Recent advances in immunology have begun to provide a rational basis for many of the empiric observations of clinical allergy. Although many details of pathogenesis and treatment of allergic conditions remain poorly understood or at least controversial, the clinical allergist can nevertheless find a scientific basis for his approach, a basis which has, until recently, been lacking. At the same time, there is increased interest in the broader field of clinical immunology with its implications for organ transplantation and the so-called autoimmune diseases.
An early pioneer in the field of clinical allergy was Dr. Robert A. Cooke, who began his clinic at the New York Hospital in 1918. The clinic was subsequently moved to the Roosevelt Hospital in 1932 and has continued as an extremely influential and important group in the training of allergists since that time.
Dr. William B. Sherman, the author of Hypersensitivity: Mechanisms and Management, is the