From Mentorship to Impact: Advancing Education, Research and Advocacy in Allergy & Immunology

AAAAI President Carla Davis, MD, FAAAAI, discusses her journey in allergy / immunology including key mentors and the initiatives in education, research and advocacy that she will be advancing over the next year. Learn how you can access education tailored to your interests through AAAAI Ignite and advocate for your patients through AAAAI Advocate.

AAAAI Advocate

Transcript

Rebecca Saff, MD, PhD, FAAAAI 0:11

Hello and welcome to Conversations in the World of Allergy, a podcast produced by the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. And I'm your host, Rebecca Saff. I'm a board certified allergist and immunologist and a fellowship director who loves learning about the exciting field of allergy and immunology. Our podcast series will use interviews with thought leaders to keep you up to date on new developments and to review core topics. Today, we are pleased to welcome the president of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, Dr. Carla Davis, to the podcast. Dr. Davis is the chair of Pediatrics and Child Health at Howard University College of Medicine. She is an NIH-funded investigator with expertise in translational research studies for the assessment of clinical tolerance to allergic disease and the identification of clinical biomarkers, as well as focusing on the improving quality of life in children with food allergies and other allergic diseases. We are pleased to welcome her to the podcast. Dr. Davis, thank you so much for taking the time to join us today.

Carla Davis, MD, FAAAAI 1:04

My pleasure. Thank you for having me.

Rebecca Saff, MD, PhD, FAAAAI 1:07

I always like to start by getting to know our guests a little bit. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Carla Davis, MD, FAAAAI 1:14

Yes, I think you already shared that I'm department chair of Pediatrics and Child Health in DC, where I've been uh for a year and a half. And uh and I moved after being at Baylor College of Medicine for pretty much my whole career, so 27 years. I have been married for 30 years. Uh I have four grown children. I grew up in cities along the East Coast, but most of my family is from Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana. I have a golden doodle dog named Pearl. And uh in my spare time, I really love to spend time with my family, jog, and read books. So that's a little bit about myself.

Rebecca Saff, MD, PhD, FAAAAI 1:55

And what made you choose allergy immunology as your field?

Carla Davis, MD, FAAAAI 2:00

Well, I realized later in my career that I decided to become an allergist immunologist because in college my best friend had a niece that was born with a genocine DMA, severe combined immunodeficiency. And I had a personal experience through her with the pain and grief of losing that child and what primary immunodeficiency did to a family. And I immediately went to the library because I had never heard of this thing called the immune system. I looked it up and I was fascinated. I learned about gene therapy, and uh and I realized that that love of immunology just kind of never went away. And I loved immunology in medical school, loved the patients where I had to think about the immune system in residency, and therefore I chose allergy immunology.

Rebecca Saff, MD, PhD, FAAAAI 2:53

That's fantastic. And you came in from more of the immune deficiency route and then really got involved in the kind of development of allergic diseases interest.

Carla Davis, MD, FAAAAI 3:01

Right. I started my career really wanting to change primary immune deficiency. And at the time, we knew less about the underpinnings, the mechanistic underpinnings of allergic disease. And so I really wanted to make a difference in allergies and understand more of the immunology regarding allergies in the same way that we knew about many of the underpinnings of primary immunodeficiency.

Rebecca Saff, MD, PhD, FAAAAI 3:30

That's great. Now, one of the things we think about in kind of guiding our career is mentors, and they can be so important for the support and to really encourage us as along our path. Could you tell us about a mentor you've had and how it's really influenced your career?

Carla Davis, MD, FAAAAI 3:45

I thought about a mentor and I just couldn't pick one. I think it's really important to have several mentors in your life because there may be different people who are expert and um and accomplished in many different areas. And so I'll just mention a few. The uh the mentors I remember most in my academic career were um Dr. Mary Louise Markert from Duke. Um, she was an immunologist where I was in medical school, and I spent a year in her lab. And so during that time, she really nurtured me as an investigator, and she had this infectious energy and enthusiasm for uh her work and the lab work. She mentored me in the experimental process as well as how to present, and um, and so she she was a huge part of why I became, you know, just so in love with primary immunodeficiency and allergy immunology. I would say Bill Shearer, William T. Shearer, um really encouraged me to uh stay in the field. And uh it was a champion. He was a champion for those patients who were of you know a lost cause, those people thought were down and out, anyone who was poor, disenfranchised, he was their champion. And uh, and I think he was also his reputation, and and I can say this was true, that he tried to work 24-7, 365 days a year. Um, he had this incredible work ethic, and uh and so that along with uh my mother, I would say, had a great work ethic, and so they really impacted my career. Secondly, I will just say, you know, I am a department chair and I didn't get into kind of this administrative uh leadership role without mentors. I would say that Stuart Abramson influenced me to try to become a leader in organized medicine through the Texas Medical Association. Ralph Feigen and Mark Klein were my chairs that really encouraged me to lead. And then finally, I would say Jordan Orange was uh a mentor in becoming a chair and now a um or a chief and then a chair.

