2022 Annual Meeting of AAAAI

AAAAI represents allergists, asthma specialists, clinical immunologists, allied health professionals and others with a special interest in the research and treatment of allergic and immunologic diseases. AAAAI has more than 7,000 members around the globe.

APFED attended the AAAAI 2022 annual meeting held in Phoenix, AZ, Feb. 25-28 as an invited speaker. We also awarded two awards for the best research abstracts for EGID, attended advocacy meetings, and had a booth in the exhibit hall where we could share patient friendly material with clinicians.

Breakthroughs in Understanding and Treating EGID

An all-day symposium to present EGID information and research was held on February 24. The program was organized by the Consortium of Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Disease Researchers (CEGIR) and the International Gastrointestinal Eosinophil Researchers (TIGERS).

Attendees learned information about the diagnosis, epidemiology, and the role of the allergy in EGID, and pipeline treatments. There was also discussion on research that is shedding light onto cellular and molecular processes with these conditions, monitoring the progression of EGID through time, dietary aspects, the patient experience, and new therapies and treatments on the horizon.

As an active member of CEGIR, APFED’s Executive Director, Mary Jo Strobel, gave a presentation during this symposium to highlight ways that doctors and patients can work in partnership with one another to advance education, awareness, advocacy and research, as well as resources available to help people who have EGID.

There were presentations and discussions regarding EGIDs and associations with allergic disease.  EoE is highly associated with allergic diseases and elimination diets seem to work for many with EoE. On the other hand, there are differences at the cellular and molecular level between EoE and other EGID, which may make dietary therapy less successful.

Attendees were also informed of recent international consensus surrounding what subsets of eosinophilic gastrointestinal diseases are called for both clinical and research purposes.

Throughout AAAAI sessions, scientists discussed current knowledge and research of the etiology, pathology, and genetic and environmental factors that might affect the development of EoE, as well as data related to therapies in various stages of clinical trial for eosinophil-associated disease.

Dr. Benjamin Wright, an APFED HOPE Pilot Grant recipient who is studying the association of environmental factors and its impact on cells involved in EoE, presented his latest findings in the “Featured Poster Session” at AAAAI. His poster presentation was “Oral Detergent Exposure Induces Eosinophilic Inflammation in the Esophagus.” These early findings show that an ingredient in detergents, called SDS, reduces the functionality of epithelial cells and may be a factor to the development of EoE.

Special Committees

APFED attended special interest EGID Task Force committee meeting to participate in discussions on ways the medical community can support those with eosinophil-associated disease, and also met with patient advocacy organizations serving people with allergic conditions to discuss advocacy and policy work, and aligning initiatives to help our communities, including the Medical Nutrition Equity Act and communicating patient needs and perspectives to the FDA.

2022 AAAAI/APFED Best Abstract on EGIDs Awards

APFED offered two $750 awards to recognize outstanding research abstracts on eosinophilic gastrointestinal disease presented at the AAAAI meeting this year. The awards are intended to help defray travel costs to the meeting so that the researchers may present their findings to their peers. Abstract award winners may go on to successfully compete for grants from APFED or from other funding mechanisms.

• Marc E. Rothenberg, MD PhD FAAAAI Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center “Dupilumab Improves Clinical and Histologic Aspects of Disease in Adult and Adolescent Patients with Eosinophilic Esophagitis at Week 24: Results from Part B of the 3-Part LIBERTY EoE TREET Study”
• Gencer Kurt, MD Aarhus University Hospital “Perinatal Factors Increase Risk of Eosinophilic Esophagitis – A Nationwide Case Control Study”

The awards were made possible thanks to the generous community donations to APFED’s HOPE on the Horizon Research Program.

Additional highlights surrounding presentations and research presented at AAAAI will be published in the Spring 2022 issue of EoSolutions newsletters for APFED subscribers.