Kawasaki disease (KD) – the leading cause of acquired cardiovascular disease among children in developed countries, including the United States – as well as response to intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) therapy and associated coronary artery disease progression have been associated with genetic polymorphisms in Fc gamma receptor (Fc?R) genes. Dr. Sadeep Shrestha, associate professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health, and his team recently investigated whether the copy number variability of DNA sequence of genes encoding Fc gamma receptors – expressed in inflammatory cells that determine immune response and also the primary targets of IVIG – relates to KD treatment response, susceptibility, or associated sequalae. The study was conducted in one of the largest KD family cohort in North America, assembled in collaborations with pediatric clinicians, primarily in northwest United States.