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Details

Role Team Leader / Principal Research Fellow
Research area Population Health
Associate Professor Rachel Peters is head of the epidemiology stream of the Population Allergy research group at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute. She leads a research program using large, longitudinal, population-based studies to understand the causes and consequences of childhood food allergy.

Associate Professor Peters is the principal investigator of the longitudinal HealthNuts study of food allergy, which has followed a cohort of over 5,000 children since infancy. HealthNuts is entering its fifth wave as participants turn 15 years of age, which aims to describe the natural history of food allergy and understand the adverse consequences of food allergy on children’s future health.

She also leads the first follow-up of the EarlyNuts study, which aims to understand the impact of changing infant feeding guidelines for food allergy prevention, on the prevalence of food allergy and other health outcomes. Associate Professor Peters is custodian of the SchoolNuts study which examined food allergy and other allergic diseases in 10-14 students. Together these cohorts total over 17,000 participants.

Collectively, her research program aims to identify risk factors and biomarkers of food allergy persistence and resolution, understand why adolescents are at high risk of recurrent and severe food-induced allergic reactions, quantify the adverse consequences of infant food allergy on children's future health, particularly lung and psychosocial health and measure the impact of food allergy prevention strategies on children’s health.

Associate Professor Peters also leads or co-leads several projects aiming to improve the diagnosis of food allergy, understand the immune mechanisms underpinning the natural resolution of food allergy, and collaborate on randomised control trials (RCTs) on the prevention and treatment of food allergy. She has published over 90 peer-reviewed journal articles, received over $10 million in research funding and is involved in updating international guidelines on the diagnosis of food allergy.
Associate Professor Rachel Peters is head of the epidemiology stream of the Population Allergy research group at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute. She leads a research program using large, longitudinal, population-based studies to understand...
Associate Professor Rachel Peters is head of the epidemiology stream of the Population Allergy research group at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute. She leads a research program using large, longitudinal, population-based studies to understand the causes and consequences of childhood food allergy.

Associate Professor Peters is the principal investigator of the longitudinal HealthNuts study of food allergy, which has followed a cohort of over 5,000 children since infancy. HealthNuts is entering its fifth wave as participants turn 15 years of age, which aims to describe the natural history of food allergy and understand the adverse consequences of food allergy on children’s future health.

She also leads the first follow-up of the EarlyNuts study, which aims to understand the impact of changing infant feeding guidelines for food allergy prevention, on the prevalence of food allergy and other health outcomes. Associate Professor Peters is custodian of the SchoolNuts study which examined food allergy and other allergic diseases in 10-14 students. Together these cohorts total over 17,000 participants.

Collectively, her research program aims to identify risk factors and biomarkers of food allergy persistence and resolution, understand why adolescents are at high risk of recurrent and severe food-induced allergic reactions, quantify the adverse consequences of infant food allergy on children's future health, particularly lung and psychosocial health and measure the impact of food allergy prevention strategies on children’s health.

Associate Professor Peters also leads or co-leads several projects aiming to improve the diagnosis of food allergy, understand the immune mechanisms underpinning the natural resolution of food allergy, and collaborate on randomised control trials (RCTs) on the prevention and treatment of food allergy. She has published over 90 peer-reviewed journal articles, received over $10 million in research funding and is involved in updating international guidelines on the diagnosis of food allergy.

Top Publications

  • Sasaki, M, Peters, RL, Koplin, JJ, Field, MJ, McWilliam, V, Sawyer, SM, Vuillermin, PJ, Pezic, A, Gurrin, LC, Douglass, JA, et al. Risk Factors for Food Allergy in Early Adolescence: The SchoolNuts Study.. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract 6(2) : 496 -505 2018
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  • Vermeulen, EM, Koplin, JJ, Dharmage, SC, Gurrin, LC, Peters, RL, McWilliam, V, Ponsonby, A-L, Dwyer, T, Lowe, AJ, Tang, MLK, et al. Food Allergy Is an Important Risk Factor for Childhood Asthma, Irrespective of Whether It Resolves.. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract 6(4) : 1336 -1341.e3 2018
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  • Peters, RL, Koplin, JJ, Allen, KJ, Lowe, AJ, Lodge, CJ, Tang, MLK, Wake, M, Ponsonby, A-L, Erbas, B, Abramson, MJ, et al. The Prevalence of Food Sensitization Appears Not to Have Changed between 2 Melbourne Cohorts of High-Risk Infants Recruited 15 Years Apart.. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract 6(2) : 440 -448.e2 2018
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  • Sasaki, M, Koplin, JJ, Dharmage, SC, Field, MJ, Sawyer, SM, McWilliam, V, Peters, RL, Gurrin, LC, Vuillermin, PJ, Douglass, J, et al. Prevalence of clinic-defined food allergy in early adolescence: The SchoolNuts study.. J Allergy Clin Immunol 141(1) : 391 -398.e4 2018
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  • Ashley, SE, Tan, H-TT, Peters, R, Allen, KJ, Vuillermin, P, Dharmage, SC, Tang, MLK, Koplin, J, Lowe, A, Ponsonby, A-L, et al. Genetic variation at the Th2 immune gene IL13 is associated with IgE-mediated paediatric food allergy.. Clin Exp Allergy 47(8) : 1032 -1037 2017
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