Department of Immunology and Allergology

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ABOUT THE CLINIC

The Department of Immunology and Allergology, under the leadership of Professor B. Gradauskienė, was established on 1 September 2016. Its historical origins, however, can be traced back to the beginning of the 20th century and Professor Vladas Lašas’ experimental work in the field of allergology and immunology. Organisationally, the Department has evolved from the Sector of Clinical Immunology and Allergology (headed by Professor B. Šitkauskienė) that had been established within the Department of Pulmonology and Immunology in 2022.  

Immunology and Allergology – two closely related medical fields – have recently been developing at an unprecedented pace. Progress in practical allergology has been influenced by new knowledge in immunology.  The range of diseases that can now be diagnosed and treated by allergologists and clinical immunologists has expanded well beyond allergic conditions to include immune response deficiency and autoimmune conditions. With the field of transplantation developing rapidly – leading to a significant increase in transplants – adequate immunological examination and immunosuppression need to be addressed, and the role of specialists holding competences in Allergology and Immunology is becoming increasingly important. It is now possible to diagnose a considerably wider range of diseases – this is the practical outcome of the deepening understanding of the mechanisms behind immune tissue damage as well as application of the latest immunological examination methods in research and their rapid integration into daily medical practice. This also creates conditions for further development and wider applicability of modern immunotherapy methods.

The Department of Immunology and Allergology brings together specialists in clinical and laboratory immunology and allergology. Its primary aim is to ensure the coherent development of educational, research, and clinical activities in the field of immunology and allergology at the University, and to actively contribute to the implementation of the University’s mission – to promote a healthy and educated society.

Clinical activity

The Department of Immunology and Allergology comprises the Clinical Immunology and Allergology Outpatient Unit (including three consultation rooms for allergologists and clinical immunologists and one procedure room at the Outpatient Diagnostic Centre of LSMU Hospital Kauno Klinikos), the Diagnostic and Day Care Unit of Allergic and Immune Diseases, and the Laboratory of Immunology.

Specialists at the Department provide consultations for patients with suspected immune disorders and allergic diseases, and collaborate with colleagues from other departments in the diagnosis of impaired immune responses and their correction.  

The Diagnostic and Day Care Unit of Allergic and Immune Diseases delivers elective healthcare services, including comprehensive allergy diagnostics, diagnostic provocation tests and other assays, monitoring of allergic and other impaired immune responses, and the application of immunocorrective treatment.

The Laboratory of Immunology performs antibody, allergy diagnostic tests in vitro, phenotyping of immune cells, ALEX2 multiplex diagnostic platform identifying the sensitisation caused by molecular allergen components, and other immunological tests.    

Development of educational resources

Evidence-based methodologies and teaching materials recently developed and implemented:

