Food allergy researchers honour Professor Katie Allen

Published

Friday, May 16, 2025 - 12:00 PM

Professor Katie Allen, Founding Director of the Centre for Food Allergy Research (CFAR), has been recognised for her pivotal and enduring contribution to food allergy research at the 2025 CFAR Retreat in Melbourne.

From establishing the HealthNuts Study in 2007 and founding CFAR in 2013, to leading advocacy efforts that resulted in the bipartisan Parliamentary Inquiry into Allergies and Anaphylaxis, and the creation of the federal-government funded National  Allergy Centre of Excellence (NACE) and the National Allergy Council (NAC) in 2022, Professor Allen’s impact has been profound.

After transitioning to a career in politics in 2018, she has remained a dedicated voice in the allergy community, continuing to share her guidance and expertise.

Professor Allen’s research notably generated the hypothesis for the rise in food allergy rates in Australia as "the 5 Ds": dry skin, diet, dogs (external environmental exposure), dribble (internal microbial exposure), and vitamin D.

This informed the establishment of some of CFAR’s internationally unique trials to investigate whether vitamin D, early prevention of eczema, type of vaccine and timing of introduction of solids could turn back the allergy tide.

Primary outcomes for one of these studies – the VITALITY Trial, which Professor Allen established in 2017 – are imminent. The trial recruited 2739 babies to investigate whether vitamin D supplementation for babies leads to a reduction in food allergy.

The National Health and Medical Research Council has funded CFAR as a Centre of Research Excellence since 2013. CFAR is also recognised as a World Allergy Organization Centre of Excellence and is hosted at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne.

Professor Allen, shared publicly last week, the devastating news of her Stage 4 cancer diagnosis. She expressed her intention to face this next chapter with “courage, dignity and strength,” drawing inspiration from the resilience she has witnessed in so many of her patients over the years.

Professor Kirsten Perrett, CFAR Director, Associate Professor Jennifer Koplin, CFAR Chief Investigator, and Associate Professor Rachel Peters, CFAR Associate Investigator, presented Professor Allen with a plaque on behalf of the CFAR members.

Find out more about the history of the Centre for Food Allergy Research.