VAMPSS FIT Program

Applications will be available in January.

Purpose of the VAMPSS FIT Program
To provide additional scholarly activity regarding the interface between allergy / immunology and reproductive medicine, including:
•    Interrelationships between medical problems, particularly asthma and allergic diseases, and pregnancy.
•    The safety and use of medications during pregnancy.
•    Research designs to study the safety of medications in pregnancy, including cohort, case-control, and database studies.

Specific Activities
•    Participate in weekly VAMPSS Investigative Task Force teleconferences (as the FIT schedule allows).
•    Attend VAMPSS Advisory Committee meetings (typically one in-person and one by teleconference each year).
•    A mutually agreed upon project with the FIT, the FIT Program Director, and the VAMPSS team.
•    Serve as a liaison between VAMPSS and the FIT Assembly.

Selection Process
•    Applications accepted beginning in January of the FIT first year and are due by March 13.
•    Applicant chosen by VAMPSS Investigative Task Force and approved by the applicant’s Program Director.
•    Applicant notified by May 15 to begin July 1.
•    Participant selection is based on the applicant’s experience (clinical, research, organizational, leadership) and statement of interest and career goals.

Eligibility
•    Current first year (or second year in a three-year program) Fellows-in-Training (FITs) at any U.S. ACGME-accredited A/I Fellowship Training Program.
•    Approval of the Program Director.

What is VAMPSS?
Because pregnant women are excluded from clinical trials, there is a lack of adequate safety information for most medications taken during pregnancy. VAMPSS is a national surveillance system designed to monitor the safety of vaccines and medications during pregnancy. VAMPSS uses two complementary data collection approaches to get information about how vaccines and medications might affect the baby. One arm is a prospective cohort study that collects information from women while they are pregnant and evaluates this information in relationship to pregnancy outcomes and infant outcomes up to one year after their baby is born. The other arm is a retrospective database study using commercial and Medicaid claims data to evaluate perinatal and infant outcomes in women exposed to vaccines and medications during pregnancy.

2025-26 VAMPSS FIT
Chang Su, MD, is a second-year allergy & immunology fellow at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). She earned her BSE in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania, and completed medical school and internal medicine residency at the Yale School of Medicine. As the 2025–2026 VAMPSS FIT Fellow, Chang is investigating the relationship between non-narcotic analgesic allergy labels and maternal and fetal outcomes under the mentorship of Christina Chambers, PhD, MPH, and Michael Schatz, MD, MS. She ultimately hopes to build a career as a clinician–scholar and educator.

2024-2025 VAMPSS FIT
Natasha Correa, MD, FRCPC, completed her allergy and immunology fellowship training at the University of Toronto in June 2025. She completed her medical school at the University of Toronto and Internal Medicine residency at Western University in London, Ontario. During her time as a VAMPSS FIT she worked on a project on allergy immunotherapy in pregnancy and initiatives to improve understanding of asthma in pregnancy. Natasha currently works as a clinical immunologist and allergist in Toronto, Canada. 

Listen to Natasha’s conversation with FIT Chair Jordon Jaggers on the top five things FITs should know about asthma and pregnancy.

2023-2024 VAMPSS FIT
Kelly Colas, DO, PhD, completed her allergy / immunology training at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington.

Kelly previously attended Michigan State University, where she completed medical school and a PhD in medical anthropology. Her doctoral research examined the impact of social, cultural, and economic variables on decision making and outcome during childbirth at public Mexican hospitals. Kelly subsequently completed her internal medicine residency at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, DC. During her time as a VAMPSS FIT she explored the changes in asthma medication adherence during pregnancy. Her analysis paper Maternal beliefs and asthma medication during pregnancy was published in JACI: Global. Kelly is currently a clinical assistant professor in the Division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. Ultimately, Kelly hopes to work as a clinician-researcher focusing on reducing risk associated with prenatal exposure and improving health outcomes of mothers and babies.

2022-2023 VAMPSS FIT
Laura Ann Wang, MD, completed her allergy and immunology fellowship training at the University of Colorado and Children’s Hospital of Colorado in June 2023. During her time as a VAMPSS FIT Fellow from 2022-2023, she examined the impact of maternal penicillin allergy labels on the outcomes of infants born to mothers who tested positive for Group B Streptococcus under the mentorship of Christina Chambers, PhD, and Jennifer Namazy, MD. Laura is currently an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado where she continues to pursue her research interests in drug allergy and pregnancy outcomes.

Read Laura’s publication from her VAMPSS FIT project: Maternal penicillin allergy and infant outcomes: Results from a large administrative cohort.

Questions
Contact Lauri Sweetman, VAMPSS Staff Liaison at (414) 272-6071 or lsweetman@aaaai.org.