The path that Mario Rodenas, MD, took to allergy and immunology began with a chance encounter just before his medical school graduation. While dropping his grandparents off at a family celebration, he was introduced to his grandmother’s allergist, sparking a conversation that would inspire his future career.

“He planted a lot of seeds and opened my curiosity in the field,” Rodenas recalls. A few months later, upon beginning his training, Rodenas immediately sought out an allergy elective.

After completing the elective and attending national allergy/immunology conferences, Rodenas felt certain that this was his calling. He completed his internal medicine residency at Baystate Medical Center/Tufts University and an allergy/immunology fellowship at SUNY Downstate, in Brooklyn, New York. Now at Yale School of Medicine, Rodenas is a full-time clinician, treating patients with various allergic or immunologic conditions.

“It's rewarding for me to treat chronic hives,” says Rodenas. “It can be very frustrating for patients, as most people have an opinion about it—the patient, the neighbors, the friends, their doctors—but nobody is able to get to the bottom of it and control them. We in immunology can do that. We have great tools available and can improve their quality of life.” Rodenas is also passionate about other conditions, including immunodeficiency disorders, penicillin allergy delabeling, and eosinophilic esophagitis.

Looking back, allergy and immunology have been prevalent threads throughout his life. Rodenas’s grandmother struggled with severe asthma, requiring regular allergy shots, and his siblings had allergic asthma as well. Rodenas himself experienced an allergy to penicillin as a child.

Rodenas grew up in Puerto Rico. His mother’s career as a professor and his father’s as a nurse influenced him to gravitate toward a profession where caring for others was paramount. After attending the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, he moved to the mainland United States for his internship, as opportunities for allergy/immunology training in Puerto Rico were nonexistent at the time.

“My Hispanic background is an asset,” says Rodenas. “We treat patients of all backgrounds, and some of them who are Hispanic gravitate towards me because they feel that connection and that they can be understood in their first language.”

Besides caring for patients, Rodenas is passionate about medical education and recently took on the role of allergy and immunology director for medical students. “One day, I will not be working anymore, and somebody else will need to take over,” says Rodenas. “We have an ethical and public health responsibility to educate others to become great physicians.”

In the future, Rodenas hopes to continue expanding Yale’s allergy and immunology services to better care for the community. Thus far, Rodenas has already expanded services at the Old Saybrook, North Haven, Bridgeport, and Milford locations. For example, at Milford and Bridgeport hospitals, Rodenas has successfully advocated for penicillin testing to be offered to pregnant women.

“Penicillin allergy testing is good from a public health standpoint,” says Rodenas. “It optimizes patient outcomes, reduces complications from the use of antibiotics that are not necessary, such as resistance, decreases hospital stays, and saves money. It's just the right thing to do. The patients are happy about it, our colleagues are relieved they have more options, and I feel that I am making a difference by contributing to improving overall health.”

The Section of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology is dedicated to providing care for patients with rheumatic, allergic and immunologic disorders; educating future generations of thought leaders in the field; and conducting research into fundamental questions of autoimmunity and immunology. To learn more about their work, visit Rheumatology, Allergy & Immunology.