Preventing food allergy by strengthening babies' skin barrier
SEAL (Stopping Atopic dermatitis and ALlergy) Study: Prevent allergy by enhancing the skin barrier
See if giving a trilipid emollient plus proactive topical steroid treatment to infants with very early dry skin or eczema can lower their chance of developing food allergies.
Quick facts
| Grant type | U01 cooperative agreement |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Harvard University D/b/a Harvard School of Public Health NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11392091 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If your baby develops dry skin or eczema within the first 10 weeks of life, researchers will invite you to join a randomized trial that compares proactive skin care to usual reactive care. Babies (about 750 total) will be randomly assigned 1:1 to receive scheduled trilipid emollients plus proactive low-dose topical steroids or to receive standard reactive treatment when flares occur. The team will follow participants over time to track eczema severity, duration, and whether food allergies develop. The goal is to reduce skin-driven allergen sensitization by improving the skin barrier early in life.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are infants who show very early dry skin or eczema within the first 10 weeks of life and are otherwise eligible for a pediatric clinical trial.
Not a fit: Infants without early dry skin or eczema, or those who already have diagnosed food allergies, are unlikely to benefit from this prevention approach.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this approach could reduce the number of young children who develop food allergies by preventing skin-based sensitization.
How similar studies have performed: Previous trials like LEAP and EAT showed early oral exposure can prevent peanut allergy and other work links eczema to allergy risk, while prior emollient-only prevention trials had mixed results, so this combined proactive approach is relatively novel.
Where this research is happening
Boston, United States
- Harvard University D/b/a Harvard School of Public Health — Boston, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Nadeau, Kari C. — Harvard University D/b/a Harvard School of Public Health
- Study coordinator: Nadeau, Kari C.
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 below.