Food allergy rates are steadily increasing, with 20% of the Australian population affected, and costs the Australian economy $7 billion each year. Currently, the primary forms of therapy for food allergies are just a band aid, targeting symptoms without curing the disease. Therefore, it is important to develop new treatment methods that are safe.
Schistosoma mansoni is a parasitic worm that has been shown to prevent the development of allergies, through laying eggs. Therefore, we intend to identify compounds that are released by the eggs that can be used to treat food allergy.
This project will allow us to discover novel therapeutic molecules for the treatment of allergic diseases, for which there is no cure.
Chief Investigators
