Research Projects - Awarded Grants
ausEE funds medical research grants that aim to improve the diagnosis and treatment options for people living with eosinophilic diseases. These grants wouldn’t have been made possible without the generous donations from our supporters.
May 2022 – We are pleased to announce that we have awarded grant funding of $25,000 to Professor Guy Eslick, Professor Mike Jones, Professor Marjorie Walker and Professor Nicholas J. Talley from the NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence in Digestive Health and The University of Newcastle. This study aims to assess the relationship between eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders (EGIDs) and disorders of gut-brain interaction (DGBI). Disorders of gut-brain interaction (DGBI) include Functional Dyspepsia, Irritable bowel Syndrome, and Rumination Syndrome. The project will involve obtaining General Practice (GP) patient data from the United Kingdom, the data comes from ‘The Health Improvement Network’ (THIN) database, which represents 6% of the UK population. The research team hope to use this data to identify the overall relationships between EGIDs and DGBIs. This study may identify important new links between EGIDs and DGBIs that had not been previously reported. This may provide new information on the mechanisms by which eosinophils induce pathology and lead to new novel options for future treatment.
June 2019 - We are pleased to announce that we have awarded grant funding of $25,000 to Professor Pete Smith and his research team from Griffith University for an eosinophilic oesophagitis research project. We look forward to sharing with you more about this innovative research in the future.
June 2018 - We are pleased to announce that we have awarded grant funding of $25,000 to Dr Jeremy Rosenbaum of Paediatric Gastroenterology Victoria to help facilitate EoE research projects and improve quality of care. We look forward to sharing with you more about Jeremy’s research in the future.
May 2017 - ausEE has awarded additional grant funding of $10,000 to Dr Hamish Philpott and Dr Evan Dellon for the continuing work of their research project titled 'Antigen presentation and acute inflammation in EoE'.
This research is being conducted through the Monash University in collaboration with University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
The project aims to measure the immunophenotype of inflammation in the oesophagus following food antigen exposure.
November 2016 - ausEE is pleased to announce that we have awarded grant funding of $8,000 to Dr Hamish Philpott, Dr Evan Dellon and Dr Sanjay Nandurkar for the research project 'Antigen presentation and acute inflammation in EoE'.
This project has the potential to streamline the diagnosis and treatment of patients who present with oesophageal eosinophilia.
We got this lovely message back from Dr Philpott when we let him know their grant application was approved. 'Your support of our research is so vital. We fully comprehend the hard work that goes into organising and fundraising, and faithfully pledge to diligently pursue our work to do justice to your generosity.'
Are you a physician or researcher wanting to conduct a clinical trial or undertake medical research into eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders?
To obtain support, please complete our Research Grant Application.
Support ausEE's Medical Research Fund:
Join EGID Partners
EGID Partners is a new online cohort of patients with eosinophilic gastrointestinal diseases (EGIDs). It is a way to conduct clinical research through surveys.
Unlike other registries, EGID Partners engages patients to guide the research. People without EGIDs are also encouraged to join so survey responses can be compared.
Visit egidpartners.org to learn more and to become a Partner!
Join Us
Join Us is a simple online register that helps researchers prevent, treat and find cures for disease.
ausEE Inc. is proud to be a partner of ‘Join Us’ - an initiative to strengthen medical research by creating an online secure register of a million Australians willing to participate in research studies.
Sign up to be matched with research studies: www.joinus.org.au
Current Project: Home Enteral Nutrition and/or Elemental Formula Quality of Life Research
This study is being conducted by Dr Mercedez Hinchcliff, a researcher at the University of Wollongong and President of ausEE Inc. The purpose of this research is to investigate tube feeding and elemental formula use in Australia/New Zealand and health-related quality of life. Your help with this survey can assist us to gain valuable insights and improve the lives of those who rely on these forms of nutrition. The Participant Information Sheet for this study is available here.
If you, or someone you know, currently uses or cares for someone who uses home enteral nutrition and/or elemental formula, please consider taking or sharing this 15 minute survey.
This study has been reviewed by the Human Research Ethics Committee (Social Science, Humanities and Behavioural Science) of the University of Wollongong.
Assisted Research Project - Completed
Share your experience with EGE, EG and EC and help define the treatment goal in clinical trials for new medicines.
Market Research opportunity for people living with Eosinophilic Gastroenteritis (EGE), Eosinophilic Gastritis (EG) and Eosinophilic Colitis (EC):
IQVIA, a global healthcare research firm, is running a research study to explore participants’ experiences with EGE, EG and EC. Qualified participants will be compensated for participating in a 60-90-minute telephone interview.
Assisted Research Project - Completed
From September 2018 to February 2019 we called for parents or carers of a child with EoE in Australia to participate in the research project 'Exploring healthcare use, burden of disease and satisfaction with care in paediatric eosinophilic oesophagitis'.
The online survey took approximately 25 minutes to complete and questions explored quality of life and experiences in the healthcare system for paediatric EoE.
