(July 1, 2015) – Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE), the leading nonprofit organization working on behalf of the 15 million Americans with food allergies, is proud to announce the establishment of the FARE Clinical Network. The network is an initiative that aims to accelerate the development of drugs for patients with food allergies as well as improve the quality of care for this serious illness. FARE will initially fund 21 centers of excellence with an investment of over $2 million dollars annually.
Under FARE’s leadership and coordination, FARE Clinical Network members will serve as sites for clinical trials for the development of new therapeutics and will develop best practices for the care of patients with food allergies. The FARE Clinical Network will serve as a powerful driver of collaboration to advance the field of food allergy, with member centers contributing to the development of a national food allergy patient registry and bio repositories.
“We need to push for the development of drugs and other therapies to prevent life-threatening food allergy reactions, while ensuring that children and adults with food allergy receive the best care possible,” said James R. Baker, Jr., MD, CEO and chief medical officer of FARE. “To that end, FARE will direct the Clinical Network centers of excellence across the country to a common goal of ensuring that patients with food allergies have access to state-of-the-art diagnosis, treatments and research. We will continue to expand the number of centers to provide access to more patients. This effort is fundamental to our mission — to improve the quality of life and the health of individuals with food allergies while providing them hope through the promise of new treatments.”
FARE will announce additional centers in the near future.
Members of the FARE Clinical Network are selected through a comprehensive, rigorous application process. Centers are required to address criteria in a number of key areas, including staff credentials, statements regarding their implementation of state-of-the-art diagnostic and clinical practice guidelines and information about their facilities, operational oversight, training, patient satisfaction surveys and quality of life data.
The centers of excellence selected as part of the FARE Clinical Network provide high-quality clinical and sub-specialty food allergy expertise and services, and are focused on applying new evidence-based knowledge to this important field. These centers also meet high standards for clinical care, teaching and clinical research.
The directors of the FARE Clinical Network member centers recently convened at FARE’s third Research Retreat, which brought together leading investigators and clinicians in food allergy along with representatives from federal government agencies, key pharmaceutical companies and patient advocates.
FARE is pleased to make information about FARE Clinical Network members available to supporters and families managing food allergies. FARE recommends that patients managing food allergies meet with their physicians to discuss their individual needs in order to inform their personal healthcare decisions.
For more information, visit www.foodallergy.org/research/fare-clinical-network.
Media Contact: Carlos Delgado
Office: 858-966-4901
cdelgado@rchsd.org