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Welcome to the Fundraising page of
Food Allergy


Team Allergy at the Mini Sun Run - April 2018
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Our team recently received approval by the BCCH CHIPS committee to begin fundraising for our virtual FAIT program. Here is a bit of information about it, in addition to contact information to learn more.

Virtual Food Allergy Immunotherapy (FAIT) Research Program at BC Children’s Hospital

PURPOSE

Kids with severe food allergies and their families live with overwhelming anxiety that drastically affects their daily lives. The Virtual Food Allergy Immunotherapy pilot program at BC Children’s Hospital will develop and study the safety and benefits of the first nurse-supported virtual platform for treating food allergies. This program will increase access to food immunotherapy treatment for children in every corner of British Columbia – bringing critical treatment to kids in the comfort of their home, and making a significant and positive difference in their lives today and every day in the future.

INTENDED RESULTS

a. Increased access to food immunotherapy by offering virtual FAIT, which does not require clinical space.  This will lead to shorter waiting lists overall, remove the need for travel for patients living in remote communities, and increase access to any high-risk patients who require in-person allergy appointments. 

b. Reduced costs to the healthcare system by transitioning from in-person to virtual care.  Additionally, reduced costs by having research nurses carry out the routine build-up visits, allowing allergists to focus their expertise and time on assessing patients at baseline and post-treatment as well as providing on-call coverage and support for nurses.  Build-up visits are an ideal nurse-delegated task.

c. Increased safety by restricting OIT to preschoolers and offering SLIT to older children and adolescents (by doing this, all patients in the virtual program will be at either low or negligible risk of severe reaction).

d. Improved anxiety and quality of life of patients and families long-term through completion of immunotherapy, by providing protection from accidental reactions in the community.

e. Creation of a framework for delivering virtual nurse-supported FAIT which can be replicated across the province, the country, and around the world, which includes a personalized medicine approach.

f. Number of research participants treated per year : SLIT: 617; OIT: 144. 

 

SUPPORT OUR WORK

 

Your support for expanding food allergy treatment and research for BC children, teens, and their families is changing lives! To continue supporting our work, please consider donating to our cause on this fundraising page. For more information about our research and FAIT program : www.bcchr.ca/foodallergy or contact our team at foodimmunotherapy@bcchr.ca.

To speak with a member of the BC Children's Hospital Foundation about supporting our program, please contact Cherie Spence.

Cherie Spence
Philanthropy Officer
T 778 655 9858 C 604 764 8474
cspence@bcchf.ca

BC Children's Hospital Foundation
938 West 28th Avenue, Vancouver BC V5Z 4H4

 

Once again, thank you for your ongoing support of food allergy treatment and research in BC!

-THE FAIT TEAM

 

LIVING WITH FOOD ALLERGY

Food allergy affects approximately 8.8% of Canadian children, representing 86,000 children in BC, and imposes a substantial psychosocial and economic burden on affected families. Currently, if a food allergy is suspected in a child in BC, the waiting list can be as long as one year to see a pediatric allergist, with an additional 4-6 month wait for an oral food challenge (OFC) to confirm the allergy. An OFC is a procedure that carries a significant risk of an allergic reaction (30-40%) and anaphylaxis requiring epinephrine (15%). Even after the OFC is performed and a child is deemed allergic, currently there is a lack of treatment options. Families are asked to avoid the food and carry an epinephrine auto-injector. We know from clinical experience and extensive research that this is not enough, and many children still experience accidental exposures. Families are afraid of the possibility of allergic reactions and bullying, with some even becoming highly anxious and isolating themselves and their children from society.

 

ABOUT DR. EDMOND CHAN

Dr. Edmond Chan is an experienced clinician and currently holds the following positions:

  • Head and Clinical Professor, Division of Allergy and Immunology in the Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, at BC Children’s Hospital Allergy Clinic
  • Clinical Investigator, BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute

 

Dr. Chan has diagnosed and treated thousands of children with food allergy since the beginning of his career as a pediatric allergist in 2005. In 2010, Dr. Chan created the only fellowship training program in Pediatric Allergy and Immunology west of Winnipeg. He is on the Executive of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (CSACI) and is on the Executive of the Allergy Section in the Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS). He was the youngest recipient of CSACI’s Jerry Dolovich Award (awarded in 2017 for excellence in clinical work, teaching, research, and serving as a leader and role model), and was additionally awarded the CSACI’s F. Estelle R. Simons Award for Research, for exemplary research in the field of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology.

