Meet your immunity doctor

Hi

I am a trained clinical  Immunologist and Pediatric Rheumatologist based in Pune, Maharashtra. I am a trained pediatrician and the only DM in Pediatric Clinical Immunology And Rheumatology in the entire western India. I work exclusively in this field of specialization.

 

My interest in immunology sprouted during my undergraduate days when we were taught immunology as one of the subheadings of Microbiology during our pre-clinical years of MBBS. I was amazed and awestruck at how complex the different immune pathways were and yet they were a part of every inch of the body, just doing their job. It was so ubiquitous that any organ of your body can get affected because of it. I chose pediatrics as my specialization and went to Advanced Pediatrics Center(APC), PGIMER Chandigarh for my training. APC is easily the best place to learn pediatrics from. I later finished a postdoctoral specialization, DM in pediatric clinical immunology and rheumatology from PGIMER Chandigarh under the mentorship of father of pediatric rheumatology in India, Prof. Surjit Singh. Later, I got selected for a fellowship in immunology at Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam which is the largest hospital in Europe and also a center of excellence for immunodeficiency diseases. I currently work in Pune as a consultant clinical immunology and rheumatology at Ruby Hall Clinics, Pune and Alpha Superspeciality Clinics, Pune.

 

My field of expertise includes pediatric rheumatological disorders like childhood arthritis, childhood uveitis, childhood lupus, childhood inflammatory myositis, childhood scleroderma, childhood APLA, neonatal lupus, childhood vasculitis like Kawasaki disease, Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP), Takayasu arteritis, Polyarteritis Nodosa, ANCA associated vasculitis), childhood sarcoidosis, Behcet's disease, childhood gangrene , IgG4 related disease, hypermobility syndrome, and skeletal dysplasia. I also specialize in immunodeficiency disorders in both children and adults like severe combined immunodeficiency, X Linked Agammaglobulinemia (XLA), Chronic Granulomatous Disease (CGD), Hyper-IgE Syndrome, Hyper IgM syndrome. Wiskott Aldrich Syndrome (WAS) , Common Variable Immunodeficiency (CVID), Primary HLH, Autoimmune Lymphoproliferative Syndrome(ALPS). I also treat recurrent fever syndromes(periodic fever syndromes, inflammasomopathies, early onset inflammatory bowel disease, recurrent HLH), immune-dysregulatory states (Cytokine Release Syndrome, secondary HLH, hyperinflammatory state associated with COVID-19, Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children associated with COVID-19) , Hereditary Angioedema and pediatric HIV infections.

 

With a strong determination to contribute to betterment of healthcare in her own country, I have moved to Pune, Maharashtra. I am an expert in disorders of immune system, the disorders that are considered rare by physicians. These "not so rare" disorders may present with things as simple as recurrent oral ulcers, recurrent fever episodes, growth retardation, recurrent loose stools, lymph node enlargement, anemia, low platelet counts, skin rashes to as sinister as life-threatening infections, organ failures, vision loss, limb deformities and even death. Unfortunately these disorders are often missed and under-diagnosed in the community. Most of these patients suffer for many months to years before they could receive some satisfactory help. Some of these disorders need very specialized therapy, something that is backed by scientific evidence. These therapies may not be easily available, may be expensive and can have many side effects(if given unsupervised). Hence, it is important to raise awareness about the existence of these disorders, medical needs of the patients suffering from these disorders and everything else that could be done to support them(diet, exercise, immunization, medications ).