Cincinnati Children’s Named World Allergy Organization Center of Excellence
Post Date: May 22, 2025 | Publish Date:
Cincinnati Children’s and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine have been chosen as a World Allergy Organization (WAO) Center of Excellence for the 2025-2029 term.
Marc Rothenberg, MD, PhD, director of Cincinnati Children’s Division of Allergy and Immunology and the Cincinnati Center for Eosinophilic Disorders, will serve as the head of an 11-person leadership committee.
“This is a great opportunity to expand on our already outstanding immunology community, especially in areas of training the next generation of leaders in the allergy/immunology field,” says Rothenberg.
The WAO Centers of Excellence designation exists to intensify and accelerate multidisciplinary scientific and clinical innovation, education and advocacy globally. Only 103 centers worldwide have earned this designation.
“Being designated as a WAO Center of Excellence is an endorsement of the Cincinnati Children’s, University of Cincinnati and affiliate sites’ commitment to excellence in basic, translational, and clinical research, patient care and education,” says Jonathan Bernstein, MD, adjunct professor at UC’s Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology. “We are greatly honored by this commendation to our center, as it is recognition of the high standards maintained by our faculty and staff in advancing medical care of our specialty to the communities we serve.”
The center at Cincinnati Children’s and UC will consist of 32 faculty representing diverse clinical and research specialties, including these five subspecialties:
- Allergy and Immunology, led by Rothenberg and Bernstein. This area includes the clinical specialties of Drug Allergy, Eosinophilic Disease, and Food Allergy.
- Asthma, led by Gurjit K. Khurana Hershey, MD, PhD.
- Autoimmune Genomics and Etiology, led by Leah Kottyan, PhD.
- Immunobiology, led by Ian Lewkowich, PhD.
- Primary Immune Deficiency, led by Michael B. Jordan, MD. This area also includes clinical specialties in Bone Marrow Transplantation and Immune Deficiency and Histiocytosis.
“Receiving the WAO Centre of Excellence designation is a recognition of the consistently high level of clinical care, research, and advocacy that our faculty and trainees do in this area every day,” says Lewkowich. “Being able to highlight this designation is something that will distinguish our program from many other Immunology-focused graduate programs in the region and confirms our long-standing excellence in this area. Involvement in this program is a wonderful opportunity for our basic science PhD trainees to gain valuable experiences and further enhance their training opportunities. I am thrilled to be involved in this effort!”
“It is exciting to be part of this WAO Center of Excellence. As recognized by the accreditation, Cincinnati Children’s has brought together experts across immunological diseases who have a diverse and complementary set of clinical, translational, and basic science approaches,” says Kottyan. “Together, we can develop ways to improve the health of children who are impacted by allergies and other immunological disease. Our success will be measured through children who can thrive based on clinical strategies and therapeutics that we contribute towards.”
In addition, there are three training programs as part of the Center of Excellence – the Allergy and Immunology Clinical Fellowships, Allergy and Immunology Advanced Research Training Fellowship, and the Immunology Graduate Program:
- The pediatric and internal medicine Allergy and Immunology Clinical Fellowships are led by Stephanie Ward, MD and Kristin Schmidlin, MD, respectively, and are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).
- The Allergy and Immunology Advanced Research Training Fellowship is led by Ward and Rothenberg.
- The Immunology Graduate Program is led by Lewkowich.
“This presents a remarkable opportunity to continue delivering exceptional patient care, advancing cutting-edge research and fostering collaborative efforts,” says Ward. “Additionally, it will support the training and development of outstanding future clinicians, researchers and leaders in the field of Allergy and Immunology.”
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The Research Horizons blog features news and insights about the latest discoveries and innovations developed by the scientists of Cincinnati Children's. This blog does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
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