Biography
Dr. Järvinen-Seppo is the Chief of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology and holds the inaugural Founders' Distinguished Chair in Pediatric Allergy. She is the Director of the Center for Food Allergy, which is the FARE Clinical Network Center of Excellence, sponsored by the Food Allergy Research and Education. This is a multidisciplinary program that provides comprehensive care to families with food allergies including specialists in allergy, gastroenterology, dermatology, and counseling for dietary and psychologic aspects. Her clinical interests are focused on various types of food allergy, including immediate-type allergies, eosinophilic gastrointestinal disease, food protein-induced enterocolitis, and allergic proctocolitis, as well as atopic dermatitis, anaphylaxis, asthma, allergic rhinitis, and urticaria. Through her interest and research on human milk, she serves on the Executive Committee for the International Society for Research in Human Milk and Lactation (ISRHML) and on USDA-sponsored Dietary Guidance Development Project for Infants and Pregnant Mothers. She is also an active participant in the Allergy and Immunology Fellowship Training program.
Professional Background
Dr. Järvinen-Seppo is an Allergist and Immunologist at the Strong Memorial and Golisano Children's Hospitals. She received her M.D. and Ph.D. degrees at the University of Helsinki, Finland. She was trained at the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City for a post-doctoral research fellowship and completed a residency in Pediatrics and a fellowship in Allergy and Immunology at the Mount Sinai Hospital. She held faculty positions at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai followed by Albany Medical College before joining the University of Rochester Medical Center in 2014 to build the Division of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology.
Research
Dr. Järvinen-Seppo directs an NIH-funded translational research program focused on developmental aspects of the infant systemic and mucosal immune system relating to mechanisms behind development of food allergy, atopic dermatitis and the whole atopic march. She is particularly interested in the role of maternal and infant environmental factors and breast milk composition in shaping the early infant immune system and uses human cohorts and laboratory bench research approaches to answer the mechanistic questions. She is also interested in antibody-mediated protection against respiratory and diarrheal diseases provided by breast milk in infants, funded through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Her research has been published in leading medical journals and she is a regular speaker at local, national and international professional and community events.
Awards
2018
Ruth Lawrence Academic Faculty Service Award in Research
Sponsor: Dept. of Pediatrics, UR, Golisano Children's Hospital
2011
NIH NIAID Physician Scientist Award
2007
Third-Year Fellow-in-Training Research Award
Sponsor: American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (AAAAI)
2007
AAAAI Jaffe Food Allergy Research Award
Sponsor: American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology
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Clinical Trials
Breast Milk Assay Development
Lead Researcher: Kirsi M Jarvinen-seppo
When some research ideas are initially formed, they need to be tested on small amounts of human breast milk before moving on to large studies. This study will collect a one-time breast milk sample and questionnaire from each participant for that purpose. Participants will be compensated $5 per breast milk sample (up to 4 samples). Additionally, this study will collect multiple breast milk samples from two different groups of mothers who can collect samples at home. The first group will help us learn more about food allergies by collecting samples before a meal and 1, 2, 6, and 24 hours after a meal containing one egg, one cup of milk, or a small handful of peanuts. If a woman is experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, they may join a different group that will provide samples over time to help us learn how long the virus is present in breast milk.
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Publications
Journal Articles
2/9/2021
Pace RM, Williams JE, Järvinen KM, Belfort MB, Pace CDW, Lackey KA, Gogel AC, Nguyen-Contant P, Kanagaiah P, Fitzgerald T, Ferri R, Young B, Rosen-Carole C, Diaz N, Meehan CL, Caffé B, Sangster MY, Topham D, McGuire MA, Seppo A, McGuire MK. "Characterization of SARS-CoV-2 RNA, Antibodies, and Neutralizing Capacity in Milk Produced by Women with COVID-19." mBio.. 2021 Feb 9; 12(1)Epub 2021 Feb 09.
2/3/2021
Pier J, Liu EG, Eisenbarth S, Järvinen KM. "The Role of Immunoglobulin A in Oral Tolerance and Food Allergy." Annals of allergy, asthma & immunology : official publication of the American College of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology.. 2021 Feb 3; Epub 2021 Feb 03.
12/31/2020
Burris AD, Pizzarello C, Järvinen KM. "Immunologic components in human milk and allergic diseases with focus on food allergy." Seminars in perinatology.. 2020 Dec 31; :151386. Epub 2020 Dec 31.
Books & Chapters
2014
Chapter Title: Breast- always best?
Book Title: Allergy, immunity and tolerance in early childhood: The first two thousand days of the Atopic March
Author List: Järvinen KM, Bergmann R.
Edited By: Wahn U, Sampson HA (eds).
Published By: Elsevier 2014
2011
Chapter Title: Food-Induced Anaphylaxis
Book Title: Anaphylaxis and Hypersensitivity Reactions from Molecular Markers to Rapid Desensitizations.
Author List: Järvinen KM, Nowak-Wegrzyn A.
Edited By: Castells MC (ed).
Published By: Springer 2011 in New York
2002
Chapter Title: IgA in human milk and development of cow's milk allergy in the breast-fed infant
Book Title: Integrating population outcomes, biological mechanisms and research methods in the study of human milk and lactation
Author List: Järvinen K-M, Laine S, Järvenpää A-L, Suomalainen H.
Edited By: Davis MK, Isaacs CE, Hanson LA, Wright AL (eds).
Published By: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers 2002 in New York
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