NACE experts awarded 2025 AIFA Grants to accelerate allergy research
- Published
- Thursday, September 25, 2025 - 12:00 PM
National Allergy Centre of Excellence experts have been awarded 2025 Allergy and Immunology Foundation of Australasia (AIFA) Grants to help accelerate allergy research across Australia.
Dr Melanie Wong, AIFA Chair, announced the recipients at the ASCIA Conference Gala Dinner in Brisbane on 4 September.
AIFA Professor Ann Kupa Food Allergy Research Grant of $15,000 was awarded to Associate Professor Alice Lee, NACE Food Allergy Stream Advisory Group member, and Professor Sheryl van Nunen, NACE Insect Allergy Stream Co-chair, from The University of New South Wales, for the project: “Towards biomarkers for clinical mammalian meat allergy” (below).
AIFA DBV Technologies Food Allergy Research Grant of $15,000 was awarded to Dr Craig McKenzie at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) and NACE Food Allergy Biobank co-lead, for the project: “Characterising antibody responses that prevent, promote, or predict the development or resolution of food allergy”.
Two AIFA Viatris Early Career and New Researcher Grants (Allergy) of $10,000 were awarded to:
- Dr Saeideh Hajighasemi, Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and NACE Postdoctoral Fellow, for the project: “How the mucus barrier of ciliated nasal epithelia in allergic respiratory patients influences inflammation induced by aerosolized grass pollen particles, implications for seasonal and thunderstorm asthma” (below)
- Dr Griffith Perkins, University of Adelaide and Royal Adelaide Hospital, for the project: “Single-cell imaging of the peripheral immune response to venom immunotherapy”.
Two AIFA Early Career and New Researcher Grants of $10,000 were awarded to:
- Dr Karrnan Pathmanandavel, The Garvan Institute of Medical Research, for the project: “Single-cell characterization of B cell memory to SARS-CoV-2 in STAT3 hyper IgE syndrome”.
- Dr Melanie Lloyd, MCRI and NACE Postdoctoral Fellow, for the project “Achieving remission of peanut allergy following oral immunotherapy: Meta-analysis of individual participant data to determine Modifiers Of Safety And effICacy (MOSAIC)”.
Congratulations to the successful Chief Investigators and their teams.
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