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It's not too late!
Join CFAAR's Community Advisory Board
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Would you like to be more involved with CFAAR?
In collaboration with Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital and Northwestern University, we are excited to announce the launch of our Community Advisory Board at the Center for Food Allergy & Asthma Research (CFAAR). We are currently seeking food allergy, asthma, and other food-related diseases (EoE, Celiac, FPIES, etc) parents/families or community members interested in joining our mission.
Here are initiatives that the CFAAR Community Advisory Board is considering:
- Implementing and developing food allergy, asthma, and related diseases community events in the Chicago-land area
- Advice on research initiatives; topics, methods, outcomes
- Event and Development Planning
We're building strong, collaborative relationships that fuel a diverse community committed to protecting adults and children affected by food allergy, asthma, and other food-related diseases (EoE, Celiac, FPIES, etc).
Please complete our interest form by clicking the link below if you're interested in knowing more about the community advisory board. The interest form is still open!
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New Research Publications
We are excited to share our new publications this month! Congratulations to the authors for all of their hard work! To read the full results, click on the title below. If you have any trouble accessing them, please email cfaar@northwestern.edu and we can share with you directly.
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Trainor J, Pittsenbarger ZE, Joshi D, Adler MD, Smith B, Gupta RS.
Pepper AN, Assa'ad A, Blaiss M, Brown E, Chinthrajah S, Ciaccio C, Fasano MB, Gupta R, Nurry H, Lang D, Mahr T, Malawer E, Roach A, Shreffler W, Sicherer S, Vickers K, Vickery B, Wasserman R, Yates K, Casale TB.
Sicherer S, Warren C, Dant C, Gupta RS, Nadeau K.
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Gwen Holtzman joined CFAAR during the summer of 2020 after working as a bilingual medical scribe in the greater Chicagoland area. She graduated from Grinnell College in 2019 with a B.A. in Biochemistry and Spanish. She assists the team with recruiting participants, translating surveys, and collaborating on new projects. Her main focus is the FORWARD food allergy study, where she is working with Spanish-speaking families to better understand racial differences between White, Black and Hispanic/Latinx families. Gwen is excited to expand her clinical knowledge of food allergy as well as engage with the Chicago Community through CFAAR’s commitment to improving health equity across our own communities.
Fun Fact: Whether it’s hiking, biking, camping or running, Gwen loves anything and everything outdoors.
Hometown: Las Cruces, NM
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Joining the Center for Food Allergy and Asthma Research team in 2019, Caroline Moassessi supports the team remotely from Reno, NV. In her role, she focuses on social media development and synthesizing research summaries into digestible text for patients, food allergy, and asthma advocates. Caroline is the Founder of the food allergy and asthma blog Gratefulfoodie and is an active food allergy and asthma advocate, which includes impacting policy, legislation, and the food industry. She is passionate about healthcare and uplifting communities. Caroline earned her Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Management.
Fun Fact: Caroline can cram a dozen grapes into her mouth!
Hometown: Albany, California
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Shruti Sehgal joins the CFAAR team as a Business Data Analyst Senior. Her current focus is on the FAREDATA study with the long-term goal of building a comprehensive “Food Allergy Data Commons”. She is also assisting the team with writing research publications. Previously, she worked at the Central Research Institute(H) as a Senior Research Fellow for the ministry of AYUSH’s ‘Homoeopathy for Healthy Child’ program. She also served as a practitioner for their Pediatric OPD that aimed at early diagnosis and management of common diseases of children and adolescents. As a Business Project Manager for a chain of clinics, she spearheaded the execution of clinical training workshops on a complementary system of medicine, with a focus on chronic diseases and lifestyle disorders for improving patient outcomes. She also developed tools, as ROH Mobile App and delivered ROH e-books for users on Amazon Kindle. Ms. Sehgal completed her education in Homoeopathic medicine from the University of Delhi, India. With an analytical mind and passion to add value to the healthcare delivery system through technology, she graduated from the University of Chicago with a Master of Science in Biomedical Informatics. She strives to apply informatics principles to healthcare research for promoting patient-centered care.
Fun fact: Shruti is a Kathak dance scholarship holder and has performed at numerous stage presentations and classical dance festivals in solo capacity.
Hometown- Delhi, India
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Eileen Vincent is a registered dietitian who has been involved in nutrition research for over two decades. She launched her career in research by working as a NASA research assistant in Clear Lake, TX while also completing her joint dietetic internship/Master’s degree in clinical nutrition at Texas Women’s University in Houston. At Northwestern, Eileen has served as a research interventionist, coordinating randomized clinical trials spanning from early life (pregnancy) through older adulthood. She is passionate about early intervention approaches to reducing pediatric obesity, food allergies and other common nutrition issues influencing children in the US. As part of the CFAAR team, Eileen is applying her nutrition expertise to the FORWARD and iREACH research projects.
