Our Role & Impact

Currently the gold standard for allergy diagnosis is to feed the child peanut in a hospital setting where anaphylactic attacks can be clinically managed when they occur. This approach is a stressful and often traumatic experience for the children being tested. This grant seeks to develop an in-house assay with the potential for a population-wide screening test to reduce unexpected morbidity and deaths from peanut anaphylaxis. For the first time doctors will be have a biomarker test capable of differentiating between allergic patients who are at risk of a life-threatening anaphylactic response upon exposure to peanut vs less severe clinically significant allergy, thus reducing stress and trauma for children and families.