Wednesday, April 2, 2025
4/2/2025
Arkansas Center for Food Allergy Research (ArCOFAR) - PROJECT SUMMARY Despite significant research advances, many remaining questions must be addressed before global implementation of impactful therapeutic and prevention options for patients affected by food allergy can be realized. In response to NIAID’s RFA for the Consortium for Food Allergy Research (CoFAR), the Arkansas Center for Food Allergy Research (ArCOFAR) will build on its >30-year foundation of expertise and leadership in food allergy to address CoFAR’s overarching program goals. The ArCOFAR site is ideally positioned to function as a CoFAR Clinical Research Center (CRC). In addition to our extensive research experience, distinguished by key contributions in advancing food allergen immunotherapeutics for peanut allergy and eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders (EGID), we will capitalize on our population’s distinctive geographic and patient demographic characteristics. Namely, we serve a largely rural, widely dispersed, and underserved population in which more than 50% are under-represented minorities and earn below $50,000 annually, and 33% have earned only a high school diploma or below. This study participant population stands to contribute significantly to the nationwide participant pool and to increase our understanding of allergy across a broad demographic spectrum. Our efforts will be directed by the central hypothesis that ArCOFAR will measurably impact patients with food allergy and related disorders through expertly designed, innovative clinical trials using novel approaches that can advance translation of treatments and prevention strategies to practice, while training the next generation of researchers. Our overarching goal is to provide a comprehensive, collaborative research platform to measurably improve the lives of children and adults with food allergy and related disorders. The studies proposed in this application highlight ArCOFAR’s strengths with a new peanut peptide-based treatment approach to peanut allergy; evaluation of treatment response biomarkers in EGID; and integrative research in food science, nutrition, and food allergy. Our hypothesis will be tested by executing the following Specific Aims: 1) Expand therapeutic trials participation among food-allergic patients with racial/ethnic diversity and for those living in rural, underserved regions by designing and implementing novel, disease-impacting clinical trials; 2) Increase center-specific research into new focus areas of discovery that also have capacity for expansion to larger, multi-center investigation; and 3) Promote career development of new and early-career researchers into food allergy by linking established research mentors and new investigators through direct engagement in center-specific projects. In these efforts we will coordinate appropriately with the CoFAR network and participate in the CoFAR-wide clinical trial. This proposal’s outcomes will be to improve the health of children and adults with food allergy in Arkansas and beyond while advancing CoFAR’s mission to fundamentally transform food allergy research and treatment.
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