GA2FA 2024 inspires attendees to think ‘inside the box’ to advance food allergy treatment
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Key takeaways:
- GA2FA 2024 topics include nasal spray vs. intramuscular epinephrine, immunotherapy, early introduction and AI in allergy.
- Workshops will also take place among sessions and debates on the various topics.
The Global Allergy and Asthma Excellence Network, or GA2LEN, will host its biannual global meeting from Sept. 5 to 7.
With the motto of “Thinking INSIDE the Box,” the upcoming GA2LEN Anaphylaxis Centers of Reference and Excellence (ANACARE) Global Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Forum, also known as GA²FA 2024, will be held in Padua, Italy.
“GA²FA 2024’s aim is to develop breakthrough thinking by an in-depth appraisal for what already exists inside the box,” Antonella Muraro MD, PhD, GA2LEN ANACARE CORE leader, told Healio. “Drawing in new ideas and novel findings can be an effective strategy only if there are already clear parameters in mind, if there is a goal that the person or group is working toward.”
The landscape of treatment for patients can be changed, for instance, by asking how current guidelines can shape the progress in food allergy and anaphylaxis science in different contexts.
“Focusing on the constraints around us, learning each plank in the box and joining forces will ultimately allow us to move beyond — outside the box,” Muraro, who is also the head of the Food Allergy Referral Centre, Veneto Region, Department of Woman and Child Health, Padua University Hospital, said.
A focus on food allergy
GA²FA 2024 will start by focusing on food allergy on Thursday with a breaking news session chaired by Lucy Bilaver, PhD, resident in the department of pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine, followed by sessions on diagnosis, treatment and prevention.
Carina Venter, PhD, RD, associate professor of pediatrics in the section of allergy and immunology at University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, will lead a presentation on diagnosing food allergy.
Aikaterini (Katherine) Anagnostou, MD (Hons), MSc, PhD, professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine and a member of Healio’s Allergy/Asthma Peer Perspective Board, will speak about oral immunotherapy.
Jay Lieberman, MD, another member of Healio’s Allergy/Asthma Peer Perspective Board and professor and chair of the department of orthopedic surgery at Keck School of Medicine of USC, will conduct a lecture on ARS Pharmaceuticals’ recently approved EURneffy epinephrine nasal spray.
Delving into anaphylaxis
Sessions on Friday will focus on the definition, challenges and treatment of anaphylaxis.
“There are several definitions of anaphylaxis by many scientific societies which impact its proper and timely recognition and management,” Muraro said.
Muraro added that there is a need to harmonize anaphylaxis management across the world and implement education beyond patients.
“All health professionals of different disciplines should be well aware of how to react promptly and how to master the new options of treatment that are coming on the market,” she said.
Pro-con discussions will be held on whether summoning emergency services during an anaphylaxis event is always necessary and whether intramuscular adrenaline is always preferable over nasal adrenaline.
“Anaphylaxis and overall severe allergic reactions appear on the rise worldwide, though mortality is not,” Muraro said. “Adrenaline auto-injectors are highlighted as first-line lifesaving drugs, but they are largely under-prescribed and underused by patients.”
Gideon Lack, MD, head of the children’s allergy service at Guys’ and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and leader of the LEAP study, will speak about the unintentional consequences of early peanut introduction in specific high-risk populations.
Ruchi S. Gupta, MD, MPH, founding director of the Center for Food Allergy & Asthma Research and member of Healio’s Allergy/Asthma Peer Perspective Board, will give a presentation about lessons from the Intervention to Reduce Early (Peanut) Allergy in Children, or iREACH, trial.
Weekend highlights, meeting wrap-up
On Saturday, Scott H. Sicherer, MD, FAAP, professor of pediatrics and director of the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, will speak about the relevance of threshold in food allergy treatment.
Rima Rachid, MD, FAAAAI, co-director of the Food Allergy Program at Boston Children’s Hospital and member of Healio’s Allergy/Asthma Peer Perspective Board, will discuss the reversibility of allergies and new potential therapeutics.
The event will wrap up with discussions on the impact that food allergy and anaphylaxis have on families as well as future research, which could involve the use of AI.
“All together jointly with the ANACARE Working Groups, we will find the path to turn a problem into an opportunity, unravelling any problem’s potential,” Muraro said. “We will foster creativity solving the puzzles of food allergy and anaphylaxis diagnosis and management. Exploring the existing elements, we may end up removing some, multiplying others, reorganizing them and sometimes finding the solution in front of us.”