300 - Developing a Unified Repository for Food Allergy Research: Consortium for Food Allergy Research’s FoodSpace

Publication Number: 2290.300

Lawrence Lett, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Richton Park, IL, United States; Ruchi Gupta, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Shruti Sehgal, Northwestern University The Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, United States; Casey Rand, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Sai Nimmagadda, Northwestern University The Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, United States; Lucy A. Bilaver, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL USA, Chicago, IL, United States; Amal Assaad, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, United States; Leonard Bacharier, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, SD, United States; Juan C. Espinoza, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Sarah Chamseddine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States; Jennifer Dantzer, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States; Amy M.. Scurlock, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine, Little Rock, AR, United States; Sayantani Sindher, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States; Julie Wang, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States; Lars Dunaway, Rho, Inc., Raleigh, NC, United States; Caitlin Suddueth, Rho, Inc, Raleigh, NC, United States; Alkis Togias, DAIT/NIAID/NIH, Rockville, MD, United States; Robert Wood, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States

Background: Food allergy (FA) affects approximately 8% of children and 11% of adults, substantially impacting quality of life and healthcare utilization. Its etiology remains largely unknown and is shaped by complex interactions between genetic and environmental factors. Advancing FA research and treatment requires access to standardized, high-quality data and tools across diverse populations. Yet, the lack of a centralized platform to aggregate, review, and share FA research resources remains a critical barrier.

Objective: The Consortium for Food Allergy Research (CoFAR) is developing FoodSpace, a unified, publicly accessible repository designed to support standardization, harmonization, and sharing of data and research resources across studies and institutions.

Design/Methods: FoodSpace consists of two integrated components. The first is a structured repository that centralizes key study resources contributed by CoFAR investigators and partner institutions. A coordinated outreach across the CoFAR network engaged principal investigators, data managers, and study teams to identify studies, assess available materials, and prepare submissions for review and inclusion (Figure 1). The second component is a developing data commons built on the NIH ImmPort infrastructure, supporting ingestion and harmonization of CoFAR and non-CoFAR datasets according to NIH Common Data Elements. FoodSpace governance models, data dictionaries, and harmonization workflows are being developed with input from over 50 experts representing academia, clinical research industry, advocacy organizations, and the FDA.

Results: To date, 133 research resources have been submitted for review and potential inclusion in FoodSpace, representing contributions from 39 distinct FA studies across the CoFAR network and beyond. Submitted materials encompass a diverse range of study resources (Table 1). Approximately one-third of submissions originated from CoFAR Network studies, with additional contributions from NIAID-funded and other federally supported studies, as well as partner institutions conducting independent or site-specific investigations (Figure 2). This diversity underscores the collaborative reach of FoodSpace and its potential to serve as a unifying hub for standardized food allergy research resources.

Conclusion(s): The FoodSpace repository will launch publicly by the end of 2025, providing FA researchers with access to rigorously reviewed and standardized resources. By promoting transparency, harmonization, and reusability, CoFAR's FoodSpace will accelerate discovery and foster collaboration across the global food allergy research community.

FoodSpace Roadmap to Resource Collection
Figure 1. Overview of the FoodSpace resource collection and review process.

Table of FoodSpace Resource Types
Table 1. To date, 133 research resources have been submitted for review and potential inclusion in FoodSpace, representing contributions from 39 distinct FA studies. The submitted materials include 27 study protocols, 73 survey instruments, 26 SOPs, and additional material such as consent forms and data management tools. Resources origin across CoFAR studies are shown in Figure 2.

Study Distributions within FoodSpace
Figure 2. Source distribution of FoodSpace-submitted resources by contributing study.