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Thanks to the vision of David and Denise Bunning and a grant from the Food Allergy Project, Children's Hospital Boston's Division of Allergy and Immunology is prepared to take a leap forward by accelerating current research, piloting new studies, increasing the volume of clinical research, purchasing the latest analytical equipment and supporting young and talented investigators who are dedicating their careers to immunology.
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FOOD ALLERGY is a disabling, poorly understood and as yet incurable disease caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors that triggers an inappropriate immune response to harmless proteins in the food we eat. At least a dozen different genes are suspected of having a role in food allergies and related atopic diseases such as asthma and eczema. How individual genes are engaged and how they collectively interact to activate an allergic response is an immensely complex puzzle that investigators at Children's Hospital Boston are working to put together, one piece at a time.
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| Dale Umetsu |
One of the world's foremost experts in the study and treatment of allergic diseases, Dale Umetsu, MD, PhD, and his colleagues in Children's Division of Allergy/Immunology are driven to unravel the mysteries that shroud the basic mechanisms of allergic diseases. Their strategy is to attack and neutralize these immune system disorders at their cellular and molecular levels, and to this end they have conducted landmark studies that have yielded important clues about the origins of allergic disease. Questions raised by their findings define an exciting research agenda that has the potential to profoundly benefit 11 million Americans with food allergies and millions of others affected by allergic disease.
Emerging opportunities in allergy research are being driven by a number of factors, including an explosion of knowledge in genetic and genomics and a growing number of treatment options, including new molecular targeted drugs. Children's Division of Allergy/Immunology is well positioned and ready to seize these opportunities. However, the success of its investigators depends on dramatically increased philanthropy that can supplement external grant support and hospital resources.
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