Dr. Wang to lead genetic studies for NIH-funded consortium
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently named Xiaobin Wang, MD, MPH, ScD, one of two principal investigators for the Consortium of Food Allergy Research (CoFAR) grant that was renewed for five more years. With this grant renewal, the consortium expands its scope to include research on the genetic causes underlying food allergies. Dr. Wang, who is the Mary Ann & J. Milburn Smith Research Professor and Director of Smith Child Health Research Program at Children's Memorial Research Center, was awarded $2 million to conduct the genetic studies for the consortium.
This new genetic research builds on encouraging findings from Wang's ongoing food allergy studies using data from participating families in Chicago and Boston. Her team has identified promising genetic variants in Caucasian participants with food allergies through a genome-wide association study (GWAS) – a powerful tool to define chromosomal regions of interest for complex diseases. The new study will investigate whether these genetic variants can be confirmed in another Caucasian sample with food allergies, and if any of the same variants are associated with food allergies in a sample that includes African American and Hispanic participants. Wang's study also will search for novel genetic variants in the most promising chromosomal regions and test their association with food allergies in an ethnically diverse sample.
A significant step toward understanding the genetic basis of food allergy
As the first large post-GWAS of food allergies in multi-ethnic U.S. populations, Wang's new research represents another significant step toward understanding the genetic basis of food allergy. The philanthropic investment made by Dave and Denise Bunning provided the seed money to allow Wang to start her food allergy research at Children's Memorial in 2005 and raise it to this high level of national recognition and impact. The Bunnings' two sons suffer from life-threatening allergies to foods as basic as milk and eggs.
Thirty years ago, food allergy was extremely rare. Today, 4.3 million U.S. children suffer from the life-threatening condition.
For information regarding the study mentioned in this article, please contact Deanna Caruso, project coordinator of the Children's Memorial Food Allergy Study at 312.573.7755, or at dcaruso@childrensmemorial.org.