Rebecca Saff, MD, PhD, FAAAAI 6:07

Absolutely. So it sounds like you've had some wonderful mentors along the way, and you've now grown into be able to mentor the next generation of allergy immunologists coming up as well as in pediatrics.

Carla Davis, MD, FAAAAI 6:19

Yeah, it's it's been really an honor to do that. I still see myself as, you know, just an investigator, a clinician, and happen to be in an administrative role. Um, but it's uh it's really it's wonderful to be able to be an example for others and and to encourage them and support them along their career.

Rebecca Saff, MD, PhD, FAAAAI 6:41

So your career is really focused on translational and clinical research, and you've been involved in a number of collaborative organizations that I think have been pretty instrumental. Um, the Food Allergy Research and Education Organization, the Consortium of Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Diseases, Consortium of Food Allergy Research, Immune Tolerance Network, so all these fantastic groups where they really allow investigators to come together. What do you feel are the benefits to being involved in organizations like that? And how would you encourage younger investigators to get involved?

Carla Davis, MD, FAAAAI 7:12

No, the benefits are immense of being involved in these wonderful organizations and uh and research collaborations. I would say that in my career, the biggest benefits, there are many, were being able to hear from diverse experts in the field from all over the nation and sometimes internationally. And uh, and you know, these are typically you know the best people in their field. So when you engage in this kind of collaboration, you automatically raise your level of thinking and your uh ability to problem solve. I think also learning about from experienced investigators clinically regarding state-of-the-art clinical operations, um, as well as you really learn the state-of-the-art laboratory uh tests and and this can help your own career. I think being a part of a group allows you the ability to make a larger difference, right? So, really advancing discovery and treatment in a way that you would never be able to as a single lab or a single center because you're just not gonna have the number of patients. And in many cases, you won't have the number of resources. Um, I would say another benefit uh in all these, or so say most of the organizations, the patient voice and people and families who had the disease, so food allergies, um, were intimately engaged. And one of the pieces, also the Eosinophilic gastrointestinal research um area uh too has has an intense patient involvement, right? So so uh patients give questions in the Seeger group that the group answers, and uh and then the other groups, the concerns of the patients and their families are really brought to the forefront, and and so that to me is just a true gift because none of us want to do research that is not going to impact the patient or be seen as important uh to their care. So uh so really I benefited from having that patient perspective in those groups. And then the last one I'll say, which in many cases is the first on most people's list, is the funding that comes from being a part of those organizations because they they do have resources and that can protect investigators' research time and effort. So yeah, it was instrumental in my career, and I'm I'm grateful to have been given the opportunity to participate.

Rebecca Saff, MD, PhD, FAAAAI 9:52

Yeah, it really sounds like it helps to give it meaning by bringing those patients' voices in, which reminds you of why your work is so important moving it forward. Yes, sure. And how did you first get involved with the AAA AI?

Carla Davis, MD, FAAAAI 10:07

Well, one of my mentors, Dr. William T. Shearer, or Bill, as he would call himself, was my training program director. And when I was in training as a fellow, he mandated that all fellows go ahead and you know come to the academy. He was an advocate staunchly of the academy, um, and he said it has the best science. And so I came with him and he said, Carla, you need to be at the primary deficiency committee meeting. And I said, Okay, Dr. Sher, because he was someone who really commanded respect. And uh, and as a fellow, I said, Absolutely, and so I come into the room and he said, Carla, sit right here. And so he had me sit right to you know on his like right hand, and uh, and then he said, Now I'm the chair of this committee, and you are gonna be the vice chair of this committee. And he said, So when it comes time for you know people to volunteer to be the vice chair, I want you to volunteer. I said, Yes, sir. So uh so he I watched him, you know, lead the meeting when it came time. Anybody want to be the vice chair of this committee? And there was silence around the room, and I said, I will volunteer. And he said, Thank you very much, Carla. And and so there, there it was, there it was. I um I was um in in you know, indoctrinated and got the chance to really lead there. But I would say that the other big influence for the academy was um my receipt of uh of a grant early in my career, and and I um was just you know, it's it's it's a gift when you get even a small grant from from an organization. And so um, so that was one of the joys that I had early in my career. And so yeah, from then on, I was like, yeah, the academy is the place to be.

