Science AMA Series: I am Dr. Edwin Kim, assistant professor of medicine and pediatrics at the UNC School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, N.C., here to talk about the use of immunotherapy in the treatment of food allergies. Ask me anything!

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Hi reddit!

As director of the University of North Carolina Food Allergy Initiative research group, my main focus is on the development of a treatment for life-threatening food allergies. Our research is primarily around immunotherapy which is the process of giving small, increasing amounts of what the person is allergic to in order to retrain the immune system.

According to a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) study, the number of people in the U.S. with food allergy more than tripled between 1997 and 2008 and it is now estimated to affect up to 15 million Americans. Food allergy can cause severe, potentially fatal allergic reactions and many of these are not outgrown. Worse yet, there are no treatments available other than trying to avoid the food.

My team and I focus on several forms of immunotherapy including food that is ingested (oral), food in a liquid form held under the tongue (sublingual), and food in a medicine patch (epicutaneous). Data from my group as well as from researchers around the world have been extremely promising. The findings have shown that these treatments are able to desensitize patients, meaning increase the amount of food it takes to cause a reaction. Important aspects of this approach continue to be further explored, such as how long it has to be taken and how long it lasts. However, I am excited at these giant steps toward making a treatment for food allergies a reality.

I will be back at 1:00pm ET to answer your questions. Ask me anything!

">Science AMA Series: I am Dr. Edwin Kim, assistant professor of medicine and pediatrics at the UNC School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, N.C., here to talk about the use of immunotherapy in the treatment of food allergies. Ask me anything!