Woodring Research Group

The Woodring Research Group focuses on improving the recognition, diagnosis, and treatment of rare disorders of the immune system.

Background

Inborn errors of immunity (IEIs) are a group of genetic conditions that affect how the immune system develops and functions. While some IEIs are easily recognized due to recurrent infections, others present with low blood counts, unusual cancers, lymphoproliferation, or other symptoms that may be unrecognized as first signs of an IEI. Many patients with these rare immune disorders can go years without a diagnosis.

Our research aims to improve the diagnosis of these conditions through genetic and functional studies that help us understand how gene changes affect the immune system. By helping families obtain a genetic explanation for their child’s condition, we hope to connect more children affected by IEIs with targeted and definitive therapies for their disease. We are also committed to developing practical educational tools and diagnostic resources for health care providers to recognize IEIs earlier, across medical subspecialties.

We believe every child and family we study has a unique story. Although IEIs are individually rare, each diagnosis provides an opportunity to better understand how the immune system works and what happens when it breaks down. By learning from even a single patient’s experience, we can identify new disease mechanisms, develop targeted treatments, and improve care for future children with similar conditions. In this way, every patient has the potential to advance both science and medicine.

We especially look forward to a day when patients with IEIs may be diagnosed and treated well before they develop symptoms. We are studying whether clues present at birth could help identify some immune disorders before children become sick. In the future, this approach could allow doctors to diagnose and treat certain conditions much earlier than is possible today.

Current Projects

If you are interested in helping with our IEI research, either as a patient or researcher, please contact us at ieidiscovery@pediatrics.wisc.edu. Students are invited to complete the Student Research Interest Form.