Seattle Food Allergy Consortium Member, Northwest Asthma & Allergy Center (NAAC) Receives Food Allergy Grant From Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE)

Seattle, WA, July 15, 2015 (Newswire.com) - ​The Seattle Food Allergy Consortium (SeaFAC) members, Asthma Inc Clinical Research Center and its parent company, Northwest Asthma & Allergy Center, have been selected by Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE) as a FARE Clinical Network center of excellence. The FARE Clinical Network aims to change the face of food allergy care and research by accelerating the development of drugs for patients with food allergies as well as improving the quality of care for this serious illness. Members of the FARE Clinical Network are selected through a comprehensive, rigorous application process. FARE will initially fund 22 centers of excellence with an investment of over $2 million dollars annually.  

Puget Sound-based Northwest Asthma & Allergy Center’s American Board of Allergy and Immunology certified physicians have been treating all allergic diseases for 45 years in 8 offices throughout Washington State, including food allergies. NAAC’s office visits for food allergies have nearly doubled in five years, from 6,000 in 2008 to 11,800 in 2012.

NAAC’s clinical research arm, Asthma Inc Clinical Research Center (Asthma Inc) has conducted over 500 FDA approved clinical trials, and works directly with the National Institutes of Health / Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. As a member of the Seattle Food Allergy Consortium (SeaFAC), Asthma Inc drove the Pacific Northwest’s first clinical desensitization trials for food allergy.  

““FARE’s leadership in establishing this important, collaborative initiative will accelerate the evaluation of promising therapies and raise the standard of care for individuals with food allergies nationwide,” according to Dr. Stephen Tilles, a partner physician at Northwest Asthma & Allergy and Executive Director at ASTHMA Inc. “This is an exciting time and we look forward to working with FARE and our fellow network members to improve the diagnosis and treatment of food allergies, and to advance life-changing treatments.” 

“We need to push for the development of drugs and other therapies to prevent life-threatening food allergy reactions, while ensuring that children and adults with food allergy receive the best care possible,” said James R. Baker, Jr., MD, CEO and chief medical officer of FARE. “To that end, FARE will direct the Clinical Network centers of excellence across the country to a common goal of ensuring that patients with food allergies have access to state-of-the-art diagnosis, treatments and research.”  

Ongoing, SeaFAC members, including Northwest Asthma & Allergy Center and the Asthma Inc Clinical Research Center, will help to drive the area’s first desensitization clinical trials, fund its own members’ research to increase our understanding of the mechanisms that cause food allergy, and financially supports allergist training and research advancement at the University of Washington. 

To support the Seattle Food Allergy Consortium’s efforts, please visit their Web sites at http://www.seafac.org/donate/.

About Northwest Asthma & Allergy
Seattle based Northwest Asthma & Allergy’s American Board of Allergy and Immunology certified physicians have been treating all allergic diseases for 45 years in 8 offices throughout Washington State, including food allergies. Visit: www.nwasthma.com

About Asthma Inc
Since 1972, ASTHMA Inc Clinical Research Center has conducted nearly 500 FDA approved clinical trials. It is a non-profit organization focusing on studies involving asthma, seasonal and perennial allergies, food allergies, eczema and sinusitis. Asthma Inc conducts research studies for companies that want to test experimental medications, devices or treatments for asthma, allergies and other allergic diseases. Visit: www.asthmainc.org

About SeaFAC
The vision of the Seattle Food Allergy Consortium (SeaFAC) is to combine research and education resources in the Seattle community to find a cure for food allergy, a rapidly increasing public health problem.  Our member institutions include ASTHMA, Inc. Clinical Research Center/Northwest Allergy & Asthma Center, Benaroya Research Institute/ Virginia Mason, Seattle Children’s Hospital/ Seattle Children’s Research Institute, and UW Medicine. By combining Seattle-area resources, including outstanding basic and translational research in food allergy, pediatric/adult clinical research centers and an allergy/immunology training program, SeaFAC will create a world-class food allergy center locally.  Together, the consortium will be very competitive in the federal and non-federal funding environment and bring together leading clinicians, researchers and educators to revolutionize food allergy care and research. Visit: www.SeaFAC.org

About FARE
Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE) works on behalf of the 15 million Americans with food allergies, including all those at risk for life-threatening anaphylaxis. This potentially deadly disease affects 1 in every 13 children in the U.S. – or roughly two in every classroom. FARE’s mission is to improve the quality of life and the health of individuals with food allergies, and to provide them hope through the promise of new treatments. Our work is organized around three core tenets: LIFE – support the ability of individuals with food allergies to live safe, productive lives with the respect of others through our education and advocacy initiatives; HEALTH – enhance the healthcare access of individuals with food allergies to state-of-the-art diagnosis and treatment; and HOPE – encourage and fund research in both industry and academia that promises new therapies to improve the allergic condition. For more information, please visit www.foodallergy.org