The Arkansas Children’s Food Allergy Program, under the leadership of Dr. Stacie Jones, Professor of Pediatrics, has been a major contributor to advancing therapies for food allergy patients for almost 20 years. The field took a major step forward this month with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of Xolair (omalizumab) as the first biologic treatment for multi-food allergy in patients ages 1-55. The medication can help reduce life-threatening allergic reactions from accidental exposure to one or more foods.
The Arkansas team, including Drs. Amy Scurlock, Safia Nawaz, Robbie Pesek and Tamara Perry, along with a host of committed team members, patients and families, contributed as one of 10 sites for the landmark OUtMATCH study, which was published Feb. 25 in the New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. Jones and colleagues have lent their expertise to the NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)-funded Consortium for Food Allergy Research as an inaugural center since 2005.