Immunology Center

About the Center

Immunological conditions are multifaceted and are further complicated when outside influences like preexisting conditions or medications lead to overlapping symptoms that increase the difficulty of diagnosing and treating the primary source.

Complex immunologic conditions are more successfully diagnosed when a team of specialists in immunologic diseases collaborates. Conducting research and training future immunologists are paramount for diagnosing and treating complex conditions and advancing the field.

Houston Methodist's Immunology Center is bringing healing and hope to patients with complex immunologic, allergic and autoimmune diseases while training the next generation to ensure a vibrant future with groundbreaking research and clinical trials.

The Immunology Center will serve as a resource to the Houston community, because Houston Methodist offers:

Unmatched clinical expertise with demonstrated excellence in treating disease and extending life
An institution built on progress with an uninterrupted trajectory of growth and success
An independent academic medical center with flexibility for strong partnerships across the country and around the world and an institutional focus and commitment to translational research
Strong leadership with the financial health and business acumen to make be successful and sustainable and the medical and scientific leadership in place to move this center forward
A values driven organization with a values- and faith-based commitment to attend to the whole human being in all physical, emotional and spiritual dimensions

Our Director

David P. Huston, MD

W. Bryan Trammell Jr. Family Distinguished Chair in Allergy and Immunology | Associate Dean, Center for Clinical/Translational Medicine, Texas A&M Health Science Center

Our Vision
The Complexity of Immunology
Research
Education

Our Vision
Our Vision
Houston Methodist's vision for the multidisciplinary immunology center is to:
- Promote collaboration among a critical mass of clinician scientists to provide optimum care for patients with complex immunologic disorders
- Train the next generation of physicians in the management of these complex conditions through robust programs that currently do not exist
- Propel new advancements and groundbreaking treatments in translational research by leveraging across disciplines for an exponential effect
- Make clinical trials available to patients in Houston, the nation and the world
Through collaboration, education, translational research and clinical trials, the Houston Methodist Immunology Center is poised to become a national hub for the diagnosis and treatment of complex immunologic disease while supporting young, emerging investigators.

Houston Methodist seeks to translate immunologic research from laboratories to patients by launching transformational clinical trials to conquer the most complex and debilitating immunologic disorders.

Houston Methodist is committed to building a multidisciplinary, immunologic research and treatment center that's poised to be among the best in the nation.
The Complexity of Immunology
The Complexity of Immunology
The Immunology Center will collaborate with other Houston Methodist centers for the management and treatment of all complex immunological and inflammatory diseases.

Allergic Disorders
- Allergic Rhinitis
- Allergic Conjuctivitis
- Allergic Asthma
- Chronic Sinusitis
- Nasal Polyposis
- Eczema
- Atopic Dermatits
- Drug Allergies
- Food Allergies
- Stinging Insect Allergies
- Urticaria
- Angioedema
- Contact Allergic Dermatitis
- Eosinophilic Esophagitis
- Mastocytosis
- Mast Cell Activation Syndrome
- Anaphylaxis
Immune Deficiencies
- Common Variable Immune Deficiency
- Agammaglobulinemia
- Hereditary Angioedema
- Hyper-IgM Immune Deficiencies
- Hyper-IgE Syndrome
- IgA Deficiency
- Rare Genetic Immune Deficiencies
- Innate Immune Defects
- Complement Deficiencies
- Secondary to Medications
- Immune Dysregulation Disorders
- Monoclonal Gammopathies
- Primary Immune Deficiencies (>350 Disorders)
Rheumatologic and Autoimmune Disorders
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
- Inflammatory Arthropathies
- Ankylosing Spondylitis
- Psoriatic Arthritis
- Osteoarthritis
- Dermatomyositis
- Polymyositis
- Sjogren Syndrome
- Raynaud’s disease
- Scleroderma
- Vasculitides
- Microangiopathic Vasculitis
- Granulomatosis Polyangitis
- Polyarteritis Nodosa
- Giant Cell Arteritis
- Takayasu Arteritis
- IgG4-Related Disease
- Henoch-Schonlein Purpura
- Mixed Connective Tissue Disease
- Fibromyalgia
- Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
Research

Research

With no previous comprehensive center in Houston or in this region of the U.S. and very little existing research in Houston around difficult, complex immunologic disorders, patients have had to travel to other parts of the U.S. in search of proper diagnoses. A central hub focused on these debilitating disorders will fill a significant gap in the Texas Medical Center.

More and more scientists understand that a center, inclusive of the broad umbrella of immunology, is an efficient approach, because diseases are inter-related and can have the same source and the same triggers.

Very few clinical trials are accessible locally to Houston patients. A focus on research will bring clinical trials to Houston for the benefit of its patients. Physician scientists and clinicians are seeing immunology patients across the spectrum of specialties. Collaboration will enable sharing of information and joint projects to uncover and understand mutual disease aspects and origins.
Education

Education

Training future immunologists who both treat patients and conduct research is paramount in advancing the field and establishing Houston as a national hub for diagnosis and treatment of complex immunologic diseases.

A $2.5 million, five-year grant to establish an Academy of Physician Scientists was awarded to Texas A&M University, in collaboration with Houston Methodist and the Texas Medical Center. The Burroughs Wellcome Fund Physician-Scientist Institutional Award will serve as a pipeline for attracting and cultivating medical students and physicians during residency to train and subsequently launch academic research careers as physician scientists.

The Immunology Center's David P. Huston, MD, will serve as principal investigator for the grant and director for the Academy of Physician Scientists. Huston will collaborate with faculty members at Texas A&M and Houston Methodist to develop curricula that enables both medical students and residents interested in basic, translational or clinical research to receive rigorous and intensely mentored research training that will lead to successful independent research careers as physician scientists.