All families supporting a loved one who copes with anaphylaxis have the same dream – that one day there will be a cure for (or greater relief for) severe allergies. This will only happen through medical research.
It is this common family dream that prompted the Canadian Anaphylaxis Initiative to call on the federal government to provide a long term commitment to allergy research. We support a strategic response from our government and more dollars for allergy research. We also want to see development of standardized and evidence-based guidelines for diagnosis, management and treatment of food allergies and anaphylaxis needs. We want to see further sharing of allergy data with medical teams that are conducting anaphylaxis research around the world. Every month there seems to be a new announcement from Britain, Australia, or from an American medical lab – and all of this research news fuels the hope that a “cure” will be found to eliminate anaphylactic reactions.
Just last week, there was fantastic news regarding research in Canada. It was great to hear of the announcement awarding AllerGen $36.5 million in long-term funding to continue its work focused on allergies. AllerGen’s recent advances include improving asthma diagnosis and predicting attacks, unravelling the genetic connections to allergies and asthma, and revealing the impact of socio-economic factors on the development of the immune system.
At the March 23rd announcement ceremony, Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for Science and Technology, stated: “AllerGen’s research will help improve the lives of millions of Canadians suffering from the complications of allergic diseases through innovation.”
Judah Denburg, Scientific Director and CEO of AllerGen stated: “Over the next seven years, AllerGen aims to focus on commercialization and knowledge mobilization activities. AllerGen’s research and development efforts will also create new “high value” jobs, prepare the next generation of researchers, entrepreneurs and experts to fill them, and leave international legacies of socio-economic benefits and improved quality of life for individuals and their families living with allergies, asthma and anaphylaxis.”
To read the full press release and background note, click here.
To learn more about AllerGen and what this organization does, click here.
Tremendous news for Canadian anaphylaxis research! We all dare to dream!
