I am a pediatric allergist and immunologist at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital. I treat patients with a variety of conditions including primary and secondary immune deficiencies, food allergies, asthma, urticaria, eczema and environmental allergies.

I first became interested in allergy and immunology as a medical student, when I developed an educational curriculum for parents of children with food allergies. I was inspired by the patients I met and enjoyed the variety of cases, which ranged from caring for those with food allergies and asthma to those with immune deficiencies. It continues to be fulfilling and exciting work, especially as newly emerging treatments allow us to successfully treat previously difficult and hard to manage diseases. 

It is both an honor and a privilege to care for my patients and help them feel their best. I take my time getting to know each of my patients and enjoy developing a relationship with them through the years. Patient and family education is also incredibly important so that everyone is comfortable and involved in the treatment plan.

Hospital Affiliations

• Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital
• Memorial Hospital Miramar
• Memorial Hospital West
• Memorial Regional Hospital

Gender

• Female

Education

University Of Miami Miller School Of Medicine, 2012

Internships

Children's National Medical Center, 2013, Pediatrics

Residency

Children's National Medical Center, 2015, Pediatrics

Fellowships

Boston Children's Hospital, 2020, Allergy & Immunology

Certifications

American Board of Allergy and Immunology-Allergy & Immunology
American Board of Pediatrics-Pediatrics

Publications

Please view Dr. Nicole Akar-Ghibril’s publications on PubMed.

Research

For the past two years, I have conducted research as part of the Asthma Clinical Research Center at Boston Children's Hospital. I have been investigating the relationship between plasma IL-6 levels and clinical asthma outcomes as well as characteristics associated with successful reduction of mouse allergen levels in homes.

Other medical research projects include: 

• Children’s National Health System, Washington, DC (2013-2016): “Randomized Controlled Trial of a Blended Learning Curriculum using Virtual Coaching to Enhance 3rd Year Medical Students’ Clinical Reasoning during Oral Case Presentations.”
• Children’s National Medical Center, Washington, DC (2009): Developed a comprehensive food allergy educational curriculum for the Allergy Specialty Clinic at Children’s National Medical Center. 

Professional Organizations

• American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology
• American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology

Presentations

• Akar-Ghibril N, Sheehan W, Petty C, Phipatanakul W. Mouse Allergen Levels in Schools in Two Inner City Asthma Studies.
o Oral Abstract: American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology Annual Meeting. 2019, San Francisco, CA. 

• Akar-Ghibril N, Sheehan W, Petty C, Phipatanakul W. Mouse Allergen Levels in Schools in Two Inner City Asthma Studies.
o Poster: New England Society of Allergy Fall Meeting. 2018, Plymouth, MA. 

• Akar-Ghibril N and Phipatanakul W. Long Lasting Benefit of Omalizumab in a Patient with Chronic Idiopathic Urticaria. 
o Poster: New England Society of Allergy Fall Meeting. 2017, Mystic CT. 

• Shah A, Abreo A, Akar-Ghibril N, Shah R. Is the ‘July Effect’ real? Pediatric Trainee Medical Errors and Adverse Events at a Large Training Children’s Hospital. 
o Poster: Association of Pediatric Program Directors National Meeting. 2016, New Orleans, LA. 

• Akar-Ghibril N, Tuluca C, Sestokas J, Dixon G, Ottolini M. Randomized Controlled Trial of a Blended Learning Curriculum Using Virtual Coaching to Enhance 3rd Year Medical Students’ Clinical Reasoning During Oral Case Presentations.
o Poster: Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting; 2015, San Diego, CA 
o Platform: Research & Education Week, Children’s National; 2015, Washington, DC 
o Platform: Academic Pediatric Association Region IV Meeting; 2015, Charlottesville, VA 

• Tuluca C, Akar-Ghibril N, Sestokas J, Dixon G, Ottolini M. Establishing Validity of PBEAR: An Oral Case Presentation Tool to Promote Clinical Reasoning.
o Platform: Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting; 2015, San Diego, CA 
o Platform: Council on Med Student Education in Pediatrics; 2015, New Orleans, LA 
o Platform: Academic Pediatric Association Region IV Meeting; 2015, Charlottesville, VA 

• Sestokas J, Akar-Ghibril N, Tuluca C, Dixon G, Ottolini M. Developing and Assessing an eLearning Module Using Illness Scripts to Improve Students Diagnostic Reasoning Skills. 
o Poster: Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting; 2015, San Diego, CA 
o Poster: Council on Med Student Education in Pediatrics; 2015, New Orleans, LA 

• Ottolini M, Tuluca C, Akar-Ghibril N, Sestokas J. Validation of an Instrument to Assess Clinical Reasoning During Oral Case Presentations on Bedside Rounds. 
o Platform: Diagnostic Errors in Medicine 7th International Conference; 2014, Atlanta, GA 

• Communicating Diagnostic Reasoning During Case Presentations – A Prescription for Decreasing Errors? Grand Rounds, Children’s National Health System

Awards

• American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Allergy and Immunology Outstanding Pediatric Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology Abstract Award “Association of Systemic IL-6 Inflammation with Body Mass Index, Asthma Morbidity, and Metabolic Dysfunction in the School Inner-City Asthma Study” (2020)
• AAAAI Interest Section FIT Abstract Award – EORD Interest Section “Mouse Allergen Levels in Schools in Two Inner City Asthma Studies: Past versus Present” (2019) 
• Best Abstract by a Resident American Pediatric Association (2015) 
• Excellence in Teaching Award, George Washington University (2013, 2014, 2015)