Fun fact: Eileen is an avid road cyclist who has had the pleasure of pedaling through 20 states in the US including her favorites: Colorado, Wyoming, Wisconsin, New York and New Hampshire.
Hometown: LaGrange, IL
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WAO International Scientific Conference 2020
July 16 - July 18
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Abstracts Accepted for WAO International Scientific Conference 2020!
We're excited to share that two abstracts our team and collaborators have submitted were accepted as poster presentations at the virtual World Allergy Organization meeting in July 2020!
Title: Prevalence of Food Allergy and Atopic Conditions among First-Generation Immigrant Children in the United States
Authors: Ruchi Gupta, Jialing Jiang, Christopher Warren
Title: Understanding Precautionary Allergen Labeling Among Food Allergy Stakeholders
Authors: Ruchi Gupta, Madeleine Kanaley, Olivia Negris, Anita Roach, Lucy Bilaver
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The Center for Food Allergy and Asthma Research (CFAAR) and the Center for Community Health (CCH) hosted a webinar to discuss racial injustice and to hear from Chicago-wide community organizations supporting change. The goal of this virtual open forum was to connect Black community members with organizers and community leaders in hopes of finding ways to take action in the community, discuss grief and trauma surrounding racism, and discover self-care techniques in a time of unrest.
Please click the button below to view the session.
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CPS/Northwestern Student Health Leaders Program
Final Workshop
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Our last CPS/Northwestern Student Health Leaders Program was phenomenal! We couldn't meet with the students in-person due to the pandemic, but we were able to finish STRONG! The session was held virtually and packed with special guests. Chief Health Officer, Dr. Ken Fox, Transformative Consultant, Aleen Bayard, Studio Director of the Engineering Design Program, Amy O'Keefe, and ARCC Director Jen Brown, were able to provide the students with words of wisdom and encouragement as they continue to be changemakers in their lives, communities, and respective schools.
We watched final group PSAs and viewed the student's community health interventions. Students were awarded based on creativity, content, visual presentation, and originality. Our student health leaders also bravely spoke on what they've learned about themselves during the pandemic and this time of unrest. It was truly inspiring! We couldn't be prouder of them and look forward to hearing from all of them in the future.
Check out the CPS/Northwestern Student Health Leaders Program website for more information and images of the program.
Please watch the full workshop by clicking the button below.
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The Chicago Mayor Social Media Initiative featured Riya Jain!
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Riya Jain, a Chicago Public Schools 8th-grader, struggled to find a kid-friendly resource that explained the COVID-19 crisis. So, she worked with doctors and an illustrator to create a book, “The Class That Can: Coronavirus,” which answers kids’ questions about COVID-19. As parents to a young daughter, Amy and I know Riya's book will help kids across Chicago feel more informed and stay safe as our city reopens. Way to go Riya! Visit citizensofcan.com/chicago to learn more and get a complimentary copy.
Check out the full post on Facebook
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Dr. Gupta and the team were very busy this month!
Let's check out some of Dr. Gupta's interviews during the month of June!
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"While it is well known that Black and Hispanic children are more likely to be hospitalized and even to die of asthma, it has been less fully appreciated that there are also disparities around food allergies, which had initially been thought of as having more of an impact on white children. In fact, in a 2018 study by her team, the prevalence was higher among African-American children."
-Dr. Ruchi Gupta
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"Currently, precautionary labeling is voluntary and inconsistent, which is confusing for consumers and stressful for those with food allergies who rely on information about what is in their food, especially regarding allergens. Taking time to fully understand the food allergy consumer has shown us that there is a simple and cost-effective solution: if companies create a standardized labeling structure for the top nine allergens, those with food allergies will be able to confidently choose more safe food options for their families."
-Dr. Ruchi Gupta
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"We were surprised to find such a large discrepancy in estimates of food allergy prevalence in children on Medicaid compared to the general population," said senior study author Dr. Ruchi Gupta
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Among the findings of this wide-ranging study, the authors reveal that non-Hispanic African-American children are at “significantly elevated risk” for food allergies, as compared to non-Hispanic white children. Children of Hispanic background had a slightly lower risk for food allergy, but were still at greater risk than white children. Both Black and Hispanic groups were less likely to have a current epinephrine prescription, and more likely to have visited the emergency department.
-Dr. Ruchi Gupta
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The Center for Food Allergy and Asthma Research compiled a list of helpful resources during these unprecedented times. Please feel to review them and we urge you to contact us at cfaar@northwestern.edu if you need additional assistance or if you have questions
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Resources for a time of Racism and Unrest
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COVID-19 Resources for Health & Wellness
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Click button below to view our COVID-19 resources
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The 7% Fund and Coalition was created by Food Equality Initiative (FEI) to address economic and racial disparities in food allergies. The fund will bring key stakeholders together to close the gap through strategic partnerships with industry and community partners. Activities will center on the organization’s three pillars of access, education, and advocacy.
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To learn more about the Center for Food Allergy & Asthma Research, visit cfaar.northwestern.edu or follow us on social media!
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