ALLERGY SOCIETY OF SOUTH AFRICA (ALLSA) SUPPORTED RESEARCH IN ALLERGY AND ASTHMA

2026 UPDATE

History of ALLSA supported research

ALLSA was founded in 1988. The first ALLSA research grant was awarded in 1991 for a study titled ‘Cockroach Allergy in Durban.’ This article subsequently received international recognition.

To date ALLSA has supported more than 100 research projects in the fields of allergy and asthma – including laboratory and clinical research. Many of the research projects have led to local and international publications and masters and doctoral degrees, and many of the recipients of ALLSA research awards are now key opinion leaders in the field. A selection of the allergy research projects supported in the early years includes the characterisation and identification of South African grasses, sulphite preservatives, seafood allergy, and house dust mites in various geographical regions.

Rhinovirus and its relationship to asthma exacerbations received funding between 1997-2000 and resulted in publications in international journals. Other supported asthma research included asthma epidemiology and near-fatal asthma in children. Public health aspects of asthma and occupational allergy research gained importance in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Chronic urticaria was a focus area for research at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in 2001 and 2002. ALLSA supported research into the respiratory medical terms used by Xhosa speaking people, which subsequently culminated in a Ph.D. degree in Linguistics. More recently, research into the prevalence of IgE-mediated food allergy in South African children with atopic dermatitis was supported; this research resulted in the first PhD to be awarded in the field of clinical allergology in South Africa.

Other research involved the prevalence of alpha-gal allergy in the rural Eastern Cape, primary healthcare management guidelines for childhood atopic eczema, fatty acid and micronutrient intake and status in association with allergy among pregnant urban women, and allergen labelling in the management of children with food allergies in South Africa. These research projects resulted in one Ph.D. and three Master’s degrees. Recently funded research includes red meat allergy, oral food challenges, penicillin allergy, and angioedema.

The history and development of academic allergy in South Africa are reflected in the awards; in the early 1990s most of the awards went to researchers working at the University of Cape Town, then the academic hub of allergy in the country. Subsequently, other institutions also developed research areas in asthma and allergy and received funding from ALLSA.

Funding of ALLSA Research Awards

Originally the research awards were funded by unrestricted grants from the pharmaceutical industry. The awards bore the funders’ names: UCB, Glaxo, GlaxoSmithKline, AHN Pharma, Aspen, MSD, and Cipla. Over the years the ALLSA Excom invested wisely; since 2019 the research awards are funded entirely from the interest derived from these investments.

Recipients of 2025 ALLSA Research Awards

Heartiest congratulations to Dr Cathryn McDougall and Ms Diamante Ngoie, both working under the supervision of Professor Jonny Peter at the UCT Lung Institute, on being awarded ALLSA Research Grants for 2025! The research involves different aspects of angioedema. We wish them well in their research endeavours.