Yaël Gernez, MD, PhD

About

I am an allergist and immunologist and a Clinical Associate Professor in the Division of Allergy and Immunology, Department of Pediatrics, at Stanford. I previously served as Clinical Assistant Professor from January 2017 to July 2022, and as a Visiting Scholar in the Herzenberg Laboratory, Department of Genetics, from January 2013 to January 2017.

I earned my MD and specialized diploma in Adult Pulmonary Medicine at Marseille University in 2008, a Master of Science in Health and Environment in 2006, and a PhD with Highest Honors in 2011, with a thesis on functional mechanisms and intracellular signalling in human allergic and inflammatory diseases. My residency included Internal Medicine at Highland Alameda County Hospital, Oakland, and Internal Medicine and Adult Pulmonary Medicine at Marseille University, followed by an Allergy and Immunology fellowship at Mount Sinai, New York.

Full education, teaching, honors, and patents are on the Career page.

Clinical focus

• Primary immunodeficiency in adults and children
• Immune dysregulation, including CVID
• Food allergy
• Autoinflammation and autoimmunity
• Allergy and immunology, including cystic fibrosis–associated allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis
• Rare genetic disorders of immunity

For some of my patients a hematopoietic stem cell transplant is curative; for others a targeted drug therapy, such as a biologic or small molecule, is most suitable. In some cases a novel therapy may be required. I individualize treatment to the underlying genetic problem and the type and severity of clinical manifestations.

Research themes

• Genetic immune dysregulation: my work on how genetic testing guides therapy in children with refractory cytopenias, and targeted treatment for WHIM, CTLA4 haploinsufficiency, and related disorders.
• FOXP3 and IPEX: regulatory T-cell stability, autoreactive effector T cells, and epigenetic markers of disease.
• Interferonopathies: including SPENCDI and related autoinflammatory conditions, and JAK inhibition for refractory autoimmune cytopenias.
• Cystic fibrosis and ABPA: basophil activation and CD203c as biomarkers of allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis.
• Food allergy: immunotherapy, oral food challenge, and quality of life across diverse patient groups.

See the Publications page for the papers behind these themes, newest first.