# Dietary Methyl Donors and Food Allergy Risk in the United States

> **NIH NIH K23** · UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA · 2020 · $191,445

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
This career development award will provide Emily McGowan, MD with the skills, knowledge, and mentored
research experience that are essential for an independent career as a clinician scientist in the field of allergy
and immunology. Food allergy (FA) is a common childhood disease that appears to have increased in
prevalence over the past two decades. The interplay between genes and the environment likely plays a key
role in the development of FA, and DNA methylation is one possible mechanism by which environmental
influences may affect gene expression. Several nutrients, including folate, vitamin B12, and choline, are
involved in the one carbon metabolism pathway (OCMP), in which a methyl donor is transferred to DNA. In two
separate cohorts, our group has shown an association between higher serum folate levels and the
development of allergic sensitization, leading to our central hypothesis that differential exposure to folate, B12,
and choline is associated with the development of food sensitization (FS) and FA, and that this is mediated by
changes in DNAm. Dr. McGowan proposes to explore this hypothesis by examining 1) whether pre-natal or
post-natal exposure to these OCMP micronutrients is independently associated with FS and FA; 2) whether
differential exposure to these OCMP micronutrients is associated with DNA methylation; and 3) whether
differentially methylated genes are associated with the development of FS and FA. In order to address these
questions, Dr. McGowan will use two study populations: 1) a nested case-control study of children within the
well-characterized Boston Birth Cohort (BBC) and 2) a new prospective cohort of 100 children at high risk for
developing FA. Given the widespread exposure to methyl donors through formula and supplements in infancy,
the results of this study could have major public health implications.
In addition, this K23 award will provide Dr. McGowan with opportunities for advanced training in epidemiology,
including the completion of a PhD in Clinical Investigation at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public
Health (JHBSPH). She will also pursue training to develop new skills in the analysis and interpretation of
epigenomic data. Dr. McGowan plans to achieve these goals through formal coursework, workshops, national
meetings, and mentored research. Her primary mentor for this award is Dr. Xiaobin Wang, a molecular
epidemiologist who studies genetic and environmental predictors of childhood health. Her mentoring team
further includes Drs. Robert Wood, Elizabeth Matsui, Corinne Keet, Daniele Fallin, and Kasper Hansen,
experts in food allergy, epidemiology, epigenetics, and statistics. This training plan, and the data generated
from this proposed project, will provide the foundation needed to successfully transition to the role of an
independent clinician scientist studying the epidemiology and treatment of food allergy.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9844921
- **Project number:** 5K23AI123596-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Emily Clarke McGowan
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $191,445
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-01-10 → 2021-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9844921

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9844921, Dietary Methyl Donors and Food Allergy Risk in the United States (5K23AI123596-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9844921. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*