By age one, 10% of babies will have developed a food allergy - Associate Professor Debbie Palmer’s research is aiming to change that.
A fellowship from the Stan Perron Charitable Foundation will support Associate Professor Palmer in her leadership of large-scale, gold-standard food allergy prevention trials across Australia.
These trials are designed to be translated into national and international food allergy prevention guidelines for both healthcare providers and families.
“I’m incredibly grateful to the Stan Perron Charitable Foundation for this opportunity, and I’m excited to continue my work in these life changing trials so all kids can have the healthiest start to life,” Associate Professor Palmer said.
A variety of these trials led by Associate Professor Palmer are nested within ORIGINS, including the PrEggNut Study, SYMBA, BENEFIT, and the Cashew Study.
“Unfortunately, we know some children are born on an allergy pathway, so many of these trials are looking at what mums eat during pregnancy, like eggs and peanuts, to see how this may hopefully reduce allergies in their children,” Associate Professor Palmer said.
Working with collaborators at ORIGINS, The Kids Research Institute Australia, and the University of Western Australia, Associate Professor Palmer will continue to analyse biological samples, including blood, breastmilk and house dust, to understand which mother and child characters may reduce the risk of developing a food allergy.
Associate Professor Palmer joins eleven other researchers at The Kids who have been awarded funding in the Foundation’s latest round of People and Platform grants designed to support and deliver tangible outcomes that benefit children, adolescents or young people.
See the full list of Stan Perron Charitable Foundation Health Research Grant recipients here.