Mount Sinai announced that it has received a 5-year, $12 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for the development of a Systems Biology of Early Atopy (SunBEAm) Analysis and Bioinformatics Center. The new research center will focus on the identification of factors that may give rise to food allergies and atopic dermatitis—by studying longitudinal multiomics data from 2,500 pediatric patients with the systems biology approach—in order to search for early-life biomarkers and biological pathways underlying the conditions. The researchers noted that atopic dermatitis often precedes the onset of food allergies, demonstrating the likelihood that they may be linked to similar factors that contribute to the development of the allergic reactions. “A systems biology approach where the biology of these common conditions is investigated comprehensively … may help identify new knowledge about the development of allergies, ultimately helping us to improve the prevention, diagnosis, and clinical management of food allergies and atopic dermatitis,” concluded Supinda Bunyavanich, MD, MPH, MPhil, the Mount Sinai Endowed Professor of Allergy and Systems Biology as well as Associate Director of the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
May 25, 2023