Murdoch Children’s Research Institute’s (MCRI) has secured funding for her project which aims to improve treatment outcomes for children with food allergies.
Dr Ashley was awarded the $95,000 to help understand why some children with food allergies don’t achieve remission and further explore a treatment that could allow them to live allergy free.
Food allergy is a significant public health burden affecting 10 per cent of one-year-olds in Melbourne, which is the highest reported prevalence globally.
“Food allergies are a frightening adverse reaction to a normally everyday activity, which is a scary and burdensome condition for children and their families,” Dr Ashley said.
Image: Dr Sarah Ashley
“A cure is urgently needed, particularly for peanut allergy which is the most severe food allergy and most likely to lead to life-threatening anaphylaxis. Unlike other food allergies which often resolve naturally, peanut allergy is 70-80 per cent more likely to persist throughout life.”
Two treatments have been approved overseas which can induce desensitisation, a treatment that makes a person less allergic and protects them from accidental reactions.
However, unlike remission which allows a child to eat the allergen freely, desensitised children must continue maintenance treatment indefinitely and doesn’t help improve quality of life.
“Treatments are in development that could allow allergic children to live allergy free, but not all who receive these treatments will achieve this,” Dr Ashley said. Some children fall back into active allergy once treatment is discontinued, but it is not understood why this happens.”
To better understand the underlying immunological processes, Dr Ashley and her team will use blood samples from children in a previous MCRI study who gained desensitisation without remission.
The researchers will examine the immune changes that caused treatment to fail to gain better insights into what can lead to allergy remission.
“Results from this trial could translate into meaningful outcomes for children and their families, offering them a path to remission and a life free from the burden of severe food allergies,” Dr Ashley said.
