UK agencies to fund research into food allergy

A joint initiative between two UK agencies, the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Food Standards Agency (FSA), is calling for proposals from collaborations between immunologists and food allergists aimed at characterising the mechanistic bases of allergic sensitisation and tolerance to food proteins. The deadline for submitting proposals is 1 June 2011.

The call for research follows a joint FSA and MRC workshop held in March 2010, which looked at future research required to address the current scientific challenges presented by food allergy. At this meeting, the two agencies acknowledged their interests in funding research to improve understanding of immunobiological processes. Notes from the meeting can be downloaded from the FSA website.

The agencies believe greater research in this area will help provide greater knowledge, such as elucidating the immunological parameters that are important in the development, regulation and resolution of the human immune response in food allergy. The research will also help understanding how such factors exert their effects, what makes certain food proteins allergenic, what factors are responsible for significant inter-individual differences in the severity of food allergic reactions and how the timing and route of exposure to food proteins impact on the acquisition of allergic sensitisation.

Improved understanding in these areas is expected to help inform public health policy and consumer advice, and potentially help design effective interventions and policies to prevent people developing allergies, as well as new strategies for desensitisation treatments.

More information on submitting a research proposal can be found on the MRC website. All proposals will be reviewed at the MRC Infections and Immunity Board meeting in November 2011.