As I’ve mentioned in past columns, one aspect of my job as Executive Medical Director is working with other organizations – whether that means industry, other medical societies, or lay organizations that serve groups of allergy and asthma patients. There is frequently common ground that multiple organizations are covering, and by joining together we can accomplish more and better things – especially for our patients. Examples of joint projects include advocacy events, condition-specific public information campaigns, clinical guidelines with other medical societies, and patient education tools.
In this spirit of accomplishing more together, every year the College supports several national lay organizations through modest grants that enable the development of meaningful projects. Together with College staff and physician experts, we work with these organizations to help ensure the success of these projects. These organizations have goals and interests that closely align with ours, yet they have networks and members that are distinct from the College’s. In many cases, these are targeted audiences of patients who have allergic and immunologic conditions (or care for people who do).
College members benefit because these partnership projects widen the circle of those we reach with high-quality information about allergy and immunology conditions and the great work that allergists do. In turn, the organizations are grateful for the College’s support and expertise, which enable them to reach farther and accomplish more than they could alone.
In 2026, we will be providing limited financial support for projects implemented by the following lay organizations: Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA); Allergy and Asthma Network (AAN); Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Connection Team (FAACT); and the National Eczema Association (NEA).
A few examples of these joint projects include:
- In addition to our annual Allergy & Asthma Awareness Day activities on Capitol Hill, we’ll support AAN’s Ask the Allergist video series featuring College experts, and the US Asthma Summit for health care professionals and patient advocates, among other projects.
- Partial sponsorship of FAACT’s “Camp TAG” for kids with food allergies, and of their Global Food Industry & Research Summit.
- Continued development of the Eczema Visual Guide for all skin types with the National Eczema Association.
- Sponsorship of AAFA’s podcast series, AAFAnoon Chats, designed to educate and empower individuals affected by asthma and allergic conditions.
The leadership and staff of the College are pleased to maintain these partnerships that enable us to put our name on, and add our expertise to, important initiatives and interventions that help our patients. We will continue to work with lay organizations as well as other groups, including medical societies like the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, so that our collective resources may reach the widest audience and be put to best use for those we serve.
