James (Jim) Gern, MD

Education

BS, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
MD, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida
Residency, Pediatrics, SUNY-Syracuse, Syracuse, New York
Chief Resident in Pediatrics, Tufts New England Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts
Fellowship, Allergy and Immunology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland

Professional Activities

Dr. James (Jim) Gern is tenured professor in the Division of Allergy, Immunology and Rheumatology and the vice chair of research in the Department of Pediatrics. He leads the NIH-supported Wisconsin Allergy Research Fellowship Training Program. He has been elected to the American Pediatric Society, the American Association of Physicians, and the AOA Medical Honor Society. Gern has won a number of awards throughout his career including the Distinguished Physician Alumnus Award from the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine and the Distinguished Scientist Award from the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI). He has served on the board of directors of the AAAAI and is the past chair of the American Board of Allergy and Immunology. 

Gern is a full-time researcher with an affiliate appointment in the Department of Medicine.  

Research Interests

Gern’s research group investigates the causes of childhood allergic diseases and asthma. His team uses birth cohort studies that measure early life exposures in different environments, including inner cities, suburban Madison, and Wisconsin farm country, to define microbial exposure and colonization patterns. Through this work, the research team analyzes home and neighborhood exposures and measures of immune development to identify causative pathways. He is leading a center for the NIH Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) collaborative program and is the principal investigator for the Children’s Allergy and Asthma Data Repository (CADRE). These collaborative programs pool data from multiple birth cohorts to identify root causes of asthma. These clinical and translational studies are extended by several mechanistic studies that investigate the molecular virology of rhinovirus-C and interactions between rhinoviruses, bacteria, and airway epithelial cells.