Rebecca Saff, MD, PhD, FAAAAI 12:21

I know a number of the people that have gotten faculty development awards, and what an incredible um thing it has been for their career in moving it forward in that early stage. So I definitely appreciate how that solidified uh the academy is here to build my career. So that's fantastic. I also love that he uh you were the vice chair because of the uh the encouragement of the chair to volunteer. That's fantastic. So as you take on the presidency, every president has initiatives that they put forward to kind of help to shape their year as president and then the organization going forward. When did you start thinking about the initiatives that you wanted to promote?

Carla Davis, MD, FAAAAI 12:58

I first thought about these initiatives when I was encouraged to put my name in, to be considered, to be nominated for Secretary Treasurer. And so I had to think back just when that was, it seems like a long time ago. It was May of 2023, and uh, and there are certain questions that I had to answer, and that's when I really started thinking about what I might want to do as president of the academy. The question that stood out the most was what is the biggest threat to our specialty? And I think that my my answer to that really influenced all the initiatives, and and at that time I thought that the biggest threat, and I still would maintain uh it's a significant threat, is just having decreased relevance to our patient population due to limitations based on us by legislators, administrators, and payers. And I think that impacts um everybody who's who's practicing in medicine, and uh, and so I really felt that we need to do something to elevate the allergy immunologist's role, public legislation, our patients, and of course, all in the medical community and scientific community.

Rebecca Saff, MD, PhD, FAAAAI 14:16

Yeah, no, it's we don't think sometimes about all the other voices that are playing in that really shape the care that we are allowed to give our patients. So I think that's so important.

Carla Davis, MD, FAAAAI 14:27

It definitely impacts us. And it impacts it impacted me as a chief of the division of allergy and immunology, and uh and it impacts uh specifically faculty and patients and practices.

Rebecca Saff, MD, PhD, FAAAAI 14:42

So your first initiative involves reshaping the education and communication that the AAA AI provides. Uh, and one of the things you've afforded is this AAA AI Unite Ignite. Can you tell us about this?

Carla Davis, MD, FAAAAI 14:53

Yeah, Ignite is the Netflix-like uh education platform that will house our recorded educational content for members to access for free. And you know, we are in a digital and visual world, right? This is how training physicians, new career allergists learn. And I'm online, you know, all the time now, right? We're we're we're online all the time. So quite AI can be kind of at the forefront of bringing education, especially visual video education to its members in kind of a personalized manner. So it's an on-demand, right, service, and then it will recommend courses. So based on what you watch, just like Netflix, it'll give you suggestions, right? So for me, you know, I do food allergy, I do each. So the the content that would come to me would be you know personalized to uh to my um area of interest, and uh and it does uh do this based on some artificial intelligence um you know algorithms. So uh so I am really excited about this. The other thing I'm excited about is not only for members, but also pages can be on the site and for our organizational partners as well. So um, so really making our content more accessible and also relatable, especially to younger physicians, and and the way that we learn now is something that's important, and I think uh quite AAAAI Ignite will escalate and accelerate.

Rebecca Saff, MD, PhD, FAAAAI 16:22

Yeah, so is it primarily video-based that will be kind of the the way that education interaction takes place?

Carla Davis, MD, FAAAAI 16:28

Yes, uh-huh. It will be um where even things that are videoed at the conference, so oral presentations um could could also be accessed, uh, webinars can be accessed. Um, you know, we still will have things uh like slide sets and such on there, but but when education occurs, you know, in a busy setting, right? We're we we have so many tools now that are video based, you know, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram. And so um we can get we will be able to get our medical education that way as well.

Rebecca Saff, MD, PhD, FAAAAI 17:03

Yeah. And one of the things we talk a lot about is this kind of bite-sized education that people want these smaller lengths so they can really access it on the fly to go. And because you know, you can do it between things and get it in, it sounds like that's gonna be another feature of it. That's correct. That's correct.

