UCLA and Cedars-Sinai researchers receive the first food allergy seed grants

The UCLA Food Allergy Center, with co-funding from the CTSI, has selected three investigators from UCLA and Cedars-Sinai to receive their first Food Allergy Seed Grants which are intended to support and stimulate food allergy research including basic, translational, clinical or epidemiology/population food allergy-related research.

The Center is spurring research in food allergies that expand our knowledge of the gut microbiome, environmental influences, the underlying genetics of susceptibility, and epigenetic factors including aging. To encourage additional research in food allergy at UCLA and foster technological improvements in the diagnostics and in the tools to implement and deliver therapies, the Food Allergy Center released the seed grant opportunity in the fall of 2019.

Below are the awardees for 2019-2020 and their project titles.

• Maureen A. Su ( UCLA), Project: "Epigenetic Regulation of Food Allergies"
• Magali Noval Rivas (Cedars-Sinai Medical Center), Project: "Intestinal Microbiota Signatures and Immune Responses Underlying Oral Tolerance Breakdown During Food Allergy"
• Andre Nel (UCLA), "Liver Targeting Tolerogenic Nanoparticles for the Treatment of Peanut Allergy"

At the conclusion of each Seed Grant award, teams must submit a brief, written progress report and present their findings in a symposium. The grants are also intended to prepare projects for applications to the NIH, foundations, or other extramural funding sources.

For more information on these awards, visit the Food Allergy Seed Grant RFA.

Image source: UCLA/Cedars-Sinai

Image caption: From left: Maureen Su (UCLA), Magali Noval Rivas (Cedars-Sinai) and Andre Nel (UCLA).