Fellowship Training Program is currently accepting Pediatric Hematologist/Oncologists or Pediatric Immunologists who desire to train for a career in academic Bone Marrow Transplantation. The fellowship is designed to provide clinical and investigative training in pediatric hematopoietic cell transplantation, including autologous and allogeneic procedures, with a focus on patients with primary immunologic disorders and those needing haploidentical transplants as well as training in cellular therapy, including gene therapy and CAR-T. 

Clinical Experience

The fellow’s clinical experience will take place at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital at Mission Bay, where over seventy transplants are done per year in the 13-bed inpatient unit constructed in 2015. The fellow is expected to supervise pediatric residents and medical students on the BMT Inpatient Service, as well as NPs and RN Coordinators on both the Inpatient and Outpatient Services. Patient care responsibilities will include management of patients in the pre-, peri-, and post-BMT setting. Additional experience with patients with primary immunodeficiency will be obtained via a rotation in Pediatric Immunology. With supervision from an attending physician, the fellow will be expected to perform lumbar punctures and bone marrow aspirations / biopsies as clinically indicated. Furthermore, the fellow will attend all bone marrow harvest procedures, perform apheresis of stem cells, and infusion of cellular therapy products. There will be dedicated time to spend in the Immunogenetics and Transplantation Laboratory, as well as the GMP-approved Pediatric Cellular Therapy Laboratory in order to learn the basics of HLA typing and clinical cellular manipulation. The UCSF Pediatric BMT Program is accredited by the Foundation for Cellular Therapeutics (FACT) and National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP).

Research Training

Fellows are required to become integrated into a mentored clinical research project, where they will gain experience in data analysis, as well as manuscript writing and submission. The UCSF Pediatric BMT Program has an active clinical trials program of both local investigator-initiated studies, as well as national trials from the COG, PTCTC, PBMTC, PIDTC, and BMT-CTN.

Mentoring

The fellow will be mentored and supervised by the BMT attending staff in both the inpatient and outpatient care units, via daily rounds, patient presentations, and clinical case discussions. All major care plan decisions will be done in conjunction with the BMT attending, and the attending will supervise in-person all procedures. Trainees will receive verbal evaluation of each consultation, care conference, stem cell collection, and transplant performed by the fellow. At the end of each month, Program Faculty will review Trainee progress and provide formal feedback. Fellows will choose a research mentor from one or more of the ten faculty members in the UCSF Pediatric BMT Program.

Rotation Schedule

The fellow is expected to participate on the Inpatient BMT Service at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in Mission Bay for 14 weeks per year, on the Outpatient BMT Clinic and Consult Service for 18 weeks per year, BMT nights for 4 weeks, on the immunology service 2 weeks per year, and perform clinical research for 10 weeks per year. There will be dedicated time to spend in the Immunogenetics and Transplantation Laboratory, as well as the Pediatric Cellular Therapy Laboratory.

Conference Schedule

The fellow is expected to attend the following weekly meetings: 1) New Patient Intake; 2) Inpatient Review; 3) Outpatient Review; and 4) Education Conference. They will be expected to present at the latter at least 4 times during the year. Depending upon clinical interests, the fellow may also choose to attend the Leukemia Conference, Tumor Board, or Neuro-Onc Tumor Board run in conjunction with the UCSF Pediatric Hematology / Oncology Program.

Goals and Objectives

The fellowship is designed to provide clinical and investigative training in pediatric hematopoietic cell transplantation, including autologous and allogeneic procedures, as well as in cellular therapy. The fellow will participate in clinical care, provided in both the outpatient and inpatient settings, as well as clinical research. The goals of the UCSF Pediatric BMT Fellowship are to offer an intensive learning experience covering all aspects of clinical and laboratory hematopoietic cell transplantation, and prepare individuals for an academic career in this field. Fellows are encouraged to become integrated into a mentored clinical research project, where they will gain experience in data analysis, as well as manuscript writing and submission.

Recent Past Trainees

• Paulina Horvei: Previous Fellowship: Mayo Clinic. Current Position: University of Pittsburgh  

• Gabriel Salinas Cisneros: Previous Fellowship: Children’s National Hospital. Current Position: University of California, San Francisco 

• SooHee Cho: Previous Fellowship: Children’s National Hospital. Current Position: University of Utah 

• William Temple: Previous Fellowship: University of California, San Francisco. Current Position: University of California, San Francisco 

How to Apply

Interviews for the following Academic Year are typically held in August-October. Candidates should submit a cover letter, curriculum vitae, and three letters of reference (one of which should be from the director of the candidate’s current fellowship program) to the Program Coordinator.

Special Requirements: Applicants must hold or be able to obtain a California medical license, and be board-certified in General Pediatrics. They must have plans to graduate from either a Pediatric Hematology / Oncology fellowship program or an Allergy / Immunology training program, and thereby become board-eligible for subspecialty certification.

Contact Information

Program Director: Christine Higham, MD
Email: [email protected]

Program Coordinator: Natalie Maria
Phone: (415) 476-2981
Email: [email protected]

Program Administrator: Betty Liao
Phone: (415) 476-2656
Fax: (415) 502-5356
Email: [email protected]