2 October 2020:

Ararat, a town in country Victoria, donates over $12,000 to fund The Kohen and Sage Richards Food Allergy Research Grant for 2021. 

We give our warmest thanks to the community of Ararat for their generous donation of over $12,000 to the Allergy and Immunology Foundation of Australasia (AIFA). The community showed their support for research into food allergy through an online auction organised by Angie Waihape and Clare Vanina in August. Angie was motivated by her nephews Kohen and Sage who have experienced severe allergic reactions (anaphylaxis) to food.

AIFA is delighted to direct this generous donation toward food allergy research in 2021 as requested. This will be named The Kohen and Sage Richards Food Allergy Research Grant.

Angie writes: “Thanks to our amazing community, the ‘Allergies & Anaphylaxis Awareness’ Fundraiser was a huge success. With 34 generous businesses on board and a supporting community behind us we were able to smash our $10,000 goal. We sold over 3,200 raffle tickets, auctioned 10 awesome items, and received so many generous donations from people wanting to help make a difference to people who suffer with allergies. We are beyond grateful. We are very proud to donate this money to AIFA who are doing outstanding work towards finding preventions and ultimately a cure for allergies.”

Angie and her team are an inspiration. We are sure that her nieces and nephews are very proud. Thank you Ararat for this good news story!

If you are inspired by Angie and Clare’s effort, learn how you can become an AIFA community fundraiser here www.allergyimmunology.org.au/support-aifa/fundraising

We would love to hear from you. Reach out to us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

14 July 2020: 

For the third time since the Allergy and Immunology Foundation of Australasia (AIFA) started funding research grants in 2015, we are proud to announce that an AIFA grant recipient has received National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) funding.

Dr Sidonia Eckle, who was awarded an AIFA grant in 2019, has been awarded $620,205 in an Emerging Leadership Award from the NHMRC in 2020. The NHMRC recognises excellence in the health and medical research sector and celebrates leadership and outstanding contributions to the sector through its biennial awards. 

Dr Eckle, who works at The Doherty Institute in Melbourne states, “I’m grateful for the support of the NHMRC Investigator Grant to further our understanding of the importance of Mucosal-Associated Invariant T cells (MAIT) cells in protective and aberrant immunity. Along with assistance from The University of Melbourne and other grants, this investment will allow me to deepen our knowledge of this field and grow my research programme within Professor Jim McCluskey’s lab.”  

Read more about the project here

This is the third time that a recipient of an AIFA grant has progressed to receive NHMRC recognition:

• Dr Janet Davies received NHMRC funding in 2016 for her AusPollen project (AIFA grant awarded in 2015).
  Pollen Allergen Partnership

• Dr Marcia Munoz received NHMRC funding in 2018 for her work on the autoimmune disease mevalonate kinase deficiency or MKD (AIFA grant awarded in 2017).
  Childhood Autoinflammatory Disease 

AIFA grants enable researchers to progress a new project in allergy and immunology research, and are a valuable step in future applications for larger grants.

We are very proud of the AIFA track record and we are glad that Dr Eckle could be one of the AIFA grant recipients to progress with NHMRC funding.

18 June 2020: 

The Australian Government’s recognition of the importance of medical research into allergy is highlighted in the report from the Parliamentary Inquiry into Allergies and Anaphylaxis, Walking the Allergy Tightrope, tabled in Parliament on 15 June 2020. 

Implementing the recommendations in the report will lead to improved outcomes for patients and the community, and more research into the causes and treatment of allergy. This is consistent with the aim of the Allergy and Immunology Foundation of Australasia (AIFA), which has supported research into allergy and other immune system disorders since 2014. 

AIFA is an initiative of the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA), which was recognised in the report as having a pivotal and leading role in improving the care of Australians with allergic disease. AIFA has made an ongoing commitment to support researchers working on the complexities of the immune system. Their work is fundamental to finding new treatments for allergic disease. 

In 2020 AIFA will award a total $110,000 to allergy and immunology research, and the closing date for expressions of interest is 28 August 2020. For details go to www.allergyimmunology.org.au/grants 

We now welcome donations for the 2021 AIFA grants.

