Dismantling Disparities in Primary Immunodeficiency Care: Building Blocks to Equity

Dr. Patel is Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Duke University Medical Center in the Division of Allergy/Immunology. He received his medical degree and completed his residency in pediatrics at the University of Louisville. After completing his residency, he went on to complete fellowship training in both Allergy and Immunology and Infectious Diseases at Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX. During this time, Dr. Patel also received a master’s degree in Clinical Investigation.

Dr. Patel is a member of the Clinical Immunology Society; the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology; the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (ACAAI); and Infectious Disease Society of America. He has been an author/coauthor of articles published in several peer-reviewed journals, including New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, and Journal of Clinical Immunology. He currently serves as Chair of the ACAAI COVID-19 Vaccine Taskforce Committee and was awarded the ACAAI Distinguished Service Award in 2021.

Dr. Patel’s academic and clinical interests include primary immunodeficiency diseases and infections in immunocompromised hosts. He enjoys spending time with his wife, gardening, and chauffeuring his three children around town, and is a national Gold Medal Champion in Tae Kwon Do.

Dr. Azar is currently Clinical Director for the Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, and Director for the Adult Primary Immunodeficiency Center, at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Dr Azar completed his residency training in Internal Medicine, and fellowship in Allergy and Immunology, at the University of Iowa, and is board certified in Allergy and Immunology. He moved to Johns Hopkins where he founded the Center for Adult Primary Immunodeficiency, to create a multidisciplinary center for patients with PI disorders. Dr. Azar is involved in a varied of research areas, including the association of immunodeficiency with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD); secondary hypogammaglobulinemia including autoimmune diseases and vasculitis; and novel treatments for the WHIM syndrome.

Dr. Azar has been named scholar of the Center of Innovative Medicine (CIM) at Johns Hopkins, has been featured in the New York Times Magazine, the Hopkins Medicine Magazine, selected in the Baltimore Magazine “Top Doctors” for the past 3 years, and nominated for the Johns Hopkins Best Consultant Physician Award.

Vivian Hernandez-Trujillo, MD , is a specialist in Allergy and Immunology with 18 years of experience. She has board certifications in both Pediatrics and Allergy/Immunology and is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, and American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology. Dr. Hernandez-Trujillo received her medical degree from Albany Medical College in New York and completed a pediatric residency program at Miami Children’s Hospital. She completed her fellowship in Allergy and Immunology at the University of Tennessee, Memphis, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center.

Dr. Hernandez-Trujillo is a Clinical Professor at Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine in Miami, Florida. She has served as the Medical Director for the Division of Allergy and Immunology at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital since 2008 and is also the Program Director of the Allergy/Immunology Fellowship training program. Dr. Hernandez-Trujillo is interested in education regarding pediatric allergic disease, and she lectures nationally and internationally on the topics of pediatric food allergy, anaphylaxis, and immunodeficiency. Dr Hernandez-Trujillo serves on numerous committees for national organizations, including executive committee member of the AAP Section of Allergy and Immunology, Allergy/Immunology representative to Council of Pediatric Subspecialties for the ACAAI, and the Immune Deficiency Foundation Medical Advisory Board.

Dr Hernandez-Trujillo has served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator on a number of clinical studies on primary immunodeficiency and has presented abstracts, posters, and lectures at meetings and conferences worldwide. She has published multiple articles in respected medical journals, co-edited the first two editions of the Board Review Textbook on Allergy/Immunology, and is author of the renowned UpToDate topic of Agammaglobulinemia. Her most recent research and work has been in the areas of healthcare disparities, particularly the impact on Hispanic/Latinx patients. She was active during the COVID-19 pandemic sharing information in Spanish through efforts with the Immune Deficiency Foundation, participating in podcasts and panels about healthcare disparities in patients with primary Immunodeficiency, and collaborating with the Allergy and Asthma Network on a Webinar series for Hispanic/Latinx patients and the impact of asthma.

Ilana Jacqueline is the author of the book Surviving and Thriving with an Invisible Chronic Illness. She is a patient advocate and patient influencer living with Primary Immune Deficiency Disease. You can find more about her on her website, www.ilanajacqueline.com.