Pediatric Rheumatology
Members of the Section of Pediatric Rheumatology at Baylor College of Medicine provide diagnosis and treatment for pediatric patients with rheumatic diseases, such as juvenile arthritis, dermatomyositis, systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjögren syndrome, scleroderma, Kawasaki disease, systemic vasculitides, acute rheumatic fever, pain amplification syndromes, and skeletal/orthopedic abnormalities.
Baylor physicians are located at Texas Children's, BCM's primary teaching hospital for pediatrics. The Pediatric Rheumatology Center at Texas Children's Hospital is one of the most established programs in the US and was developed in 1958, under the leadership of Earl J. Brewer, M.D. Texas Children's Rheumatology Center is one of the largest in North America, with nearly 3,600 visits annually with children and families from across the world. The service admits 110 patients annually and consults on 202 additional inpatients. Since its inception, this Center has been dedicated to team-based care for children and families with rheumatic disease and had a large support group very actively involved in both provision and research of team-based care. The Rheumatology Section is located on the 9th floor of the Feigin Center of Texas Children’s and occupies 7907 sq ft of office and laboratory space. Since its inception there is an established outreach program for care of patients with pediatric rheumatic diseases at the Baptist Hospital in Beaumont, Texas and Driscoll Children's Hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Our physicians are involved in multi-center studies coordinated by the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA). We have active clinical research programs in therapeutic evaluation/intervention, neurologic manifestations of autoimmune diseases, and health care services utilization. The section is involved in national and international registries of childhood rheumatic diseases (arthritis and vasculitis). We are engaged in laboratory research programs in the genetics of systemic lupus erythematosus and juvenile idiopathic arthritis, etiology and pathogenesis of Kawasaki Disease, and structure and function of antiphospholipid antibodies. The section has participated in multi-center intervention trials involving cutting edge anti-inflammatory agents.
The section has an active fellowship program, which is accredited through the ACGME, with one fellow per year dedicated to pediatric rheumatology training. Our recent fellows have completed master’s level degrees as part of their fellowship training. Our section is involved in national pediatric rheumatology mentoring initiatives and institutional efforts to enrich the educational experiences of pediatric subspecialty trainees.
We are committed to providing high quality and personalized patient care, ACGME-accredited medical training and education, and clinical and basic science research in pediatric rheumatology.