By supporting AIFA before 30 June 2020, 100% of your donation will directly fund research projects and will be tax deductible in the 2019-2020 financial year. To donate to AIFA go to www.allergyimmunology.org.au/donate

We take this opportunity to thank our generous donors and sponsors who have made the following 2020 AIFA grants possible:

• $40,000 - AIFA Food Allergy Research Grant
   
• $30,000 - AIFA Allergy (other than food allergy) or Autoimmunity Research Grant
   
• $15,000 - AIFA Primary Immunodeficiencies Clinical Research Grant
  (supported by CSL Behring)
   
• $15,000 - AIFA Hereditary Angioedema Clinical Research Grant
  (supported by CSL Behring)
   
• $10,000 - AIFA Food Allergy Research Grant
  (supported by DBV Technologies)

At a time when medical research is more important than ever, we believe that the annual AIFA grants play a vital role, by providing seed funding, encouraging emerging researchers and promoting allergy and immunology research in Australia and New Zealand.

To view the grants awarded in 2019, click in the image below or see www.allergyimmunology.org.au/projects

27 April 2020: 

In recognition that many potential AIFA grant applicants have less discretionary time in 2020 due to the demands from COVID-19, the AIFA grant EOI deadline (previously 15 April 2020) has been deferred.

The revised dates for the AIFA 2020 grant process are as follows:

• EOIs due: 28 August 2020 (using the form at www.allergyimmunology.org.au/grants)
• Shortlist announced: 30 September 2020
• Full grant applications due: 30 October 2020
• Grant recipients announced: 15 December 2020

In 2020 AIFA will award a total $110,000 to immunology/allergy research via the following grants: 

• $40,000 - AIFA Food Allergy Research Grant
• $30,000 - AIFA Allergy (other than food allergy) or Autoimmunity Research Grant
• $15,000 - AIFA Primary Immunodeficiencies Clinical Research Grant (supported by CSL Behring)
• $15,000 - AIFA Hereditary Angioedema Clinical Research Grant (supported by CSL Behring)
• $10,000 - AIFA Food Allergy Research Grant (supported by DBV Technologies)

We take this opportunity to thank our generous donors and sponsors of the 2020 AIFA grants.

At a time when medical research is more important than ever, we believe that the annual AIFA grants play a vital role, by providing seed funding, encouraging emerging researchers and promoting more immunological research in Australia and New Zealand. We welcome donations for the 2021 AIFA grants, which should proceed with the usual timeline, with grants being presented at the ASCIA 2021 Conference in Melbourne in September 2021.

We look forward to receiving the 2020 AIFA grant EOIs.

13 March 2020: 

The Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA) has developed information and guidance regarding COVID-19. 

The information is available on the ASCIA website at

www.allergy.org.au/patients/immunodeficiencies

5 March 2020: 

AIFA announce that research grant round for 2020 is now open.

Due to the continued support from generous donors and sponsors, a total of $110,000 will be granted to immunology and allergy research in 2020.

• $40,000 - AIFA Food Allergy Research Grant 
  
  
• $30,000 - AIFA Allergy (other than food allergy) or Autoimmunity Research Grant 
  
  
• $15,000 - AIFA Primary Immunodeficiencies Clinical Research Grant(supported by CSL Behring) 
  
  
• $15,000 - AIFA Hereditary Angioedema Clinical Research Grant (supported by CSL Behring)  
  
  
• $10,000 - AIFA Food Allergy Research Grant (supported by DBV Technologies)

AIFA Expression of Interest forms are on the AIFA website www.allergyimmunology.org.au/grants

Grants are awarded on merit, with preference for early stage projects and early career researchers. Criteria for rating grant applications are: originality and scientific quality, significance of outcomes, research methodology, team quality and capability.

Why is medical research important?

When you support medical research, you are helping to build the future of medicine, to advance medical knowledge, improve patient care and save lives.

Australia and New Zealand have a proud history of donating to medical research. The high quality of medical care we enjoy today is built upon decades of quality research. This has resulted in breakthrough treatments and the prevention of life-threatening diseases. It is vital work because what we learn about the immune system now will help fight a wide range of human illness in the future. 

There is still so much work to be done.

It is our goal to give a total of more than $500,000 in grants by 2023. 

To achieve this, we ensure that 100% of donations directly fund AIFA grants. There are no expensive marketing campaigns and all of our administration costs are supported by ASCIA.