Carla Davis, MD, FAAAAI 17:20

And we also quite AI has a social media um staff member who uh is also gonna really help and be able to um put the content together in a way that'll be able to reach more people. And I believe that this will be a way that we can actually reach uh the public and uh and really um be able to uh get out there and and get the content to the public as well as uh the pipeline in an easier, more accessible, attractive way.

Rebecca Saff, MD, PhD, FAAAAI 17:50

So I'm curious the pace of allergy immunology developments and research is just you know so quick. How do you stay informed? How do you what do you find helpful to make sure that you kind of keep up to date with what's going on?

Carla Davis, MD, FAAAAI 18:02

Yeah, it's not easy, that's for sure. We you know, we've had an explosion of information. Um, I think I have a little bit easier because I focus on food allergy and agent. I used to in the past kind of skim or read the paper journals, you know, when they arrived. And uh, but now with the more information, a huge digital online presence, I'm really more likely to focus on specific questions or problems that I have. I tend to remember things that are applicable. So I typically will read based on what I'm researching, what I'm teaching, what I see in the clinic, and what my patients ask me about. Um, I also follow JACI and uh JACI in practice, and but I don't always catch everything. Um, and so I also find the maintenance of certification when I'm uh from ABAI, that's where I learn the most that's outside of you know my uh specific field. So all of those ways, and I think you know, you just at some point you can't catch everything all the time. So I gotta focus.

Rebecca Saff, MD, PhD, FAAAAI 19:06

Yeah. One of the things I tell the fellows and try to live by is that try to pick one patient from my day that kind of has something unusual or interesting, which all of them do, um, and just you know, kind of do a little bit of a deep dive, give myself a little time. And because you do, you're absolutely right that you remember something so much more if it's in the context of a patient story and how you can apply that to a specific patient versus just a cool paper that is very interesting, but maybe harder to remember the details about that patient anchor.

Carla Davis, MD, FAAAAI 19:35

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I always think about so for me, I was a chemical engineering major and undergraduate, and uh, and we never really had to memorize anything besides maybe you know, one to five formulas. That's it. And and we would have to apply those formulas um on the test. And so so it wasn't, it was very different, right, than medical school. Um, but I I loved that. I loved being able to just remember something little and then just apply it. So so I always try to make my learning uh an applied learning approach. That's a great, great uh thing that you're telling the fellows, it's a great way to learn.

Rebecca Saff, MD, PhD, FAAAAI 20:15

Um, so one of the other initiatives that you're um working on is to establish a collaborative translational mechanistic research seed award um to encourage kind of translational work between MD and PhD researchers. Um, why that why that collaboration to really push forward right now?

Carla Davis, MD, FAAAAI 20:32

I think that it's definitely not easy to maintain research funding. We're losing a lot of basic um scientists and even um physicians that really love to do physician scientists that love to do work at the bench. And and so um so we really wanted to support that you know part of um our immunology and the discovery program um that was started um a few years ago has been just wildly successful in really bringing the um basic scientists to our meeting. And so we really want to support translational research from the bench to patients, utilizing information from clinicians to uh to do that. So we want to bring the two groups together, and and that's why this award is um, I think, so needed at this time. It's really to jumpstart this team science. And because the foundation has limited resources for faculty development awards, we can't give you know so many. This is really a one-year award for $100,000 to jumpstart uh this team science uh approach, and and it supports highly innovative uh translational research. Um, and uh it's it's really to foster uh discovery that is going to be getting to the patient in a rapid manner. So I am excited about it and I Hope that people are thinking about how they can apply.

Rebecca Saff, MD, PhD, FAAAAI 22:04

Yeah, no, I think the discovery session has sold out before the you know for the conference, the last at least the last two years, possibly before that. And this year I had the chance to go, and it's fascinating what people are discovering in our field.

Carla Davis, MD, FAAAAI 22:19

We need to get that that knowledge, you know, to the to the patients. And so uh so I'm I'm excited about it. The PhD scientists will collaborate with a clinician scientist that has either data or samples or database kind of already there, and um, and they'll be able, so so it'll be something that could be done in a relatively short amount of time with quick application.

Rebecca Saff, MD, PhD, FAAAAI 22:44

That sounds fantastic. And then you're also looking at how we can develop our advocacy skills, because as you said, the legislature has such an important, important impact on how the care we can provide our patients. How is that going to work? How are you going to encourage the advocacy portion of your initiative?

