More than 100 attendees from the research and clinical realms attended the two-day event, which featured an array of distinguished speakers from academia and industry.  Reporter Jenifer Goodwin covered the conference for Allergic Living magazine, including an interview with MHWFAC Director James R. Baker, Jr., MD:

Baker is more optimistic than ever that science is on the cusp of major food allergy breakthroughs, Goodwin writes. He’s even ready to rethink that once taboo word. “Can we develop tolerance in a way that would be perceived as ‘a cure’ by our patients? I think it’s time to start discussing this.”  

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Allergic Living article April 2025

Around one in four American adults and one in five kids has a seasonal allergy.

And allergy experts are predicting this season and others ahead will be longer and more severe than ones before.

“This is due to climate change, which is causing warmer temperatures as well as increased carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere,” said Mariel Benjamin, M.D., an allergist at Michigan Medicine, the University of Michigan's academic medical center.

How seasonal allergies can impact your everyday

Symptoms typically present with a stuffy or runny nose, sneezing, itchy or red eyes, in the spring, summer or fall, when the pollen levels tend to be highest, causing significant effects on your day-to-day life.

And in some cases, they can even cause medical emergencies if left untreated.

“For example, if you have allergic asthma, you may experience shortness of breath, wheezing or coughing, resulting in a trip to the emergency room or to urgent care for treatment,” said Benjamin.

Worsening allergy seasons ahead

With a colder winter, Benjamin says they typically would see milder allergy symptoms, but they’re actually seeing the opposite.

“What we're actually seeing is that this allergy season has been just as severe, if not more severe, than previous years, so we would still recommend being prepared and having all your medications on hand to treat your symptoms.”

A study in 2019 showed that pollen seasons are starting about 20 days earlier and lasting about 10 days longer.

“Additional studies found that, due to the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, plants are producing a greater quantity of stronger pollen, causing worse symptoms,” explained Benjamin.

How to treat seasonal allergies

There are several over-the-counter medications that are available to treat seasonal allergies that can be very helpful in managing symptoms, notes Benjamin.

“First of all, there are nasal saline sprays or nasal saline rinses that can help rinse the mucus and allergens out of the nose. Secondly, there are intranasal corticosteroid sprays, which can help reduce inflammation, congestion and prevent allergic symptoms."

There's also intranasal antihistamine sprays and non-drowsy oral antihistamines, which help more with the sneezing, runny nose and itching symptoms that you might get.

And if red or itchy eye are bothering you, allergy eye drops can help.

Benjamin says if the pollen counts are high and your symptoms are bad, try staying indoors, shutting the windows (before the season starts is a plus) and using the air conditioning in your home.

But if all these methods fail to resolve your issues, Benjamin says it’s time to see an expert.

“If these are not effective, then I would recommend that you talk to your doctor, potentially get a referral to an allergist, and think about other treatment options, such as allergy immunotherapy.”

The title of his presentation was "Junctional Adhesion Molecule-A Deficiency Compromises Epithelial Barrier Integrity and Enhances Allergic Sensitization Through Skin-Gut Interactions."

To sum it up, Velarde said, "atopic dermatitis (eczema) is becoming increasingly common, especially in children, and is often the first-place people are exposed to allergens through the skin. This exposure plays a key role in triggering allergic reactions, particularly in the skin and gut."

The research focused on a protein called Junctional Adhesion Molecule A (JAM-A), which helps maintain the protective barriers in both the skin and gut, because its role in barrier function is similar to how allergens can pass through in atopic disease/barrier deficiency.

When JAM-A is missing, the barriers in both areas become weaker, allowing allergens to pass through more easily. This leads to increased intestinal permeability (meaning more allergens can get into the body), and stronger allergic responses, particularly in the skin and gut.

"We also found that in JAM-A deficient mice, skin sensitization — when allergens first enter through the skin — causes the production of certain immune signals called alarmins," said Velarde. "These signals are key in triggering early allergic reactions and inflammation. The "crosstalk" between the skin and gut can make the allergic response even worse, with higher levels of alarmins and more immune cells causing inflammation in the intestines and further disrupting barrier function."

The NIH”s Consortium on Food Allergy Research (CoFAR) was established by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to support clinical research into food allergy.  It is the leading group of food allergy research centers in the world. While there were over 25 applicants, the MHWFAC was only one of 10 centers to win an award.

MHWFAC Director James R. Baker Jr., MD, who also is the principal investigator on the CoFAR award, has made this award a goal for MHWFAC since the center’s inception. He believes it elevates the center to the elite tier of food allergy research institutions globally.

“This award positions the University of Michigan and the MHWFAC as one of the sites where groundbreaking NIH-funded food allergy research will take place,” said Dr. Baker.  In addition to a significant financial award, “being identified as a CoFAR member will likely help us attract additional funding and projects from other governmental agencies, foundations and private corporations.”

Two specific research projects were identified for funding in CoFAR award; one is based on a new approach to the clinical diagnosis of food allergy using trans-epidermal water loss. The other will analyze statistical data from tens of thousands of patients with atopic dermatitis that either have or lack food allergies.

Chase Schuler, MD, will serve as a co-principal investigator on the CoFAR grant, directing the clinical study components, sample collection, data analysis and interpretation of the results.

Dr. Schuler has been leading an innovative study that can predict an anaphylactic reaction as much as 45 minutes in advance, by the amount of water a patient loses via their skin after ingesting a potential allergen. The technique, which uses a special meter that rests on the forearm to measure moisture, can improve the safety of clinical food challenges, and help scientists better understand food-related anaphylaxis.

“There is a huge need to make food challenges safer,” said Dr. Schuler. As investigators discover more via this line of research, “we possibly could stop reactions before they are severe or obvious. This would make food challenges safer, yet still accurate, in telling you whether you are allergic or not.”

The genetic link

Another MHWFAC team is analyzing the link between food allergy and atopic dermatitis, a skin disorder also known as eczema.  In many patients, childhood eczema is a precursor to food allergy, and scientists are working to understand this predisposition.

The upcoming study will look at the genomes of thousands of individuals, using existing databases as well as new samples from patients with both disorders, to look for the genetic signatures that underlie both diseases.

“Our understanding of the shared genetic underpinnings of atopic dermatitis and food allergy remains limited,” said Dr. Baker.  “Additionally, to date, research has identified few ‘risk genes’ for food allergy.  We hope that by studying the substantial overlap of food allergy and eczema, we can better identify those who may be genetically pre-disposed to the disease.

Johann Gudjonsson, MD, PhD, an internationally recognized clinical geneticist and another co-principal investigator in the CoFAR project, said the aim is to decipher the genetics of food allergy and atopic dermatitis at the single-cell level.

“This will allow us to unravel the development of the diseases and the relationship between these conditions at a level that has not been previously achievable,” Dr. Gudjonsson said.

MHWFAC Scientific Director Nicholas Lukacs, PhD, will collaborate on the study, along with other Michigan Medicine physician-researchers, scientists, nurses, data analysts and a bioinformaticist.

“These projects are emblematic of the interdisciplinary approach that we feel most likely to advance discovery in the arena of food allergy,” said Dr. Baker.  “By harnessing the talent of our internationally renowned basic scientists and the insights and ideas of our clinician-investigators, we feel these CoFAR-supported projects will accelerate our understanding of food allergy and provide new options for patients and their families.”