NACE & NAC leaders join Canberra allergy talks

Published

Friday, August 23, 2024 - 11:00 AM

National Allergy Centre of Excellence (NACE) and National Allergy Council (NAC) leaders visited Parliament House this week to hold a series of discussions with Federal Government officials.

Professor Kirsten Perrett, Director of the NACE, said it was an opportunity to highlight the important progress the allergy coalition had made since launching two years ago.

“It’s clear the Federal Government recognises allergic disease as one of Australia’s greatest public health challenges,” she said.

“We were able to highlight important developments in key projects that will accelerate allergy research and improve clinical care, such as the launch of the nation-wide ADAPT OIT Program and supporting Evaluation Study, and the NAC-led Shared Care for Allergy in Australia project.”

Discussions also centred around the opportunity to establish a Parliamentary Friends of Allergy Group, and the importance of formally recognising allergic disease as a chronic condition.

Pictured left to right: Dr Melanie Wong NAC Director and ASCIA representative, Maria Said AM NAC Co-chair and Director and Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia CEO, Professor Kirsten Perrett NACE Director, Tenaya Jamieson NACE Program Manager and Dr Sandra Vale NAC CEO - 21 August 2024.

The allergy leaders met with Richard Temperly, Health Advisor to Senator Anne Rushton, Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care, Angie Bell, Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education and Youth, Independent Dr Monique Ryan, Robbie Stephens, Ministerial Adviser for Ged Kearney, Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, and Karen Krist, Director of Nutrition Policy for the Department of Health and Aged Care.

The Federal Government announced $26.9 million in funding to launch the NACE and NAC in August 2022, following a 2019 bipartisan Parliamentary Inquiry into Allergies and Anaphylaxis.

Since being established, the NACE has successfully delivered a number of key initiatives and laid solid foundations to continue accelerating drug, food, insect and respiratory allergy research in Australia. Here are the key updates from the past 12 months:

Pillar 1: Allergy Research

• The NACE, in partnership with 10 paediatric tertiary hospitals across Australia, launched the world-first, national ADAPT Oral Immunotherapy Program and Evaluation Study (Food Stream study). Significant progress was also made on the design and development of Respiratory and Insect Stream studies, which are also expected to begin in 2024. Development of a Drug Stream trial is also progressing.
• The NACE Acute Allergy Registry (NAAR) was launched to collect real-time data on allergic reactions and anaphylaxis in participating Emergency Departments to help shed more light on the prevalence and impact of allergies on children and adults.
• A Clinical Trials Network was established to help streamline the start-up of national allergy trials, giving Australians faster access to emerging treatment options.

Pillar 2: Repository and Discovery

• The NACE supported the establishment of an Allergy BioRepository to safely and securely store the data from the four stream studies, including data on 1000 bio-specimens by June 2026.
• This year, the NACE Allergy BioRepository (ALBI) research protocol was approved by the Royal Children’s Hospital Human Research Ethics Committee.
• ALBI will enhance the discoverability, interoperability, and reuse of allergy study data, driving research advancements and improving patient outcomes across Australia, and beyond.

Pillar 3: Evidence and Translation

• The Evidence and Translation team is focused on developing the foundations for the NACE Living Evidence Collections to help reduce the timeframes for allergy evidence to be synthesised, translated, and incorporated into clinical practice.
• In early 2024, the NACE prepared a rapid overview of systematic reviews on penicillin allergy delabelling to support the review and update of the ASCIA delabelling guidelines.
• The NACE is also supporting a systematic review of Allergenic Food Introduction for Allergy Prevention to underpin an update of the current Infant Feeding and Allergy Prevention ASCIA Guidelines.

 Pillar 4: Training and Innovation

• The NACE is training and mentoring the next generation of allergy researchers by supporting seven Postgraduate Scholars and four Postdoctoral Fellows through stipend funding.
• Plus, 26 early-mid career researchers, including six of the Postgraduate Scholars, attended a NACE-supported training day with tailored sessions on science communication and research impact.
• All NACE Postgraduate Scholars were invited to present their research topic to more than 100 allergy experts from across Australia at the inaugural NACE Symposium in May 2024.

Pillar cross-cutting highlights

• Following a national application process, the NACE also appointed a Consumer Advisory Group and Consumer Engagement Register to connect experts with people who have lived experience to ensure allergy research is asking the right questions and addressing the issues that matter most.
• In May, applications opened for NACE members to apply for access to consumers for feedback on project design, material review, focus groups and advice on how findings are communicated.
• The NACE Allergy Studies Directory now lists more than 70 clinical trials and cohort studies currently recruiting and underway across Australia, with more than 1300 families subscribed to receive email alerts when new studies are listed.
• Earlier this year, the NACE Annual Stream Advisory Group meetings took place, providing a unique and important opportunity for national and global leaders in each field to exchange knowledge, best practice and emerging trends.

 For more NACE updates follow us on Twitter/X and LinkedIn.