Mechanisms, Prevention of, and Emerging Therapies for Food Allergy

As the importance of food allergy is gaining global awareness, this first Gordon Research Conference on Food Allergy will uniquely focus on food-allergen-specific immune function in health and disease. In the past 15 years, more than 9,500 articles have been published in food allergy. Nonetheless, these developments have yet to change the standard of clinical care for food allergy — complete avoidance of the allergenic food. The pressing need for effective therapies for food allergy can only be met by developing a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of immune mechanisms. We aim to amplify the increasing momentum of research advances in food allergy with this new GRC focused specifically on its basic and translational aspects from diverse disciplinary perspectives.

Leading researchers from around the world with expertise in immunology, molecular and cell biology, and computational biology who are interested in understanding healthy and food-allergic immune function will be featured, including those who study emerging problems such as the role of the microbiome in food allergy, and the mechanisms of desensitization achieved through emerging therapies such as oral immunotherapy. This five-day international scientific conference encouraging free discussion — often of unpublished research — aims to provide cross-fertilization and collaboration among researchers in relevant fields, and will help to develop and integrate this rapidly evolving field.