11 June 2019: 

On behalf of the AIFA and ASCIA team, I am excited to advise that we received a total of 27 expressions of interest for AIFA research grants in 2019. These include a range of outstanding projects that have the potential to make real progress in the field of allergy and other immune system disorders. The AIFA grant selection expert panel (chaired by Dr Melanie Wong), will work over the next few months to select the final grant recipients. Due to our generous supporters over the past two years, five AIFA research grants will be announced at the ASCIA 2019 Conference closing function on Friday 6th September 2019.

Can you make a tax deductible donation to help AIFA fund more of these potentially ground-breaking projects?

There is an abundance of world leading research being undertaken in Australia and New Zealand and it is our ultimate goal to be fund more of these valuable research projects. To help us do this, please consider donating during this tax time to help fund even more research, to create a lasting impact. Donations of $100 or more are acknowledged on the AIFA website, and this is updated every time you make a donation. Named grants of $10,000 or more are also possible.

To donate go to www.allergyimmunology.org.au/donate and secure your tax deduction before 30 June 2019.

AIFA is 100% dedicated to fund research that will improve the health and wellbeing of people with allergy and other immune system disorders.  By donating to AIFA, you can be reassured that:

• 100% of donations to AIFA directly fund allergy/immunology research grants.
• 100% of AIFA grants are selected by allergy/immunology experts.
• 100% of donations to AIFA are tax deductible.

Thank you for your ongoing support of AIFA. This is greatly appreciated.

Kind regards,
Jill Smith
ASCIA CEO

13 February 2019: 

If you missed watching the Catalyst allergy program on ABC TV last night (12 February 2019),  you can watch it on ABC iview https://iview.abc.net.au/show/catalyst  

Several ASCIA members were involved in the program, including Prof Connie Katelaris, Prof Dianne Campbell, Dr Preeti Joshi, Carolina Valerio, Rebecca Sertori and Prof Janet Davies.

The Catalyst allergy program highlights the high prevalence, wide range and seriousness of allergic conditions.  These include food allergy, anaphylaxis, allergic rhinitis, asthma, eczema and cold urticaria (hives). 

Skin testing, food allergen challenge testing, the need to seek professional help from a specialist and examples of current research were featured in the program.  It was also explained why more research is required.

How can you help support research?

By making a tax deductable donation to AIFA, this will enable AIFA to fund more allergy/immunology research. www.allergyimmunology.org.au/donate 

13 November 2018: 

Read more: AIFA announces $120K for 2019 research grants

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2 October 2018: 

Local AusPollen Apps provide daily levels of pollen in the air, which can help if you have hay fever (allergic rhinitis) or if your asthma is made worse by allergens in the air. The Apps are available at www.pollenforecast.com.au

To help the AusPollen team evaluate usefulness of the Apps and how they can improve this service, please complete a short questionnaire before and after the pollen season. The survey can be found at https://survey.qut.edu.au/f/192287/435d/

This research will help the AusPollen Team to know where to site future pollen count stations and also determine if there are local triggers that make hay fever and asthma worse.  If you would like to know more about the AusPollen project please contact Prof. Janet Davies, Queensland University of Technology by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

7 September 2018: 

The Allergy and Immunology Foundation of Australasia (AIFA) is pleased to announce that the 2018 AIFA research grant has been awarded to Dr Md. Ashik Ullah of the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane.

AIFA received a total of 21 expressions of interest for the 2018 grants round, spanning food allergy, antibiotic allergy, allergic asthma, common variable immune deficiency (CVID), Graves Disease and anaphylaxis.

After a lengthy and difficult selection process, the AIFA Board is pleased to announce that a project entitled “P2RY13 – a novel therapeutic target for allergic asthma” led by Dr Md Ashik Ullah of QIMR Berghofer has been chosen as the recipient of a $30,000 AIFA research grant. This brings the total AIFA grant figure to $160,000 in the last 5 years.

28 August 2018: 

This year’s AIFA grant recipient will be announced at the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA) Annual Conference on Friday 7 September 2018.

This year AIFA grants have drawn interest and collaborations from researchers all over Australia. A record 21 EOIs were received. These EOIs covered topics as varied as diagnosing allergy, predicting allergic diseases, Graves’ disease, common variable immune deficiency, signalling in primary immunodeficiencies, urticaria, insect allergy, drug allergy and allergic asthma.

After much hard work by our Grant Selection Panel, 5 projects were shortlisted and finally 1 selected. We look forward to publicly announcing the successful recipient next week.

Past successful projects include the AusPollen project, Mevalonate kinase deficiency (MKD) and Jack Jumper Ant Allergy. Further details on these and other past projects can be found at www.allergyimmunology.org.au/projects

All of the projects have the potential to make a difference to the diagnosis, management and treatment of allergy and other immune disease. Help us to fund more projects by donating at www.allergyimmunology.org.au/donate

8 August 2018

It’s not always a joke. Exercise-induced anaphylaxis is a rare but real disorder. It causes people to have an allergic response to exercise. Yes, exercise can really trigger asthma, hay fever (rhinitis), hives (urticaria) and even anaphylaxis. Some people have symptoms with exercise alone while for others it is set off by a food eaten in the hours prior to exercise.

The severity of symptoms is mostly influenced by how much food is eaten, how active the exercise is and the time between the two. This means that severe symptoms are usually due to food eaten within a few hours of the exercise.

Wheat tends to be the most common culprit. But there have also been reports other foods like seafood, nuts, and some types of fruit and vegetables causing symptoms too.

Treatment includes avoiding "trigger foods" and keeping an EpiPen with you at all times.

Nutritionist Sandra Vale has an exercise-induced wheat allergy and recently spoke with SBS about how she manages it. Her story can be found at www.sbs.com.au/food/article/2018/08/03/how-i-live-exercise-induced-wheat-allergy