FARE Clinical Network Celebrates Five Years with Expansion, Further Enhancing State-of-the-Art Patient Care

McLEAN, Va. (June 02, 2020) –Today, FARE (Food Allergy Research & Education), the world’s leading food allergy research, advocacy and education organization, announced the expansion of the FARE Clinical Network. The network brings together leading institutions from across the country to ensure that the 32 million Americans living with potentially life-threatening food allergies have access to state-of-the-art diagnosis and treatment, short-term and long-term care, and research that addresses factors from discovery to application along the entire clinical and translational spectrum.

Today, the FARE Clinical Network is expanding to include 44 participating institutions in 22 states and the nation’s capital, with more expected in the coming months. By increasing the locations available for multi-site clinical trials, the network will facilitate the development of new therapies, diagnostics and prevention strategies and will make access to experimental treatments possible for volunteers drawn from a larger and more diverse patient population. 

“With the expansion of the FARE Clinical Network, we are one step closer to more treatment options for the 32 million Americans living with potentially life-threatening allergies and are better positioned to one day find a cure,” said Lisa Gable, FARE Chief Executive Officer. “This is an exciting time for our community as we continue our journey to bring innovative solutions and cutting-edge research to patients at every stage of their food allergy journey by building on the foundation for which it was established five years ago.”

The expanded FARE Clinical Network will include three types of centers that draw on the individual strengths of each participating institution:

• Discovery Centers of Distinction will conduct novel research on treatments, diagnostics, prevention and improvements to care
• Clinical Research Centers of Distinction with expertise in leading clinical research will investigate new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat food allergy
• Clinical Care Centers of Distinction will provide exceptional patient care and community education while generating real-world data through daily clinical care

All three types of centers will provide optimal clinical care and community leadership on behalf of patients with food allergy. Discovery Centers of Distinction and Clinical Research Centers of Distinction will also participate in multi-center clinical trials and will help to train the next generation of investigators in food allergy. In addition, Discovery Centers of Distinction will develop and collaborate on translational research that will compete for outside funding. (Translational research is cross-disciplinary biomedical research that utilizes laboratory discoveries in clinical care to advance the development of treatments and improve patient outcomes.)

“The goal in expanding the FARE Clinical Network is to usher forward new insights into the epidemiology, burden and biology of food allergy and apply these findings to patient care, a game-changer for those living every day with food allergies and still no cure” said Bruce Roberts, Chief Research, Science and Innovation Officer of FARE. “We are looking forward to contributing to the future of food allergy treatment, and the network will be critical to reaching new milestones.”

The FARE Clinical Network will be led by two committees: a steering committee which will make recommendations concerning studies and an executive committee which will grant approval of studies proposed by the steering committee. Thomas B. Casale, MD will serve as Distinguished Chairman of the FARE Clinical Network Steering Committee. The executive committee will be led by Bruce Roberts, Chief Research, Science and Innovation Officer of FARE. 
 
The FARE Clinical Network was launched in 2015 and is a group of top food allergy centers that is led and coordinated by FARE. The network initially included 22 centers of excellence in 15 states and the District of Columbia and, between 2015 and 2019, it grew to include 33 food allergy centers, with participating institutions located in 19 states and Washington, D.C. To date, the network sites have participated in more than 45 clinical trials in food allergy including those that led to the development and market release the first ever FDA-approved treatment for peanut allergy in January 2020. The FARE Clinical Network continues to support the development of a wide range of additional therapies, as well as diagnostics, that are currently under investigation. 

To view a map detailing the locations of each FARE Clinical Network site nationally:  www.foodallergy.org/centersofdistinction 

To learn more, visit the FARE website: www.foodallergy.org/fareclinicalnetwork