Research

Division of Asthma, Allergy & Immunology:
RESEARCH

Click here for a video of Scott Commins discussing recent research on low-dose maintenance peanut immunotherapy in children.
Scott Commins, MD, PhD

The groundbreaking research of Thomas Platts-Mills, Scott Commins and colleagues on the relationship of tick bites and meat allergies – covered widely by the national media, including CNN and The Wall Street Journal – was extended in 2013 with observations of delayed anaphylaxis to mammalian meat in children. in 2014, division faculty published the first reports of challenge tests using red meat. The results not only confirmed that the reactions are delayed in onset by as much as five hours, but also demonstrated activation of circulating basophils at the time of the reactions.

Faculty research on pork-cat syndrome, including a description of the first U.S. case and of cat components, has been widely recognized. In June 2014, Dr. Platts-Mills presented details of reactions to different types of mammalian allergens at the annual meeting of the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) in Copenhagen.

Research Awards

The division has steadily increased its total research funding over the past five years (from $1.2 million in 2009 to over $2 million in 2014). In FY 2014, most of the research dollars came from the NIH, with small grants as well from foundations and industry.

Faculty Grants

Larry Borish

MD-INMD Allergic disease in neighbors of concentrated animal feeding operations
5R01AI057438-09 Interplay between LTE4/LTE4 receptors and IFN-y with mast cells and eosinophil

Scott Commins

5K08AI085190-04 – IgE to carbohydrates causes delayed anaphylaxis

Thomas Platts-Mills

109320 The fetal and childhood environment, oxidative balance, inflammation and asthma
5U01AI100799-02 An evaluation of treatment with omalizumab to improve the asthmatic response
5R01AI020565-30 Dust mite, cockroach and cat allergens in asthma

Judith Woodfolk

5R01AI052196-09 – Immune response to aat: regulatory & effector T cells
5R01AR059058-04 – Regulation of TSLP receptor expression and function in eczema in mice and man
The differentiation and function of CD4+ Th2 cells during allergen-induced asthma