Dr. Shreffler received his MD and PhD degrees from New York University and his Pediatrics training at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He completed his fellowship in Allergy & Immunology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in 2003 where he was mentored by Drs. Hugh Sampson and Lloyd Mayer, and established himself as a researcher of immune mechanisms of food allergy and asthma. He joined Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in late 2009 to establish a new translational research and clinical care center focused on food allergy, and he became Division Chief of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology in 2011.
The Food Allergy Center at MGH is a highly integrated research and clinical program to better understand the pathogenic mechanisms of food allergy and asthma and provide the best current and future care. The Shreffler laboratory focuses on the characterization of cellular and humoral immune response to dietary antigens and the mechanisms of allergen-induced Th2 sensitization and oral tolerance. Areas of active investigation include 1) the mechanisms of allergenic dendritic cell (DC) activation by allergens and the DC signals that induce Th2 differentiation; 2) the role of regulatory T cells in natural and immunotherapy-induced oral tolerance; 3) the role of IgE diversity and basophil activation and their regulation in both the effector response and in adaptive immune deviation in the context of food allergy and asthma.
Dr. Shreffler has authored more than 70 papers, maintained continuous NIH and other research funding since 2007, served on the editorial board of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and as reviewer for numerous journals and grant study sections / committees. He was elected a Fellow of the AAAAI in 2009.
Departments, Centers, & Programs:
Clinical Interests:
Treats:
Mass General for Children: Pediatric Allergy & Immunology
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Mass General Brigham Healthcare Center
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Phone: 978-882-6100
Medical Education
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The Shreffler laboratory focuses on the characterization of cellular and humoral immune response to dietary antigens and the mechanisms of allergen-induced Th2 sensitization and oral tolerance. Areas of active investigation include 1) the mechanisms of allergenic dendritic cell (DC) activation by allergens and the DC signals that induce Th2 differentiation; 2) the role of regulatory T cells in natural and immunotherapy-induced oral tolerance; 3) the role of IgE diversity and basophil activation and their regulation in both the effector response and in adaptive immune deviation in the context of food allergy and asthma. We primarily work with human samples, often in conjunction with clinical interventional or observational studies, to interrogate both the innate and adaptive immune responses to major dietary and aeroallergens.
Working together with numerous collaborators including from the Consortium for Food Allergy Research , the Inner City Asthma Consortium and our own newly established Food Allergy Center at MGH, we are adapting the use of polychromatic flow cytometry, peptide microarray-based humoral immune profiling and systems biology approaches to uniquely characterize the phenotype and function of allergen-specific T and B cell responses and the regulations of effector cells in pediatric food allergy and asthma.
Also important is the effort to understand why some food proteins are potent allergens. In other words, what are the mechanisms that influence early immune fate decisions to allergens and the intrinsic properties of those allergens that facilitate an allergic response. We are studying this in human and murine model systems.
see PubMed link.
