Below is a list of current Centre for Food & Allergy Research platform of cohort studies which provide a strong evidence base for food allergy prevention guidelines and policy. Click each study title to expand for more information.
This study follows participants through childhood to identify how common food allergy is, when and why it develops (and sometimes disappears), as well as what role it plays in the development of other allergic diseases such as asthma
HealthNuts was the first study in the world to accurately identify how many children have a food allergy. Using oral food challenges – the best diagnostic tool available – this study found that up to 10% of infants have a clinically confirmed food allergy.
HealthNuts asks families about their medical history and their child’s exposure to a range of factors thought to be associated with food allergy. This information will help us understand the genetic and environmental factors involved in food allergies.
Contact: [email protected]
| Study design | Population-based longitudinal study with clinical measures |
| Investigators | Professor Katrina Allen, Professor Colin Robertson, Professor Mimi Tang, Professor Terry Dwyer, Associate Professor Lyle Gurrin, Doctor Jennifer Koplin, Doctor Adrian Lowe |
| Time frame | 2007 – 2020 |
| Funding source | National Health Medical Research Council (grants 491233, 1006215, 1101344); Ilhan Food Allergy Foundation; AnaphylaxiStop; Egg Corporation of Australia; Department of Defense (US) |
| Location | Melbourne, Australia |
| Sample | 5,300 children followed up at 12 months, four years, six years, and next at 10 years |
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| Methods | Infants were initially recruited at immunisation centres around metropolitan Melbourne at their 12-month-old check-up. At this appointment, all infants underwent a skin prick test. One thousand of these infants (including around 200 for the purpose of negative controls) then took part in an oral food challenge and other allergy testing in a hospital-based research environment. |
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This study examines the connection between health and development during early life and subsequent chronic diseases (including allergic ones)
Researchers don’t fully understand the causes of today’s common non-communicable diseases (NCDs) (including allergy, asthma and cardiovascular disease) but many think the answers lie in early life. The BIS researchers hypothesise that the interplay between the modern environment, the microbiome (microbial environment within the human) and the epigenome (the switching of human genes on and off) may be important in the development of NCDs, including allergies. The BIS, in the Barwon region of Victoria, is a unique study that has been carefully designed to investigate how factors in early life contribute to the development of NCDs. Amongst other things, the BIS is interested in the development of the immune system because disruption to this process can lead to allergic diseases such as food allergies.
The BIS will investigate the interplay between early life gut microbiota, the epigenetic control of immune development, and the origins of eczema, food allergy, asthma and cardiovascular disease.
Contact: [email protected]
| Study design | Population-based birth cohort |
| Investigators | Peter Vuillermin, Mimi Tang, Richard Saffery, Katie Allen, John Carlin, Terry Dwyer, Anne-Louise Ponsonby |
| Time frame | 2010-12; follow-up is ongoing |
| Funding source | National Health and Medical Research Council (grants 607370, 1029927, 1009044, 1030701, 1024619, 1076667) |
| Location | Barwon region, Victoria, Australia |
| Sample | 1,250 infants recruited prenatally with ongoing follow-up |
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| Methods | Pregnant women were recruited at 10-20 weeks of pregnancy |
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This study investigates how a woman’s diet during pregnancy affects the development of her child’s immune system and risk of developing allergic diseases such as food allergy and eczema.
The rapid increase in immune-mediated diseases such as food allergies during the last 40 years supports the idea that environmental changes affect our immune system by turning ‘on’ or ‘off’ certain genes. There is a pressing need to identify which genes are involved in this process, what factors contribute to this, and the exact way in which these changes affect our immune system and risk of disease.
EPIGEN will compare what mothers of children with and without food allergy and eczema ate during pregnancy to determine what effect certain nutrients (such as folate and vitamin D) play in the development of allergic disease.
Contact: [email protected]
| Study design | Prospective longitudinal cohort study |
| Investigators | Susan Prescott |
| Time frame | 2011-2015 |
| Funding source | National Health and Medical Research Council (grant 10002381) |
| Location | Perth, Australia |
| Sample | 350 mothers and their babies |
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| Methods | 350 pregnant women will be recruited from antenatal clinics and classes at private and public hospitals in Perth. Maternal blood will be collected at 36-40 weeks gestation and cord blood will be collected at birth, with clinical follow up of children at four months and then one, two and five years of age. |
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This study will investigate how common food allergy is in 10-14 year olds and when teenagers are most likely to accidentally eat foods they are allergic to.
Teenagers have the highest risk of dying from anaphylaxis – the most severe form of food allergy. However, very little research has examined food allergies in this particular age group.
SchoolNuts will compare the health and development of teenagers with and without a food allergy as well as their knowledge of, and attitudes towards food allergies. SchoolNuts will visit students at school. Teenagers who self-report a food allergy will visit hospital for clinical allergy testing.
Contact: [email protected]
| Study design | Population-based cross-sectional study |
| Investigators | Katie Allen, Shyamali Dharmage, Mimi Tang, Susan Sawyer, Lyle Gurrin, Jennifer Koplin |
| Time frame | 2013-15 |
| Funding source | National Health and Medical Research Council (grant 1047396); Asthma Foundation of Victoria |
| Location | Melbourne, Australia |
| Sample | 10,000 participants aged 10-14 years |
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| Methods | A random selection of schools in metropolitan Melbourne have been selected to participate in SchoolNuts. Teenagers complete a questionnaire at school. Those who self-report having a food allergy undergo clinical testing at a hospital-based research setting. |
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This study followed children with a family history of allergic disease from birth until 18 years to identify things that increase or decrease the risk of an allergic disease developing.
Twenty-five years ago when MACS started, it tested the connections between different types of infant formula and the development of allergic disease. It then became a broader study examining why allergic diseases (and in particular asthma) were on the rise. Today it is one of the world’s leading studies into the environmental and genetic risk factors for childhood asthma and allergies.
MACS asked families about their child’s health, medical history and exposure to risk factors. It also regularly tested these children for the presence of allergic conditions such as asthma and food sensitisation. Plans are now underway to follow up MACS participants when they turn 25, as well as following up their siblings.
Contact: [email protected]
| Study design | Longitudinal family study in a high-risk cohort |
| Investigators | Shyamali Dharmage, Adrian Lowe, Caroline Lodge, Michael Abramson, Katie Allen, John Hopper, Melanie Matheson, Lyle Gurrin |
| Time frame | 1990-20; follow-up is ongoing |
| Funding source | National Health and Medical Research Council (grant 454856, 1079668 ) |
| Location | Melbourne, Australia |
| Sample | 620 infants recruited prenatally with ongoing follow-up of the entire family |
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| Methods | Children (whilst in utero) were recruited from families where the mother, father and/or siblings had a history of allergic disease (e.g. eczema, asthma, hay fever and/or food allergy). They were recruited from antenatal clinics in Victoria between 1990 and 1994. After birth, MACS conducted intensive follow-up of the children (every four weeks during the first 64 weeks of their life, then at 78 weeks, then annually between two and seven years of age, and then again at 12, and 18 years). Other family members have also been followed up. |
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