About me
Post-doc
Research description
When parents are told that their child has a food allergy, one of the first questions that they ask is, ‘Will s/he grow out of it?’ Children and their families are often concerned, confused and overwhelmed.
My current research focus is food allergy and anaphylaxis, the most severe and potentially fatal food allergic reaction. At present, I am supported by the fellowship, ‘Better diagnosis and new treatments to prevent death by anaphylaxis (allergic shock) – Epidemiology and the clinical perspective fellowship,’ received from the Karin and Sten Mörtstedt Foundation to the Karolinska Institute’s Centre for Allergy.
As a nutritionist, I am interested in the progression, prognosis and prediction of food allergy, which I am investigating using data from BAMSE, Barn Allergi Miljö Stockholm Epidemiologi Projektet (Children, Allergy and Environment in Stockholm: An Epidemiological Study). I am also involved in FoodHE, a series of case-control studies of children, youth and adults with objectively diagnosed allergies to cow’s milk, hen’s egg and/or wheat, and age- and sex-matched controls, in which we examined the associations between food allergy and household economic costs and quality of life. Other food allergy-related research interests include better understanding how children cope with their food allergies, including risk taking, possession and use of adrenaline autoinjectors (the only known treatment for anaphylaxis), as well as furthering knowledge on prevention of food allergies, and maintenance of tolerance following successful oral food challenges.
I have also studied asthma, another allergic disease, as both an exposure and an outcome, in association with diet and activity, and puberty and growth. This work was conducted using Canadian data (from the Study of Allergy, Genes and the Environment) and Swedish data (BAMSE, and TCHAD – Twin Study of Child and Adolescent Development).
Education
Post-Doctoral Fellow 2014-present Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet Stockholm, Sweden
Post-Doctoral Fellow 2012-14 Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet Stockholm, Sweden
PhD 2011 Department of Applied Health Sciences, University of Manitoba Winnipeg, Canada
Master of Science 2007 Department of Human Nutritional Sciences, University of Manitoba Winnipeg, Canada Bachelor of Science 2005 Department of Human Nutritional Sciences, University of Manitoba Winnipeg, Canada
Ecole Normale Cantonale I 1993-94 Fribourg, Switzerland
Academic honours, awards and prizes
Select grants
Better diagnosis and new treatments to prevent death by anaphylaxis (allergic shock) – Epidemiology and the clinical perspective fellowship. Donation by Karin and Sten Mörtstedt to the Karolinska Institutet’s Centre for Allergy