About Dr. Karyn Gell, MD
Dr. Karyn Gell joined Grand Rapids Allergy in 1992, a practice established by her father, Dr. Leonard “Pete” Gell, and they worked together for ten years prior to his retirement. She graduated from Forest Hills Central High School in Grand Rapids and subsequently Phi Beta Kappa from Albion College, earning her Medical Degree from Michigan State College of Human Medicine. Her internship and residency were served at Spectrum Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids, becoming board certified in Internal Medicine. She received a degree in allergy at the University of Michigan and is board certified in both adult and pediatric allergy and clinical immunology.
Dr. Gell has long been interested in aerobiology and began pollen and mold counting, initially with a Rotorod sampler, transitioning to a Burkhardt rooftop seven-day recording aeroallergen sampler. She participated in a GRAMEC residency research program and won Best Clinical Study, looking at the relationship of basidiospores to asthma emergency room visits. The office subsequently became certified as a pollen and mold counting station for the aeroallergen network (and local TV) for many years. She is highly trained in usage of immunotherapy as well as diagnosis and treatment of allergic airway disease (rhinitis, sinusitis, asthma), insect venom hypersensitivity, food allergy, atopic eczema, chronic urticaria, and clinical immunology.
Dr. Gell lives with her husband, Doug Ellinger, M.D., a radiologist also native to the Grand Rapids area, and their two children, Elizabeth and Peter. They enjoy life in a rural dirt-road setting with hobbies including biking, skiing, rollerblading, photography, gardening, anything out-of-doors.
Patient Education Resources
If eating eggplant causes itching in your mouth, it is possible that you have an allergic reaction to it. Food allergies are caused by an abnormal response of the immune system to certain proteins fou...
Treatment for COPD can help improve breathing and slow the progression of the disease. Some treatments include:bronchodilators, which are medications that relax the muscles around the airways to help ...
The treatment for food allergies is to strictly avoid the allergenic food, and in case of accidental exposure, the use of rescue medications such as antihistamines and epinephrine (injectable) in the ...
The treatment for peanut allergy is strict avoidance of peanuts and products that may contain peanuts. In case of accidental exposure, the use of rescue medications such as antihistamines and epinephr...
Pollen is a fine powder that is released by trees, grasses, and weeds during the spring, summer, and fall. When these pollens come into contact with the eyes, nose, and lungs of people who are sensiti...