New Horizons in The Prevention and Treatment of Food Allergy

The overarching goal of the research agenda described in this application is to position CoFAR as theinternational leader in the study of food allergy, including optimal characterization of the disease anddevelopment of the next generation of treatments. This next CoFAR will bring food allergy research to newheights with cutting edge clinical and mechanistic studies focused on disease phenotypes and novel approachesto prevention and treatment. The research agenda will be based first and foremost on the best possible science,but to maximize productivity we will also need to plan judiciously so that all available resources can be used totheir utmost capacity. Therefore, the research agenda will need to carefully select and stage protocols basednot just on their potential to advance the field, but also with careful consideration regarding other novel treatmentsthat may be under development, and how one study may inform the next. Finally, the overall research strategywill also need to balance the work load of the SACCC and each CRU in the consortium.The three major aims of this program are to: 1) rapidly implement a food allergy registry study that will providethe means to fully characterize and phenotype a large population of patients, determine true rates of reactions,and serve as a recruitment source for clinical trials; 2) develop and implement a novel, cutting edge protocol forthe treatment of food allergy using a DNA-LAMP vaccine for the treatment of peanut allergy; and 3) choose anddevelop additional protocols for inclusion in the consortium, especially related to other promising approaches indevelopment for either treatment or prevention. It is anticipated that a minimum of 3 protocols, including bothclinical trials and non-interventional studies, will be initiated and completed over the seven-year funding period,and this could rise to 5 or even 6 protocols depending on the size, duration, and complexity of each study. Inaddition, the agenda will work to fully integrate the Biomarker Facility and the Opportunity Fund into each of theCoFAR protocols. If successful, this research agenda will define not just the next 7 years of CoFAR, but will alsoestablish the platform for the next decade(s) of food allergy research.