The researchers involved in this project were from Griffith University and we look forward to sharing the published findings with you.
For further information contact Nicole Hannan (nicole.hannan2@griffithuni.edu.au)
April 2020 - We’re pleased to share with you the first publication from this research:
November 2020 a subsequent paper was published: Treatment Burden for Pediatric Eosinophilic
Esophagitis: A Cross-Sectional Survey of Carers
July 2021 a third paper was published: What influences complementary medicine use for children with eosinophilic esophagitis? Findings from a cross-sectional survey
Assisted Research Project - Completed
Future genomic research might affect people with an Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Disorder (EGID). In October 2018 we supported a research project where our members were invited to learn more about genomic research and share their views and perspectives about who should be involved in shaping the future of this research. The research included an online survey followed by a two week online discussion group for participants.
The researchers involved in this project are from the Centre for Health Communication and Participation (La Trobe University) and the Public Health Genomics Program at Monash University. If you have further questions, please contact Jack Nunn (Jack.Nunn@latrobe.edu.au).
If you'd like to learn more about EoE and Genomics you can view this information sheet here.
March 2021 - A paper titled Involving people affected by a rare condition in shaping future genomic research was published in Research Involvement and Engagement journal.
Assisted Research Project - Summary of Findings
EXPLORING THE EXPERIENCES OF ausEE MEMBERS
LIVING WITH EOSINOPHILIC OESOPHAGITIS
EXPLORING THE EXPERIENCES OF ausEE MEMBERS LIVING WITH EOSINOPHILIC OESOPHAGITIS
On behalf of the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Allergy Unit we would like to thank members of ausEE for kindly donating their time to participate in a focus group and/or complete a questionnaire. Our research could not have been completed without your contributions.
The research aimed to explore patient views of diagnosis, management and treatment of EoE, including how this journey could be improved. The main areas identified for improvement are summarised below:
- Increasing awareness of EoE amongst health professionals is vital and may assist in reducing diagnostic delays.
- Ongoing research and introduction of alternatives to endoscopies.
- All health professionals involved in the management of EoE should be encouraged to provide information about treatment options to patients. Treatment decisions and plans should be made in conjunction with patients, families and the multidisciplinary team to provide holistic care.
- Ongoing research into alternative drug therapies and improved dietary testing methods could improve experiences and outcomes of patients with EoE now and in the future.
- Improve the knowledge and capacity of dietitians to provide individualised dietary advice.
- Increased awareness of the importance of nutritional assessment in the management of EoE is needed amongst all health professionals.
- Further research into the relationship of commonly associated conditions with EoE is required to establish if their management may impact on EoE. It is also important for physicians to be aware of these conditions and make appropriate referrals as required.
The findings from this research have led us to explore the knowledge of dietitians working with patients with EoE as well as looking at developing training and resources to improve dietitian care.
We have also been exploring commonly associated conditions and an alternative dietary testing protocol.
Annabel Clancy
Research Dietitian | Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Allergy Unit
December 2017
July 2018 - University of Wollongong thesis, Annabel Clancy: Personalising the dietary investigation and management of eosinophilic oesophagitis
Funded Research Project - Completed
Congratulations to Mary and the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital team on their research into EoE. We are pleased that ausEE and all of our members who so generously donated could be a part of this project.
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On behalf of the Department of Clinical Immunology at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital we would like to thank ausEE for their kind donation towards research currently underway. Here Mary Agapides, a scientist working in the department talks about her research.
Our research aimed to find alternate methods of diagnosing EoE and the food allergens potentially involved in causing disease. Currently, the only way to diagnose EoE and monitor the success of treatment, is via endoscopy and biopsy. These procedures are expensive, invasive and can be distressing, particularly as EoE patients often require regular testing to monitor their disease. We were specifically focused on blood tests that could be used to aid in the diagnosis of EoE.
We found two proteins circulating in the blood of EoE patients, eosinophilic cationic protein (ECP) and eosinophil-derived neurotoxin (EDN), that were both indicative of disease. The only problem is, these proteins also seem to appear in individuals with other atopic diseases, such as allergic rhinitis, asthma and eczema, conditions also seen in EoE patients. This means ECP and EDN aren’t ideal to use for an initial EoE diagnosis, however, there is potential for these biomarkers to be used to monitor treatment success in EoE patients.
Dietary manipulation is a popular treatment for EoE, however, deciphering which foods are causing disease is often a lengthy and complicated process. We also found a new potential method of “screening” for food allergens in EoE patients which involved looking in the blood for specific IgE reactions to a large panel of foods. This panel identified new potential problem foods in EoE patients, such as egg yolk, chicken, lamb, orange and fruits that are associated with latex allergies. This new method could also be useful in predicting whether dietary treatment is the best option for an EoE patient and if medication should also be considered in controlling their disease. Our research is continuing to validate this method in a larger group of patient.
Mary performed this work as part of Bachelor of Science (Advanced), Honours Class I (Immunology) at Sydney University.
Page last modified: 30 March, 2023