I currently work as Head of Clinical Services for Allergy UK, helping to raise awareness of Allergy both nationally and internationally, supporting the aims of the charity and helping people affected by Allergy where possible. Previously working as a Clinical Nurse Specialist in IMMUNOLOGY & ALLERGY for a London NHS Trust. I Trained at University College, London, in 1979 after studying the 3 sciences at A level. Pediatric training was gained at Great Ormond Street Hospital Public Health & Specialist Practice in School Nursing qualification was gained in 1994 whilst working for a London community NHS Trust. Going into schools and conducting health assessments on children made me very aware of the rising incidence of Allergy and often it’s poor management.

I wanted to make a difference to this aspect of Nursing, so went into the field of Immunology & Allergy to gain knowledge, experience and the opportunity to contribute to research projects that have now had a big impact on Allergy, joining many groups that have changed policy and guidelines within the UK and Internationally.

I joined the Royal College of Nursing Immunology & Allergy Nurses group as well as the British Society of Allergy & Clinical Immunology (BSACI), becoming the first Nurse to sit on the BSACI council and starting the National Nurses in Allergy Group, which went on to include dietitians and psychologist's etc and is now an Allied Health category within the BSACI.

@AllergyUK1

Dr Ru-Xin Foong is a Clinical Lecturer in Paediatric Allergy at King’s College London and a Paediatric Allergy sub-specialty trainee doctor at the Evelina Children’s Hospital/Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals NHS Trust in London. Her research interests focus primarily on paediatric food allergy and she is currently working on completing a PhD which aims to investigate the natural history and health economic burden of food allergies in children over time including the identification of clinical factors and immunological markers predictive of food allergy resolution. Her research work also extends to clinical data collection for the LEAP Trio, EAT-On and BAT 2 studies as well as being a sub-investigator for various peanut immunotherapy commercial trials conducted at our dedicated paediatric allergy research unit.

Emma Amoscato is a former national features journalist and is the author of two books on allergies, both clinically reviewed and endorsed by Allergy UK.

Living With Allergies is a practical guide for parents and You, Me & Food Allergies is an illustrated non-fiction book for primary school children.

Emma has two children with multiple anaphylactic allergies and is passionate about supporting families with the accompanying anxiety many face. She is completing a masters in the psychology and neuroscience of mental health at KCL and is the founder of SMILE, a new mental health platform for people managing long-term health conditions.

Current position- I am currently a consultant Paediatrician in Basildon and Thurrock University Hospital NHS FOUNDATION TRUST over 14 years.

Training- I am trained in Manchester and London. I have a MSc in allergy from Imperial College London.

My area of interest—

1.     Cow’s milk protein allergy in infants with co-morbidities . We have introduced a combined milk allergy pathway in primary and secondary care  which is computer based diagnostic and management algorithm for CMPA . We are running a QI called Hypo-allergenic formula in infancy(HYFI)  to improve milk allergy management in our area.

2.     Component resolved diagnosis  in safe introduction of food in resource restricted settings.

3.     My interest in Prebiotic is mainly with PiPs trial where I was the local investigator in Basildon

Clinical commitments-I run a BSACI accredited secondary allergy service in Basildon.

Recent presentations in international conferences

IPEX Syndrome- 2 different presentations in siblings- Accepted and presented in British Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology conference in Telford in 2020.
Use of component resolved diagnosis(CRD) in home introduction of peanut & hazelnut in multiple nut sensitization-Experience of an English University Hospital. PAAM, Florence, Italy, Oct 2019
Computer based diagnosis and management algorithm for cow’s milk protein allergy (CMPA) in primary care- proof of concept study. Oral presentation European Academy of Allergy & Clinical Immunology International Congress,Lisbon,Portugal ,June 2019.
Hospital referrals for primary childhood immunisation-Experience of a busy district General Hospital- Accepted and presented in British Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology conference in Telford in 2018.
 
Use and misuse of amino-acid based formula-tale from a district general hospital. Accepted and presented in British Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology conference in Telford in 2018.

Lydia graduated from the University of Plymouth with BSc(Hons) Dietetics in 2013 and started her dietetic career at Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and moved quickly into a paediatrics where her passion for food allergy started. For the last 4 years she has worked at Oviva UK Ltd in the CMPA programme where she went onto win the Barry Kay Award in Allied Health at British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology(BSACI) 2019 for her work in NHS Grampian. More recently, she has transitioned into a part time partnerships and research role for Oviva. Lydia also joined AllergyUK in May 2021 as a Dietetic Advisor. Outside of work, Lydia is the secretary for the BDA Food Allergy Specialist Group (FASG) as well as recently completing her MSc in Paediatric Dietetics. Her research dissertation title was ‘dietitians perception of the benefits and limitations of using telehealth for the management of infants with non-IgE mediated cow’s milk protein allergy’.

