UNC Children’s has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® for the NC Children’s Allergy and Asthma Center through 2026 by demonstrating continuous compliance with its performance standards. The NC Children’s Allergy and Asthma Center is the only pediatric asthma program in the southeastern United States to be certified by the Joint Commission Certification and is only one of eleven programs with this distinction throughout the nation.

Lauren Herlihy, DNP, RN, pediatric immunologist and IHQI scholar, has developed a clinical decision support (CDS) toolkit for early peanut introduction in infants to prevent peanut allergy. The toolkit is now ready for adoption by interested physicians at UNC Health.

Edwin Kim, MD MS, director of the UNC Food Allergy Initiative at the UNC School of Medicine, will lead the first study of sublingual immunotherapy to address the feasibility and safety of treating multiple tree nut allergens simultaneously in children.

Publishing in Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, UNC School of Medicine researchers delve into the perspectives of community and academic providers on the role of biologics and food allergy. This study was led by co-authors Edwin Kim, MD, Division Chief of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, and Jill Fisher, PhD, professor in the UNC Department of Social Medicine and Center for Bioethics.

We are thrilled to announce that recipients of the 2024-25 Jefferson-Pilot Fellowships are both faculty in the Department of Pediatrics!  Dr. Samantha Schilling, Associate Professor Pediatrics, in General Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine and Dr. Meghan Rebuli, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, in Allergy/Immunology. Join us in congratulating these exceptional junior faculty, who are most deserving of the recognition that comes with these prestigious awards.

Dr. Mayuran Ravindran, Fellow in Allergy/Immunology, presented his abstract titled “Do Atopic Comorbidities Impact Pediatric Peanut Sublingual Immunotherapy (SLIT) Outcomes?” during the Poster Symposium at the Southeast Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Society Meeting. We are happy to share that he won best Best Fellow Presentation! Congratulations Mayuran!

A $1 million investment will launch two physician-led clinical research efforts in North Carolina to grow medical knowledge by seeking to answer pressing questions.

The pair of $500,000 research grants focusing on urgent health needs marks the largest single investment awarded by the collaborative involving Novant Health, UNC Health and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine. The funding will launch joint Novant Health and UNC School of Medicine studies focusing on treatments for patients with pediatric asthma and advanced prostate cancer.

We are excited to welcome to the newest group of fellows/subspecialty residents to UNC Children’s! Our fellowship programs are committed to fostering the development of future generations of physicians and scientists who will go on to improve the health of children in North Carolina and across the globe.

The UNC site lead investigators are Edwin Kim, MD, associate professor of medicine, division chief of UNC Pediatric Allergy & Immunology, and Corinne Keet, MD, PhD, professor of pediatrics, vice chair of clinical and translational research.

Maureen Petersen, MD joined the Pediatric Division of Allergy/Immunology on July 8, 2024. In 1994, she received her BS from the College of William and Mary, in Williamsburg, VA and her medical degree from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS), in Bethesda, MD in 1998. Dr. Petersen completed her pediatric residency at the Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, HI in 2001 and her allergy/immunology fellowship at the National Capital Consortium – Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC in 2009. Through a career with significant clinical roles and academic achievements, Dr. Petersen rose to the rank of Colonel in 2016 and retired from the Army in 2023. We are excited to have her join us at UNC. Welcome Maureen!