2022 Grantees
Sara Anvari, MD, MSc, FACAAI
Improving Access to Allergy Specialty Care in Houston Through a Novel Penicillin Allergy Stewardship Program
Sara Anvari, MD, MSc, FACAAI is leading a 12-month project to develop a protocol to ensure that low-risk patients in the Texas Children’s health care system are properly evaluated for penicillin allergy (PA). The evaluation will first take place via telemedicine, followed by in-person appointments where low-risk patients will receive an amoxicillin challenge and high-risk patients will receive a skin test to see if further testing for PA is necessary. The main objectives of Dr. Anvari’s project are to de-label children inappropriately labeled as penicillin allergic, while also identifying disparities in access to allergy services across the outpatient health care system and ensuring equitable access to care across the community.
Gerald Lee, MD, FACAAI
A Quality Improvement Project to Reduce Food Allergy IgE Panel Utilization
Gerald Lee, MD, FACAAI is leading a 24-month project to close the knowledge gap among primary care providers and caregivers related to proper diagnosis of food allergies. The goal of the project is to minimize misdiagnosis of food allergy via IgE panel testing and alleviate the unnecessary burden placed on children and their families due to false positive results. Dr. Lee has teamed up with The Children’s Care Network (TCCN), which is an integrated network that engages 120 pediatric practices to produce data-driven, high-quality care. He will assess and address knowledge gaps among physicians within the TCCN to reduce inaccurate diagnoses of food allergies, which he hopes will lead to a reduction in unnecessary interventions, improve quality of life, and reduce health care expenditures for the children within the network.
Jessica Macdougall, MD, MS
Food Allergy Transitions of Care for the Adolescent Population
Jessica Macdougall, MD, MS, is leading a 12-month project focused on transitions of care for adolescents to improve their understanding and management of their food allergies. The project will establish an evidenced-based transition curriculum that can be used by community and academic allergists; create patient education materials that are tailored to adolescents both in content and how they are delivered; and engage the community through webinars/events that are designed for adolescents who may be entering college or going into the workforce. By developing more cohesive guidelines to help adolescents manage their food allergies during their transition to adulthood, the project ultimately aims to reduce accidental exposures and anaphylactic reactions, lessen anxiety and increase participation in daily activities.
Lulu Tsao, MD
Promoting Evidence-Based and Equitable Penicillin Allergy Evaluation Among Pregnant Patients
Lulu Tsao, MD, is conducting a 12-month project to assess and bridge the gaps in knowledge, perceptions, and barriers to prenatal penicillin allergy evaluations among obstetrics (OB) providers and pregnant patients. Due to misconceptions about safety and feasibility of prenatal PA evaluations, they are often underutilized and not incorporated into routine prenatal care for patients across all care settings. The goal of Dr. Tsao’s project is two-fold: to increase uptake of evidence-based recommendations for prenatal PA evaluation among OB providers and allergists; and to develop a patient centered toolkit on prenatal PA evaluation that informs and encourages patients to get appropriate testing during pregnancy. Long-term, the project aims to evaluate the impact of the intervention toolkit on clinical outcomes, including prenatal PA referrals, PA evaluation and testing outcomes, β-lactam utilization, and pregnancy/neonatal outcomes (e.g., caesarean section rates, length of hospitalization).
2021 Grantees
Marcella Aquino, MD, FACAAI
Multi-level Contributing Factors to Ethnic and Racial Disparities in Urban Children with Asthma and Atopic Dermatitis
Marcella Aquino, MD, FACAAI is leading a 2-year study that offers an innovative approach to identify multi-level risk and resource factors that may contribute to asthma and AD outcomes in urban minority children. The project will focus on behavioral processes, such as adherence to AD and asthma medications and clinical processes such as asthma severity, AD severity, asthma quality of life and dermatologic quality of life. Outcomes that will be assessed include lung function via daily spirometry measurements, asthma control, AD control, and asthma and AD healthcare utilization via questionnaire and confirmation from electronic medical record. This novel approach will shed light on specific contributors that may increase morbidity in urban minority children with asthma and AD and will inform future tailored interventions. Read more about her project in the Fall 2021 issue of College Advantage.