  1. Šitkauskienė, B. (ed.), Blažienė, A., Bylaitė-Bučinskienė, M., Chomičienė, A., Staikūnienė, J. and Valiukevičienė, S. (2015). Dilgėlinės rekomendacijos: klasifikacija, diagnostika ir gydymas (Urticaria guidelines: classification, diagnosis and treatment).
  2. Šitkauskienė, B. and Blažienė, A. (2016). Pirminio imunodeficito diagnostikos ir gydymo rekomendacijos (Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of primary immunodeficiency).
  3. Šitkauskienė, B. and Tamašauskienė, L. (2016). Kas yra pirminis imunodeficitas ir kaip gyventi su juo sergant (What is primary immunodeficiency and how to live with it).
  4. Šitkauskienė, B., Blažienė, A., Bylaitė-Bučinskienė, M., Chomičienė, A., Grigaitienė, J., Staikūnienė, J. and Valiukevičienė, S. (2020). Dilgėlinės diagnostikos ir gydymo rekomendacijos: mokomoji knyga (Urticaria diagnosis and treatment guidelines: teaching textbook).
  5. Slatkevičienė, G., Tamašauskienė, L. and Šitkauskienė, B. (eds.) (2020). Informacija apie COVID-19 ir rekomendacijos pirminiu imunodeficitu sergantiesiems pacientams: leidinys pacientams (Information on COVID-19 and recommendations for patients with primary immunodeficiency: a patient guide). Kaunas.
  6. Malinauskienė, L., Bylaitė-Bučinskienė, M., Mickys, U., Žilėnaitė, E., Černiauskas, K., Chomičienė, A., Staikūnienė, J., Blažienė, A. and Gailiūtė, N. (2021). Mastocitozės diagnostikos ir gydymo rekomendacijos (Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of mastocytosis).
  7. Malinauskienė, L., Chomičienė, A., Žilėnaitė, E., Černiauskas, K., Bajoriūnienė, I., Staikūnienė, J., Blažienė, A., Stanevičiūtė, J. and Šitkauskienė, B. (2021). Paveldima angioedema: diagnostikos ir gydymo rekomendacijos (Hereditary angioedema: diagnosis and treatment guidelines).
  8. Danila, E., Bagdonas, A., Biekšienė, K., Gradauskienė, B., Hoppenot, D., Kalinauskaitė-Žukauskė, V. and Žemaitis, M. (2023). Lietuvos suaugusiųjų astmos diagnostikos ir gydymo rekomendacijos (Lithuanian guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of adult asthma). Kaunas: UAB Vitae Litera.
  9. Linauskienė, K., Malinauskienė, L., Gasiūnienė, E., Černiauskas, K., Staikūnienė-Kozonis, J., Gradauskienė, B. and Chomičienė, A. (2023). Antrinės hipogamaglobulinemijos diagnostikos ir pakaitinės terapijos žmogaus normaliuoju imunoglobulinu Lietuvoje rekomendacijos (Guidelines in Lithuania for the diagnosis of secondary hypogammaglobulinaemia and replacement therapy with human normal immunoglobulin.
  10. Malinauskienė, L., Kisielienė, I., Raudonis, T., Chomičienė, A., Grigaitienė, J., Kučinskienė, V., Gradauskienė, B., Staikūnienė-Kozonis, J. and Bylaitė-Bučinskienė, M. (2024). Atopinio dermatito diagnostikos ir gydymo rekomendacijos: mokomoji knyga (Atopic dermatitis diagnosis and treatment guidelines: teaching textbook).
  11. Tamašauskienė, L. and Gradauskienė, B. (2025). Maisto alergija ir netoleravimas: mokomoji knyga (Food allergy and intolerance: teaching textbook).

The Department of Immunology and Allergology organises and delivers study programmes at all levels: undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral. The teaching staff of the Department comprises 14 members:

  • 1 professor
  • 3 associate professors
  • 2 assistants
  • 1 junior assistant
  • 7 lecturers

Integrated studies

  • Course “Atsakas į aplinkos poveikį ir struktūros homeostazę” / “Response to Environmental Impact and Structural Homeostasis” (in Lithuanian and English) for the 1st year students of Medicine
  • Course “Odos ir venerinės ligos, alergologija, imunologija, reumatologija” / “Dermatovenereology, Allergology, Immunology, and Rheumatology” (in Lithuanian and English), as of 2025, for the 4th year students of Medicine
  • Course “Imunologija ir imunoprofilaktika” / “Immunology and Immunoprophylaxis” (in Lithuanian and English) for the 2nd year students of Pharmacy

Undergraduate courses

  • Course “Imunologijos pagrindai” / “Basics of Immunology” (in Lithuanian and Engish) for the 2nd year students of Medical and Veterinary Genetics
  • Course “Laboratorinė hematologija ir imunologijos pagrindai” / “Laboratory Hematology and Basics of Immunology” (in Lithuanian and English) for the 3rd year students of Medical and Veterinary Biochemistry (delivered in partnership with the Department of Laboratory Medicine).

Graduate courses

  • Course “Molekulinė imunologija” / “Molecular Immunology” (in Lithuanian and English) for the students of Medicinal Chemistry.

Residency programme

  • Residency programme in Allergology and Clinical Immunology (duration: 5 years):
    • Aim: to provide the knowledge and skills required for specialists to diagnose and treat acute and chronic internal, immune, and allergic conditions, develop an individual treatment plan, and deliver emergency medical care.
    • Programme outcomes: the programme equips residency graduates with competences aligned with the qualification requirements for allergologists and clinical immunologists.

