Buford and Linda Lewis recall sitting in a waiting room at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center more than a decade ago, surrounded by mothers holding infants and toddlers scampering around.

Linda asked herself, more than once, “What, exactly, are we doing in the Children’s Center?”

They’d been referred to Howard Lederman, director of the Immunodeficiency Clinic, by one of Buford’s Johns Hopkins primary care physicians. Although based in the Children’s Center, Lederman is as renowned within adult immunodeficiency circles as he is in pediatric immunology.

“The age range of our patients goes from the tiniest preemies in the NICU to 97 years old,” he says.

There are many diseases and cancers that involve B lymphocytes, which promote tumor growth. But the therapies that target B lymphocytes can also attack healthy cells and damage a patient’s immune system. For many, that can result in lifelong immunodeficiency. Buford, who has chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), is one of those patients.

Because he was referred to Lederman and his team — including nurse practitioner Elizabeth Younger and pediatric immunologist Maria Gutierrez — soon after discovering the severity of his immune system challenges, Buford’s condition is now well-managed. Early diagnosis and treatment are essential to achieving these kinds of positive outcomes.

“Plenty of people come to us with an immunodeficiency that has been incompletely treated, then they get to us and things change,” Lederman says.

Grateful for Lederman’s high-quality care and years of counsel and support, the Lewises began making gifts to support Lederman’s work — as they have for many Johns Hopkins physicians who have treated them, through the William Buford Lewis and Linda M. Lewis Family Foundation.

“[Dr. Lederman is] at the forefront of the practice of immunology, and that expertise is not only having an impact on me but also others he serves,” Buford says. “That’s what inspires us.” 

The couple’s gift is supporting Lederman’s efforts to ensure that more patients have access to earlier and more comprehensive immunodeficiency specialty care. Lederman recalls one teenage patient who had lung problems so severe that he arrived for his first appointment in a wheelchair. After two years in Lederman’s care, the young man called him complaining about arm pain — from an afternoon of bowling.

“This was a kid who couldn’t walk from the car into the clinic,” Lederman recalls. “With the specialized care he got in our clinic, he was doing so well that he had the stamina to bowl three games in one afternoon.”

But expanding and enhancing care for patients with immunodeficiencies will require training more young practitioners in this area of expertise. Through their gifts, the Lewises are empowering Lederman to do just that.

“These kinds of unrestricted gifts make a huge difference in maintaining a pipeline of young practitioners interested in our subspecialty,” Lederman says.