University of Michigan MHWFAC CoFar CMC Center Application

NIH RePORTER · AI · U01 · $380,000 · view on reporter.nih.gov ↗

Abstract

The Mary H. Weiser Food Allergy Center and the closely associated Allergy and Clinical Immunology Division in Medicine are submitting this application for a CoFAR CRC center. The Weiser Center has developed strong programs in basic and clinical research in food allergy with over 20 faculty and $10M a year in external research funding. It performs its research in the Davidson Endowed Food Allergy Research Laboratories and through the University's clinical trials support Office (CTSO) its faculty perform clinical research and have participated in 13 of the most prominent trials of therapeutic development in food allergy. The Allergy Division's clinical operation includes 18 allergists that see over 6,000 unique patents per year (60/40% pediatrics-adult) with food allergy diagnoses. Our proposal under Subsection B involves a new diagnostic approach for food allergy. Transepidermal water loss (TEWL) provides a potential approach to monitor physiological allergic reactions to food during food challenges to avoid the induction of anaphylaxis. TEWL is an established measure of skin barrier permeability that quantifies water efflux from the epidermis (units are g/m2/h). In anaphylaxis, blood vessels dilate leading to heat and water loss, and recent data suggests that the extravasation of serum fluid and proteins is proportional to the severity of allergic reaction. Our group has shown that real-time TEWL rises prior to clinical evidence of anaphylaxis and correlates with biochemical markers of anaphylaxis. We hypothesize that TEWL-based stopping rules can predict OFC reactions for any food and reduce the rate of OFC anaphylaxis while improving OFC accuracy. We propose to initiate a multi-site clinical trial in a diverse cohort with OFC for the major food allergens in the US to definitively assess TEWL's capacity to predict anaphylaxis during OFCs. Finally, under Subsection C we will examine the relationship between food allergy and atopic dermatitis, two disorders that shar

Key facts

NIH application ID
11310747
Project number
5U01AI181882-03
Recipient
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
Principal Investigator
JAMES R. BAKER; Johann Eli Gudjonsson; Charles F Schuler
Activity code
U01
Funding institute
AI
Fiscal year
2026
Award amount
$380,000
Award type
5
Project period
2024-03-15T00:00:00 → 2031-02-28T00:00:00