Leading Food Allergy Research and Advocacy Groups Merge to Find Cure for Life-Threatening Childho...( ...),Health

Food Allergy Project Joins with Food Allergy Initiative to Create Largest National Source for Research, Advocacy and Education Efforts

NEW YORK, Feb. 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Food Allergy Initiative and The Food Allergy Project today announced a merger of their organizations, a powerful combination that will increase public awareness of the severity of life-threatening food allergies, empower advocates and family support groups, and encourage the nation's leaders to increase funding for this potentially deadly disease. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has said that "food allergy has emerged as an important public health problem," and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recently noted that rates are rising significantly among children. Food allergies afflict more than 12 million Americans, including approximately three million children and teenagers under the age of 18.

For more than a decade, The Food Allergy Initiative and The Food Allergy Project have committed research dollars, led public awareness efforts and advocated on behalf of families affected by food allergies. By combining forces, the new organization, which will use The Food Allergy Initiative name, will represent the largest private source of funding for food allergy research and will serve as a voice for millions of families to call on the federal government and private sources to collaborate in search of a cure. The combined entity has already contributed more than $60 million to basic scientific research and educational efforts. Following the merger, David Bunning, co-founder of The Food Allergy Project, joined the board of directors of The Food Allergy Initiative.

"For a number of years, The Food Allergy Initiative and The Food Allergy Project have worked toward a common g
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