USIDNET: a strategy to build a community of clinical immunologists.

ObjectivesInformation about patients with primary immune deficiencies can be scarce because of the rarity of the disorders. Individual centers rarely have sufficient patients to educate trainees and garner collective wisdom. Registries for many diseases have proven their worth by providing essential information on disease spectrum, treatments and natural history. This study describes the construction and use of a registry for patients with primary immune deficiencies and other efforts to improve knowledge and care for affected patients and their families.MethodsRegistry demographics and data were extracted using proprietary reporting tools. Educational efforts and cell repository data were collected from centralized source material.ResultsThe USIDNET Registry contains 3,459 patients, with common variable immune deficiency being the most represented. Pilot studies identified strengths and weaknesses of the data. Visiting Professor and Visiting Scholar Programs have been successful, encouraging trainees at all levels to pursue a career in Immunology.ConclusionsUSIDNET's comprehensive and integrated approach provides resources that strengthen the field of primary immune deficiencies, as shown by utilization by 312 distinct sites or individuals. The reach of USIDNET's efforts is extended through the educational resources

USIDNET: a strategy to build a community of clinical immunologists.

Information about patients with primary immune deficiencies can be scarce because of the rarity of the disorders. Individual centers rarely have sufficient patients to educate trainees and garner collective wisdom. Registries for many diseases have proven their worth by providing essential information on disease spectrum, treatments and natural history. This study describes the construction and use of a registry for patients with primary immune deficiencies and other efforts to improve knowledge and care for affected patients and their families.Registry demographics and data were extracted using proprietary reporting tools. Educational efforts and cell repository data were collected from centralized source material.The USIDNET Registry contains 3,459 patients, with common variable immune deficiency being the most represented. Pilot studies identified strengths and weaknesses of the data. Visiting Professor and Visiting Scholar Programs have been successful, encouraging trainees at all levels to pursue a career in Immunology.USIDNET's comprehensive and integrated approach provides resources that strengthen the field of primary immune deficiencies, as shown by utilization by 312 distinct sites or individuals. The reach of USIDNET's efforts is extended through the educational resources

Extensive identification of genes involved in congenital and structural heart disorders and cardiomyopathy

Clinical presentation of congenital heart disease is heterogeneous, making identification of the disease-causing genes and their genetic pathways and mechanisms of action challenging. By using in vivo electrocardiography, transthoracic echocardiography and microcomputed tomography imaging to screen 3,894 single-gene-null mouse lines for structural and functional cardiac abnormalities, here we identify 705 lines with cardiac arrhythmia, myocardial hypertrophy and/or ventricular dilation. Among these 705 genes, 486 have not been previously associated with cardiac dysfunction in humans, and some of them represent variants of unknown relevance (VUR). Mice with mutations in Casz1, Dnajc18, Pde4dip, Rnf38 or Tmem161b genes show developmental cardiac structural abnormalities, with their human orthologs being categorized as VUR. Using UK Biobank data, we validate the importance of the DNAJC18 gene for cardiac homeostasis by showing that its loss of function is associated with altered left ventricular systolic function. Our results identify hundreds of previously unappreciated genes with potential function in congenital heart disease and suggest causal function of five VUR in congenital heart disease