The MHWFAC has been awarded a seven-year CoFAR Cooperative Agreement Grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to become a center of excellence for food allergy research in the United States. 

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

Dr. Baker, the MHWFAC Director who is also the Principal Investigator on the CoFAR award, has made this award a goal for MHWFAC since its inception. He believes it positions the Center in the elite tier of food allergy research centers 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.