Juan Carlos Cardet, MD, MPH
Impact of Telehealth vs. In-person Appointments on Asthma Outcomes Among African American/Black and Hispanic/Latinx Adults with Moderate to Severe Persistent Asthma
Juan Carlos Cardet MD, MPH is leading a 12-month study to determine how telehealth vs. in-person appointments impact asthma-related outcomes among Black and Latinx patients with moderate to severe persistent asthma across the US. This project builds on a large pragmatic trial (PREPARE) to determine whether a patient-guided intervention can improve asthma outcomes in these populations, drawing on extensive clinical and phenotypic data collected at baseline, and prospective asthma outcome data collected through monthly questionnaires during 15 months of follow-up. Results from the study will inform community practicing allergists whether transitioning to telehealth platforms provides adequate asthma care. Watch an interview with Dr. Cardet to learn more about where he is with his project.
Timothy Chow, MD
Shouldering the Burden of Pediatric Penicillin Allergy Labels:
Delabeling in the Primary Care Setting
Timothy Chow, MD, is leading a 12-month study to explore the feasibility of implementing a penicillin allergy delabeling protocol for low-risk pediatric patients. The primary aim of the study is to evaluate the number of patients for whom risk-stratification and direct amoxicillin challenge are successfully completed in an outpatient pediatric primary care clinic and assess barriers for implementation and their impact on referrals for outpatient allergist evaluation. Watch an interview with Dr. Chow to learn more about where he is with his project.
Kelsey Kaman, MD
(2021 and 2022 Grantee)
Learning Educator’s Anaphylaxis Response Needs: Optimizing the Safety of Children in Head Start
Kelsey Kaman, MD continues her project (funded as a planning grant in 2021) to ensure early childhood educators serving children in selected underserved communities are well prepared to handle food allergy-related emergencies. In her 24-month “LEARN Early, Next Steps” project, she will ensure that participating centers are able to provide food that is safe for allergic children; bridge food allergy knowledge gaps among teachers and staff, particularly as it relates to recognizing and responding to anaphylaxis; and provide the necessary information for access to and administration of epinephrine.
She is collaborating with Head Start, Code Ana, The Allison Rose Foundation and Food Equality Initiative as well as other partners experienced in providing education, emergency anaphylaxis plans and access to allergen-free foods. They will explore means to collectively address barriers to care and foster long-term relationships between community allergists and early childhood educators. Watch an interview with Dr. Kaman to learn more about where she is with her project.
Anil Nanda, MD, FACAAI
Development of Educational Modules Regarding Cannabis Questions for Intake Forms for Community-based, Large Practice and University-based Allergists
As cannabis use continues to rise in the general population due to its legalization in the US and around the world, community practicing allergists need to be up to date on the nature, potential benefits, and adverse effects of cannabis use, including cannabis allergy. Anil Nanda, MD, FACAAI is working with a team of experts to develop educational modules that will address these topics as well as recognizing and diagnosing cannabis allergy. Additionally, they will develop a module specifically focused on how practitioners can discuss cannabis with their patients – i.e., what questions to ask on intake forms to gather the information necessary to start a conversation about cannabis use and its potential benefits and harms among allergic and asthmatic individuals. The project is a collaborative effort with a professionally diverse group of experts consisting of physicians and scientists with extensive background in cannabis basic and clinical research, including cannabis allergy.
Michael Pistiner, MD, MMSc, FACAAI
National Needs Assessment for Infant and Toddler Food Allergy Curriculum for Pediatric Residents
While the prevalence of infant and toddler food allergy is on the rise, there is a shortage of community physicians who are properly trained and comfortable to provide the most current standard of care. Michael Pistiner, MD, MMSC, FACAAI, and his team are developing an educational needs assessment to determine and characterize the need for a standard infant/toddler food allergy curriculum for pediatric residents at a national level. The assessment specifically focuses on gaps that lead to discomfort in the management of infant/toddler food allergy and anaphylaxis, lack of implementation of early peanut feeding guidelines, and ineffective co-management of infant/toddler food allergies alongside primary care physicians. In addition, the assessment provides an opportunity for medical residents to learn more about the field of allergy and potential to pursue a career in the specialty.
“The Allergists’ Foundation has received a strong response to our call for proposals under the Community Grant Program, which makes our job of selecting projects for funding very challenging,” said Todd Mahr, MD, FACAAI, the chair of the Foundation’s Grants Allocation Committee. We are very much impressed with the quality and creativity of the proposals we’ve received so far and we look forward to seeing more project ideas with each new grant cycle.”
To learn more about the Community Grant Program and how you can help support it, download the brochure or contact us for more information.
