Southampton to lead new study to help people living with food allergies

The Faculty of Medicine is to lead a new study, which aims to prove that commonly available peanut and milk products taken under medical supervision can be used as a treatment for people living with food allergies.

The three-year oral immunotherapy (OIT) trial is funded by a £2.2million gift from The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation, the charity set up by the parents of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse who died aged 15 from a severe food allergic reaction. 

If successful, participants on the study with persistent food allergy will be able live lives where they no longer have to avoid popular foods which might contain small amounts of allergens due to production, and also be able to eat popular foods like cakes, curries and pizza with their friends. 

The trial will be led by researchers at the Faculty alongside University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, partnering with Imperial College London (both World Allergy Organisation Centres of Excellence) together with University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Newcastle University and Sheffield Children’s Hospital.

Find out more on the main University website.