Hackensack University Medical Center - Where medicine meets innovation

Steven Bader Immunological Institute

Disorders of the immune system may result from either a genetic abnormality (primary immune deficiency disorders or PIDD) or from infections such as HIV or treatments with medications that suppress the immune system (secondary immune deficiencies). Children or adolescents with immune deficiencies may have:

• Recurrent, unusual or difficult to treat infections
• Poor growth or loss of weight
• Recurrent pneumonia, ear infections or sinusitis
• Multiple courses of antibiotics or IV antibiotics necessary to clear infections
• Recurrent deep abscesses of the organs or skin
• A family history of PIDD
• Swollen lymph glands or an enlarged spleen
• Autoimmune disease

Children with any of the above signs or symptoms should be evaluated for an immune deficiency disorder.

The Steven Bader Immunological Institute provides a multidisciplinary team approach to the diagnosis and management of the child with possible immune deficiencies. The Institute has the expertise of specialists in the pediatric fields of immunology, infectious diseases, allergy, and hematology to evaluate children expressing the above signs and symptoms for the presence of immune deficiency disorders.

The Bader family funded the establishment of the institute in memory of Steven Bader, who died of cancer at 19 in 1983.

At the Steven Bader Immunological Institute, children and adolescents are evaluated by a multidisciplinary team and a unified diagnostic and treatment plan is formulated for the individual patient. This multidisciplinary approach to evaluation and treatment is of enormous benefit to the child, who is spared the expense and trauma of visits to multiple specialists where diagnostic evaluations are often repeated. Results of this evaluation and treatment plan are clearly communicated to the referring physician. Hackensack UMC has a unique combination of medical subspecialists and specialized laboratory facilities, which are necessary for a program of this type.

The on-site laboratory facilities include highly regarded immune function and microbiologic diagnostic labs, including full viral diagnostic capabilities. Education and research are also important missions of the institute. Continuing medical education programs for other physicians, community outreach programs, and clinical research are a significant part of the institute's activities.