The College is pleased to announce the 2026 Pathways to Practice (P2P) grant recipients. The institutions and program directors are:
- Emory University School of Medicine — Gerald Lee, MD, FACAAI
- Indiana University School of Medicine — Jay Jin, MD, FACAAI
- University of Alabama-Birmingham — JaneMarie Freeman MD, FACAAI
- University of Nebraska Medical Center — Sara May, MD, FACAAI
The ACAAI Pathways to Practice (P2P) program is a five-year College initiative, launched in 2025 by then-President James M. Tracy, DO, FACAAI. It was created to expand access to allergy and immunology care across the country by supporting U.S. allergy fellowship training positions and fellows who are committed to entering community-based practice within the U.S.
Dr. Sara May, Training Program Director at the University of Nebraska Medical Center — one of the 2026 P2P award recipients — said, “At a time when securing graduate medical education funding has become increasingly challenging, the ACAAI Pathways to Practice (P2P) grant provides an extraordinary opportunity to expand allergy and immunology training where it is needed most.” She noted in her area – Nebraska and neighboring states – access to allergy care is limited. “Thanks to the generosity of the ACAAI P2P grant, the University of Nebraska Medical Center is able to increase our fellowship complement from three to four fellows over a two-year period. This investment will help strengthen the workforce pipeline, improve patient access to allergy and immunology services, and support the development of future leaders in our specialty,” she said.
The P2P program awards four competitive $250,000 grants each year and the grants span a two-year period. The P2P program supports the training of a total of 16 allergy/immunology fellows.
By providing financial support to accredited programs, the College is able to expand training opportunities, increase the number of practicing allergists, and strengthen the specialty’s future.
Dr. Gerald Lee, Training Program Director at the Emory University School of Medicine — one of the 2026 P2P award recipients — noted that while the specialty is facing a shortfall, many allergy/immunology fellowship applicants are unable to match into a position due to a shortage of fellowship funding. “I am grateful for the ACAAI in addressing these shortfalls with the Pathways to Practice training grants,” he said. “We have been fortunate to double the size of our adult allergy/immunology faculty in the past year and with this seed funding, we are hopeful this additional fellowship funding can jump start a fellowship expansion into the adult clinical sites.”
The application site for the 2027 program will open in February.
