Kirsi M. Jarvinen-Seppo, M.D., Ph.D.

Contact Information

Phone Numbers

Appointment: (585) 276-7190

A member of the University of Rochester Medical Faculty Group

An Accountable Health Partner

Accepting New Patients

Faculty Appointments

Associate Professor - Department of Pediatrics , Pediatric Allergy/Immunology (SMD)

Patient Care Setting

Pediatrics

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.

Credentials

Specialties

Allergy and Immunology - American Board of Allergy and Immunology
Pediatrics - American Board of Pediatrics

Education

1996
MD | Finland - University of Helsinki, FInland
Medicine

2000
PhD | Finland-University of Helsinki, Finland
Allergy/Immunology

Post-doctoral Training & Residency

07/01/2005 - 06/30/2008
Fellowship in Allergy & Immunology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine

07/01/2004 - 06/30/2005
Residency in Pediatrics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine

07/01/2003 - 06/30/2004
Internship in Pediatrics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine

07/01/1999 - 06/30/2001
Fellowship in Pediatric Allergy at Mount Sinai School of Medicine

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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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Publications

Journal Articles

10/10/2019
Blyuss O, Cheung KY, Chen J, Parr C, Petrou L, Komarova A, Kokina M, Luzan P, Pasko E, Eremeeva A, Peshko D, Eliseev VI, Pedersen SA, Azad MB, Jarvinen KM, Peroni DG, Verhasselt V, Boyle RJ, Warner JO, Simpson MR, Munblit D. "Statistical Approaches in the Studies Assessing Associations between Human Milk Immune Composition and Allergic Diseases: A Scoping Review." Nutrients.. 2019 Oct 10; 11(10)Epub 2019 Oct 10.

8/2019
Järvinen KM, Martin H, Oyoshi MK. "Immunomodulatory effects of breast milk on food allergy." Annals of allergy, asthma & immunology : official publication of the American College of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology.. 2019 Aug 0; 123(2):133-143. Epub 2019 Apr 29.

3/1/2019
Güngör D, Nadaud P, LaPergola CC, Dreibelbis C, Wong YP, Terry N, Abrams SA, Beker L, Jacobovits T, Järvinen KM, Nommsen-Rivers LA, O'Brien KO, Oken E, Pérez-Escamilla R, Ziegler EE, Spahn JM. "Infant milk-feeding practices and food allergies, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, and asthma throughout the life span: a systematic review." The American journal of clinical nutrition.. 2019 Mar 1; 109(Supplement_7):772S-799S.

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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