CoFAR food allergy clinical center
Official title: Consortium for food allergy research clinical center CoFar
Funded at Boston Children's Hospital · NIH-11311285 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project tests whether giving helpful gut bacteria (microbiota transplantation), with or without tiny amounts of peanut, can make peanut allergy safer for teens.
Quick facts
| Grant type | U01 cooperative agreement |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Boston Children's Hospital NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project start | March 11, 2024 |
| Project end | February 28, 2031 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $380,000 |
| NIH project number | 5U01AI181964-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11311285 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are teenagers with a confirmed peanut allergy who meet the study's health criteria and can attend visits at a participating center.
✕Less likely to help
People without peanut allergy, those outside the trial age range, or individuals with medical conditions that make immunotherapy unsafe are unlikely to benefit from this study.
What this research studies
You would be joining a multi-site clinical network that runs trials and collects blood, stool, and other samples to study food allergy. The main trial planned here gives microbiota transplantation therapy (MTT) to teenagers with peanut allergy, sometimes combined with low-dose peanut oral immunotherapy, and monitors safety and allergic reactions over time. Lab teams will study immune responses, the gut microbiome, and metabolite changes to understand how the treatment might work and for whom. The network aims to recruit diverse participants and follow them at participating clinical centers across the consortium.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could reduce allergic reactions or increase tolerance to peanut in teens with peanut allergy.
How similar studies have gone: An earlier phase I trial in adults showed promising results, but applying microbiota transplantation with or without oral immunotherapy in teens is still experimental.
Where this research is happening
-
Boston Children's Hospital
Boston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Rachid, Rima — Boston Children's Hospital
- Study coordinator: Rachid, Rima
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.