Andrea Moreno is the Dietetic Lead for Allergy in the Merseyside area, a role that involves a main caseload within the Tertiary Allergy Service in Alder Hey, whilst closely working with the Community Dieticians providing them with support and supervision. She is very experienced in dealing with infants suffering with CMPA, as her previous role involved a mixture of outpatient clinics (both general paediatrics and allergy/gastroenterology) and on the paediatric ward of a general hospital.

Laura is an experienced clinical nurse specialist for children & young people with asthma. She has now held several roles involving establishing new services, largely in diverse and deprived areas. Laura’s passion lies in accessible information and education to empower her children and their grown-ups. Laura is also a published children's’ author and is about to go to press with her second book - a series of children’s books all about asthma!

Julie is a Dermatology Lecturer Practitioner; her background is 30 years as a dermatology clinical nurse specialist, in both primary and secondary care, previously sister and clinical nurse specialist (liaison nurse) in the Oxford Dermatology Department. Dermatology Education Partnership Ltd focuses on dermatology educational projects and training courses. Julie works for skin support groups, including the National Eczema Society complex helpline. Julie is a health care writer and publishes widely in health care journals; she is past editor of the BDNG Journal, Dermatological Nursing. She is special adviser to the APPGS, PCDS committee member and works on national projects. She works clinically in an NHS primary care service in South Birmingham and SkinHealthUK in skin cancer detection clinics in Maidenhead and Oxford. Julie is passionate about improving care for people with skin conditions through developing educational initiatives for both healthcare professionals and patients throughout the UK.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a child nurse and health visitor by background  and having worked in the NHS for 20 years an interest in atopic disease arose mainly from the health visiting role. Through an understanding of what a pivotal role health visitors and midwives have in the management of a range of atopic conditions in infants pilot studies allowed for an exploration of need. This was followed up by a Masters in public health looking at managing dry skin in infants led to becoming involved in researching allergies within infants.

Biana Parau is a registered dietitian based at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital. She has 17 years of experience and specialises in infant,
child and adolescent nutrition. Her special interest is in prenatal nutrition and her subspecialties are infant and toddler nutrition, paediatric gastroenterology, paediatric allergy, childhood obesity and ketogenic diets. Mrs Parau is passionate about helping children to develop a healthy relationship with food in order that they can meet their nutritional requirements and support their growth and development. She is able to provide expert advice to children and their families in a friendly manner.

Hannah is a specialist pregnancy and paediatric dietitian with a focus on milk allergy and vegan and plant-based pregnancy and early years. With experience working in the NHS, she established her own business, bump2baby nutrition in 2021, where she helps empower new mums and mums-to-be with evidence-based nutrition advice. She also serve as a media spokesperson, dispelling myths and educating the public on her specialist areas.

Caroline founded Food Allergy Aware Ltd in 2013 to enable the food service business to understand and embrace the Food Hypersensitive (FHS) customer. We develop solutions to give businesses the tools, knowledge and expertise to not only manage allergen processes and the labelling regulations, but to take it to the next level and offer a positive customer journey for the FHS diner. In 2019 Caroline won the SOFHT ‘Company of the Year Award’

Caroline and colleague Sally Trice worked together to develop the resources for the RSPH level 2 Food Allergen Management Training, and has developed bespoke inhouse workshops for her clients appropriate to their operation.

Caroline has written various articles for many industry publications including Garden Centre Forum,  and The Caterer, she has also spoken at various events on the topics of Food Allergen Awareness within the food service industry. https://foodallergyaware.co.uk/news-room/

Caroline is currently working with Jacqui McPeake on the Near Miss Reporting Campaign, they formed Hospitality Allergen Support UK, to highlight the importance of managing hazards and risks specifically related to allergen management, and how Near Miss reporting and root cause analysis can ensure a safety for the FHS customer, and prevent a fatality from occurring check out via HASUK.co.uk.

Dr Uday Kumar graduated from India, trained in London and south east of England. He has a postgraduate diploma in allergy medicine from Southampton University and has been working as paediatric allergy consultant since 2015. Dr Uday Kumar is currently working at Epsom and St Helier Hospitals NHS Trust in South London.