Dr. Chan has a large research program for food allergy and eosinophilic esophagitis. He has done important research in food allergy prevention, including being the only Canadian representative on an expert panel convened by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) in the US to create guidelines on the early introduction of peanuts and being senior author for the Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS)/CSACI 2021 updated food allergy prevention position statement.  Dr. Chan has been a provincial and national leader in food immunotherapy research, and was co-lead of the 2020 CSACI oral immunotherapy guidelines.

 

Thank you for your support.

 

Every element that makes BC Children's Hospital so important to BC's kids would not be possible without the generosity of our supporters and friends. From the tiniest toy that puts a smile on a youngster's face to the groundbreaking pediatric research that's helping to find better treatments and cures for many devastating childhood diseases, your donation helps ensure that the most precious members of our society - our children - receive the best possible care.

On behalf of all of us - patients, parents, staff, and volunteers - from BC Children's Hospital, thank you for your generosity and for caring for our children and their future.

Total Funds Raised

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  • From Heather Craig

    in Support of

  • $100.00
    From Janis Greene

    in Support of Food Allergy

  • $30.00
    From Mariana D'Amici

    in Support of Food Allergy

  • From

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • From Stefan Winfield

    in Support of Edmond Chan

  • From huiqian xu

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • From Hiba Al-Qishawi

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • $20.00
    From Sarah Cockell

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • From Provincial Employees Community Services Fund

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • $100.00
    From Claudio Claps

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • From Zi Neng Lu

    in Support of Edmond Chan

  • $60.00
    From Jennifer Knudsen

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • $50.00
    From Min Guo

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • From Selena Sidhu

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • $150.00
    From Jack Iammarino

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • $1,500.00
    From Eric Wittig

    in Support of Eric's Fundraising for Food Allergies & OIT for BC

  • $150.00
    From Gloria Au-yeung

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • From Christina Lui

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • $87.15
    From Tiffany Wong

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • From Andrew Tong

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • From The Lum Family

    in Support of Dr. Chan, Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • From Aaron Parrott

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • $87.15
    From Raymond Mak

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • $87.15
    From Alanna Chomyn

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • $100,000.00
    From Anonymous

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • $87.15
    From Stephanie Erdle

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • $87.15
    From Dr Edmond Chan

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • From Ravinder Dhaliwal

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • $20.00
    From Michael Simon

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • From Jensen and Spencer

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • $750.00
    From Anonymous

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • $20,000.00
    From Anonymous

    in Support of Food Allergy

  • From Adrian Nowland

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • From Kathryn Neal

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • $20.00
    From Dorien Gunnels

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • $100.00
    From Anonymous

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • $100.00
    From Yunjing Lu

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • From Jamie Au-yeung

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • From Cherice Esselen

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • From Kayla LeBlanc

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • From Tina Lanzi Ricard

    in Support of Edmond Chan

  • From XINZHI YIN

    in Support of Edmond Chan

  • From Andrea Harrison

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • $50.00
    From Lianne Soller

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • From Dana Vollrath

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • $250.00
    From Anna Kang & Mark Werner

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • From Olivia Malkut

    in Support of Edmond Chan

  • From Chad Mah

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • $20.00
    From Anna Kim

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • $600.00
    From Mike and Tanya Gesslein

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • From Navi Kahlon

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • $50.00
    From Alice Rou-Sohal

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • From Sasa Chambers

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • $40.00
    From Laura

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • $50.00
    From Peter Che

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • $50.00
    From Eva Atkinson

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • From Cherice Esselen

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • $20.00
    From Ray Feng

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • $100.00
    From WEI BIN FENG

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC

  • From Olivia Lau

    in Support of Team Allergy and OIT for BC