Professional development courses

  • “Allergology and Clinical Immunology”
  • “Latest Developments in Immunology and Allergology”

Intended for medical doctors across different specialties

 

Doctoral studies

Doctoral study programmes:

  • Allergology. The programme aims to systematise and deepen knowledge of increased immune sensitivity (allergy) as the most common form of immune response disorder, its mechanisms, and their role in the development, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of allergic diseases. It also seeks to enhance the understanding of achievements and outlook in the scientific field of allergology, as well as their application in diagnosis and treatment.
  • Clinical Immunology. The programme aims to systematise and deepen knowledge of normal and impaired immune responses, as well as various aspects of the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of immune diseases.

The current number of doctoral students is 3.

Our research priority focuses on multidisciplinary projects aimed at exploring new aspects of chronic disease development for better understanding of the mechanisms behind immune responses. The research works currently carried out at the Department provide the framework for the analysis of the relationship between immunological changes in allergen-induced airway inflammation and the manifestation of symptoms and clinical course, taking into account different disease phenotypes; characteristics of immune responses in malignant diseases and immunodeficiencies. This paves the way for identifying new markers and molecules which play significant role in the development of diseases. The knowledge gained in the process helps close the gaps in the understanding of pathogenesis of various diseases and expands the horizons when exploring new diagnostic and treatment possibilities.

Research conducted by allergologists and clinical immunologists is published in high-impact journals indexed in the core collection journals of the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI), including American Journal of Respiratory Cellular and Molecular Biology, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, The New England Jornal of Medicine, Journal of Investigational Allergology and Clinical Immunology, among others. The results of research activities are presented annually at the congresses and assemblies of the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI), the Clinical Allergy and Immunology Assembly of the European Respiratory Society (ERS), as well as at the congresses of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI) and the World Allergy Organization (WAO).

Applied clinical research is conducted in accordance with Good Clinical Practice guidelines. Ongoing clinical studies:

  1. “A prospective, multicentre, long-term study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of nemolizumab (CD14152) in subjects with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis”
  2. “A randomised, parallel-group, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase III study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a five-grass pollen mixture sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) drops in adult patients with grass pollen-induced rhinoconjunctivitis”
  3. “Inclusion of patients with primary immunodeficiency treated at the Centre of Primary Immunodeficiency of LSMU Hospital Kauno Klinikos in the European Society for Immunodeficiencies (ESID) Registry”
  4. “A retrospective observational study evaluating the burden of disease and treatment in patients with hereditary angioedema types I and II (Protocol TAK-743-4009)”
  5. “A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicentre study evaluating the efficacy of subcutaneous immunotherapy with the ‘PURETHAL Mites’ mixture (50,000 AUeq/ml) in adults with moderate-to-severe allergic rhinitis/rhinoconjunctivitis, with or without asthma, induced by house dust mites”

Since 2022, a joint research project involving Lithuania, Latvia, and China (Taiwan) has been implemented and completed: “A comparative study of vitamin D and vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms among children and adults with atopic dermatitis and asthma in Lithuania, Latvia, and Taiwan” (Reg. No. P-LLT-20-4; duration: 3 years)

At the initiative of allergologists and clinical immunologists, since 2005 LSMU has served as a collaborating centre of the European Union’s Sixth Framework Programme project GA²LEN (Global Allergy and Asthma European Network.

The Department hosts the Centre of Primary Immunodeficiency, which is a member of the international Jeffrey Modell Foundation since 2012 and of the J Project since 2016.
The links and long-standing collaboration established with the European research centres and active participation in international organisations contribute to not only the acquisition of new knowledge in allergology and immunology, but also the implementation of the latest diagnostic and treatment methods for allergic and immune diseases, the advancement of teaching content and practices, and the further development of research. These activities also provide a foundation for continued successful advancement of this field of medicine.

Department of Immunology and Allergology
Imunologijos.alergologijos.klinika@kaunoklinikos.lt
Eivenių g. 2, LT-50009 Kaunas
Prof. Brigita Gradauskienė
Head of the Immunology and Allergology Department
+370 37 703453 brigita.gradauskiene@lsmu.lt
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Faculty of Medicine
Faculty of Odontology
Faculty of Pharmacy
Faculty of Public Health
Faculty of Nursing
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
Faculty of Animal Science