As a follow up to my recent blog post, FOLLOW THE MONEY: WHERE IS YOUR DONATION TO A FOOD ALLERGY NON-PROFIT GOING? I’d like to make a  few suggestions about donating directly to research for a cure for food allergies.

Many readers suggested that I look into EAT – End Allergies Together – a new non-profit focused solely on funding research, and promising that 100% of net proceeds will go to research. I have communicated with the founders, Kimberly Hall and Elise Bates, via email and was told that they will inevitably have some expenses as they go forward for staffing, etc. and they still promise that at least 80 cents of every dollar will go toward funding research. That is a phenomenal percentage, and well worth looking into if you want to fund food allergy research. Below are their Food Allergy Research Areas. You can make a request for a specific area, such as gut bacteria, for your donation to fund.

1. Food Desensitization
e.g., oral immunotherapy, sublingual immunotherapy, transdermal patch therapy

2. Medication Treatments
e.g., XOLAIR (Omalizumab), herbal formulas

3. Basic Science (root cause)
e.g., genetics, T-cell immune response, gut bacteria

I recently wrote about the DBV Technologies Epicutaneous Immunotherapy “Peanut Patch” in my blog post, FOOD ALLERGY RESEARCH & THE PATCH. While DBV does not allow individuals or non-profit food allergy groups to donate to their research, it is available for you/your child to participate in a research study. Information about this participation is detailed in the blog post.

I also recently wrote about Traditional Chinese Medicine in my blog post, FOOD ALLERGY RESEARCH & TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE. Dr. Xiu-Min Li is the only doctor researcher in the USA practicing both Traditional Chinese Medicine, although her work is confined to immune conditions such as allergies, not the full range treated by other herbalists and acupuncturists, and doing research on TCM to cure food allergies, eczema, asthma, etc. There is information in this blog post about donating directly to her research.

Lastly, some people choose to donate their time and expense to research by becoming involved in a research study. This is a great way to donate to food allergy research. Of course, there are always medical risks with any research participation such as anaphylaxis, eosinophilic esophagitis or other immune system issues. You and your family will have to decide what level of risk you are willing to undertake. There may also be travel costs in order to check in with a doctor on a regular basis. If you’re interested in participating with a research study, ask your allergist whether you and/or your child is a good fit. Many research studies have qualifying criteria to become a part of the study. You can find current research studies at https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/