Food Allergy Therapeutics and Nutrition Program working with consortia to evaluate new immunotherapeutics and immune mechanistic responses to modify disease outcomes
The Arkansas Children’s Food Allergy Program has been engaged in innovative clinical and translational investigation of food allergy immunobiology, natural history, mechanisms, and immunotherapeutics for three decades. Our team has been a part of the NIH-funded Consortium of Food Allergy Research (CoFAR) since its inception in 2005, participating in both observational cohorts as well as novel immunotherapeutic trials of oral immunotherapy (OIT), epicutaneous immunotherapy (EPIT), and sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT), in addition to the NIH-funded Immune Tolerance Network IMPACT Trial. In the current iteration of CoFAR, this consortium is examining “next-generation” approaches to therapy such application of biologic therapies and multi-allergen OIT, application of OIT in infant and toddler populations and developing a birth cohort study to examine systems biology of early atopic disease. Recently, the AC Food Allergy Program has collaborated with the Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center under an USDA grant to evaluate the impact of multiple food allergies on nutrition. This study will include a “multi-omics” approach.
Food Allergy Clinical Trials in food allergic children and adults with primary goal to work toward FDA approved therapies for food allergy
Development of safe, effective and well-tolerated therapies to actively treat food allergy is a key goal of our food allergy program. Our research team pioneered some of the earliest investigator-initiated trials of food allergen OIT, expanding this work through multi-center collaboration and subsequent industry- sponsored trials, including landmark clinical trials of peanut OIT, which is nearing FDA approval. Improved understanding of therapeutic safety, efficacy, clinical responses and immune mechanisms relevant to food allergy and mucosal immunotherapy has not only advanced the field toward development of active treatments for food allergy, but has also provided a foundation for refinement of existing approaches and development of innovative next-generation approaches including use of biologic therapies and other novel compounds.
Food Allergy Clinical Registry through designation of FARE Discovery Center of Excellence
Through our participation in the multi-center FARE Clinical Network (FCN) and our new designation as a Discovery Center of Excellence in Food Allergy, we support research and advocacy efforts that improve the health and well-being of food allergic individuals and their families. FARE has provided evidence-based resources and developed a large patient cohort through their patient registry. The FCN and registry continue to expand, along with opportunities for multi-center research collaboration to mitigate the adverse medical, psychosocial, and economic impacts of food allergy by evaluating novel therapies and multi-disciplinary approaches to food allergy management. As a Discovery Center of Excellence, we also collaborative in network-based clinical trials for novel therapeutics targeting food allergy, thus furthering our mission of excellence in the field.