Carla Davis, MD, FAAAAI 23:02

So there's actually a new website, aaaai.quorum.us. And at this site, all members, and actually even non-members could do this, um, go to the site and sign up, register. When you put your address in, you can look to see who are your legislators from the um city, like region, state, and national level. And there's several initiatives that um that you can kind of click on to uh ensure that you're able to share your opinion with those leaders. And so um, so I'm encouraging everyone to go to the site and kind of register, and you'll see what our advocacy campaigns are. One is to pass the penicillin allergy verification act, and then you can even share what barriers you're having in your practice with straight to the legislature. You can also share patient stories, how your patients are being impacted by certain policies or laws. You can share the reimbursement challenges, also to fund, we want them to fund NIH research. You can tell them to fix Medicare, physician pay, and uh, and then also you can talk about climate change. I really want to empower allergists to be able to directly speak. And a lot of us think that there's nothing that we can say or it won't make a difference, but it actually can make a difference. And um, as physicians, we're one of the least likely specialty areas, careers. There's another word for that that I'm not remembering right now, but we're we're one of the least likely career people to advocate for ourselves, right? So lawyers do it, business people do it, administrators do it. Physicians typically don't advocate as much as we could. And I believe that that's part of the reason why we are experiencing some challenges in our practices.

Rebecca Saff, MD, PhD, FAAAAI 25:24

Yeah, I don't think we're really taught in medical school how important it is to get involved at that level. Um, I think that we're very much focused on the individual patients and maybe on the science to develop the therapeutics and diagnostics, but we don't think about kind of the impact of the legislature and the payers until much later, and suddenly we're in practice and you realize how much it impacts. And so I love getting people there and giving them an easy way to you know lend their voices to help improve care in that way.

Carla Davis, MD, FAAAAI 25:53

Yeah, absolutely. And the word I was looking for was profession. So we were one of the least likely professions to uh to advocate. The the other thing that this will enable us to do is to utilize our regional, state, local allergy societies. If physicians join those societies, local and state information, and when uh something is happening that the allergists and the state societies want to influence, they can have all their members go to this website, put a letter in, and hit submit, and it'll all go straight to uh to the legislature. And already it's being utilized uh in Illinois in order to influence policy. So I'm really excited about this tool, and I want to encourage all of the podcast listeners to sign up and share it with not only your colleagues, but also your patients.

Rebecca Saff, MD, PhD, FAAAAI 26:54

Yeah, no, I think so many of these small kind of grassroots in each individual state stocked up an effort in schools, um, you know, getting uh you know, like food assistance funding that includes allergy-friendly resources, like all of these things have come out of small state groups. And so even having their ability, and we think about the federal level, but the state level is so important as well.

Carla Davis, MD, FAAAAI 27:16

So important. And it's it's even more important with the current administration that that really wants the states to um decide much of you know how they're they're going to um you know run healthcare. So so we really um are now poised to be able to make a difference. And I will tell you that after advocating in Texas, I realized that every single visit, every single letter, every single phone call, it all matters because in many cases there's there's kind of checking off how many people are concerned about this. And when more people are concerned, then then that tends to make change.

Rebecca Saff, MD, PhD, FAAAAI 27:59

So looking back, is there advice that you would share with physicians who are starting out now?

Carla Davis, MD, FAAAAI 28:06

Oh, absolutely. When I look back on my career early on, there were many things that I wish I knew. One was to, well, I'll say in general, just to be persistent. I think that I was close to giving up. There were times when I thought, I don't know, you know, if I really want to keep doing this, and um, do I really want to, you know, keep submitting grants? Do I and uh and I would just say be persistent, never give up. Um, continue to press forward and be positive, but enjoy the process. I would say, even for grant applications, manuscripts, when they are rejected, I would say to look at the comments as real suggestions and learn from them. And then I would say don't be a loner, engage with your colleagues, join organizations, and uh and if you do all of these things um as well as connect with uh mentors, you'll be successful. Yeah, and I would say also follow your heart, right? So I think once you know, when you're in a situation and you have to kind of look at what you love to do within that situation and try to um maximize that and spend more time doing the things that you love.

Rebecca Saff, MD, PhD, FAAAAI 29:29

No, I think that especially science can be somewhat of a lonely field, and you there will be times when you don't get the grant that you were hoping or the paper gets rejected, and having that kind of community around you to support you, look through it, give you advice, give you feedback, and those mentors to encourage you, as you had said earlier. I think that's fantastic advice for the next generation.

