Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital (JDCH) has been designated as a center of excellence by the Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE) to provide food allergy care, educational awareness, and clinical research.

This designation positions Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital as the only hospital in the country’s Southeast region as a leader in applying new evidence-based knowledge to the field of food allergies and treatment and in the company of 21 other centers of excellence throughout the United States that make up the FARE Clinical Network.

The Network aims to raise the quality of care for patients with food allergies, reduce discrepancies in care among healthcare providers, help make comprehensive care accessible and available for all patients with food allergies and enhance the ability of centers to perform late-stage clinical trials for food allergy.

The centers of excellence selected as part of the FARE Clinical Network are known to provide clinical and sub-specialty food allergy services of the highest quality and are considered leaders in applying new evidence-based knowledge.

Additionally, these centers meet optimal criteria for care, teaching and clinical research. FARE will initially fund the centers of excellence with an investment of over $2 million dollars annually for clinical trials.

“We are proud to partner with FARE to serve South Florida patients and their families with a nationally recognized comprehensive food allergy center that provides diagnosis, treatment, education and cutting edge research opportunities,” said Gary Kleiner, MD, Ph.D., director of Pediatric Immunology and Allergy at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital. “As a research center, patients will be provided with an opportunity to participate in groundbreaking research studies, such as oral desensitization for peanuts and other major food allergens with an ultimate goal of providing patients with a treatment.”

The FARE Clinical Network is a key component of FARE’s strategic research plan, which seeks to build a robust pipeline of new therapies. Members of the clinical network will be major sites for clinical research and contribute to the development of national food allergy patient registry and biorepositories. FARE will work to ensure these activities have appropriate financial support and encourage collaboration among centers. To see a list of Centers of Excellence, visit www.foodallergy.org/research/fare-clinical-network/centers-of-excellence.

“We need to push for the development of drugs and other therapies to prevent life-threatening food allergy reactions, while ensuring that children and adults with food allergy receive the best care possible,” said James R. Baker, Jr., MD, CEO and chief medical officer of FARE. “To that end, FARE will direct the Clinical Network centers of excellence across the country to a common goal of ensuring that patients with food allergies have access to state-of-the-art diagnosis, treatments and research. We will continue to expand the number of centers to provide access to more patients.

About Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital

In 1992, Joe DiMaggio himself helped Memorial Healthcare System celebrate the opening of the first Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital. Today’s 224-bed hospital opened in 2011 and offers a safe, compassionate and nurturing environment for young patients and their families. With more than 600 board-certified physicians on staff, the hospital’s broad range of pediatric specialties includes: Heart Institute, Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders, Cleft and Craniofacial Center, Cystic Fibrosis and Pulmonary Center, Emergency Department and Trauma Center, Endocrinology, General and Thoracic Surgery, Orthopedics, Pediatric Nephrology and Hypertension Program; Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Wasie Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, [U18] Sports Medicine, Outpatient Services and Inpatient/Outpatient Rehabilitation Program.

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