Carla Davis, MD, FAAAAI 29:51

Yeah, that's that's what helped me keep going.

Rebecca Saff, MD, PhD, FAAAAI 29:54

I'm curious, um, as you've been developing your leadership style, as you know, became a chair uh in the division chief, and then as a you know, now the president, is there are there books that have been helpful or things that have been helpful for you to help develop your leadership style? Absolutely.

Carla Davis, MD, FAAAAI 30:11

I became engaged with leadership really through um two organizations, the Texas Medical Association as well as the Academy through Susan McDonald, um, who started the uh leadership institute. And and through that institute, I was exposed to a book that's called Stop Complainers and Energy Drainers: How to Negotiate Work Drama to Get More Done by Linda Swindling. And that was really helpful because um in that book she highlighted several different types of personalities and how leaders could interact with those personalities to get the most out of uh the interaction. And and and that was really helpful. Um, it it helped me to put a scientific uh approach to leadership. Um, the second one I will say is just listen, Discovering the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone by Mark Goulston. Um, he talks about how in in many cases we can glean information if we really listened very well. And I have definitely benefited from that. And and the last one I'll say is really the Bible. Because I'm a Christian, I I really studied Jesus Christ in his leadership style and decided to be a servant leader.

Rebecca Saff, MD, PhD, FAAAAI 31:25

Oh, what fantastic books! So um everyone can put those on their lists of things to read and learn from. And then I will also plug the AAAAI Leadership Institute. Uh, I thought it was a fantastic program. And I actually just did the ambassadors program in this past cycle. Um, and you just get to work with such fantastic people, and you find out that, oh, we're all struggling with similar problems, even across the country in different areas, and then really be able to brainstorm together how you can move things forward. And so definitely a great thing that the academy provides to help build the next generation of leaders. And I would definitely encourage people to be involved in that.

Carla Davis, MD, FAAAAI 32:04

Yeah, absolutely. I would I would encourage anyone who wants to be a leader to be involved in the leadership institute. It can be very energizing. I'm glad that it was helpful for you.

Rebecca Saff, MD, PhD, FAAAAI 32:14

And then you must be so busy with everything going on. Um, what's one thing you do that helps you kind of stay centered and kind of stay focused, even with all these different things going on in your research, in your division, in the AAA AI?

Carla Davis, MD, FAAAAI 32:29

Yeah, I really learned to uh appreciate and respect that you have to step away from uh doing work uh in order to recharge. And so I do that through prayer, um time with my family, and and time with um my church community. So uh so I find that when I step away for a bit, when I if I spend enough time there and then I come back to work and career, and I I find you know that's that's energizing, but I I'm much more creative when I am able to step away and then come back. And then sometimes tasks that would take longer for some reason they go by much quicker after I've taken a break. So those things keep me centered.

Rebecca Saff, MD, PhD, FAAAAI 33:21

Yeah, I love that. So good at work ethic, very important, but maybe not 365 uh days a year.

Carla Davis, MD, FAAAAI 33:29

That's right. I would say that yes, I I think uh rest, relaxation, and recharging is very important.

Rebecca Saff, MD, PhD, FAAAAI 33:37

Well, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us today. Um, is there any take-home messages or anything you want to close with as we finish up?

Carla Davis, MD, FAAAAI 33:46

Oh wow. Well, I would just um say that everything that I'm doing now is really trying to increase access to our field uh from many different arenas. And I appreciate everybody coming along and participating.

Rebecca Saff, MD, PhD, FAAAAI 34:04

Wonderful. Thank you so much, and we're so excited to have you as the president of the AAAAI and excited to see all these initiatives come to fruition.

Carla Davis, MD, FAAAAI 34:12

Thank you very much, Rebecca.

Speaker 34:14

We hope you enjoyed listening to today's episode. Please visit aaaai.org for show notes and pertinent links from today's conversation, including a link to the advocacy site. As a reminder, this podcast is not intended to provide any individual medical advice to our listeners. We do hope that our conversations provide evidence-based information. Any questions pertaining to one's own health should always be discussed with their personal physician. The Find an Allergist search engine on the Academy website is a useful tool to locate a listening of board certified allergists in your area. Use of this audio program is subject to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology terms of use agreement, which you can find at aaaai.org. If you like the show, please take a moment to rate and subscribe through wherever you download your podcast. Thank you again for listening.