Food Immuno-Allergy Unit (UIAA) is part of the department of Human Nutrition of the INRA. Attached administratively to the research INRA Jouy-en-Josas center, the Unit has been established in 1991 within the CEA Saclay, in the Pharmacology and Immunoanalysis Unit (SPI) of the Frédéric Joliot Institute.

​ Human resources Romy FISCHER, Researcher Stéphane HAZEBROUCK, Researcher Naima CORTEZ-PEREZ, Researcher Hervé BERNARD, Researcher Blanche GUILLON, Research engineer Sandrine AH-LEUNG, Assistant engineer Laetitia PRZYBYLSKI-NICAISE, Technician Mohanarangane COUNARADJOU, Technician Stéphane NANO, Technician

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An increase in food allergies

Food allergy is a major public health concern since its frequency and the severity of its symptoms have constantly increased during the past decades. This evolution suggests that our way of life affects the early interactions occurring between the host, its environment and its diet. In this context, the leading objective of UIAA is to provide a strategy for the assessment and the management of the food allergy risk for consumers. We are thus aiming to analyse the impact of different factors and the influence of their interactions in the development of food allergy. It includes i) the role of the food allergen structure, the food matrices and their modification induced by technological processes and ii) the role of the environmental conditions (route and time window of exposure, gut microbiota).

The unit is working on three themes:

The main methods used by the unit are biochemistry and molecular biology; production and characterization of polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies; in-house development of immunoenzymatic assays; in vitro effector cell degranulation assay; in vivo murine models (conventional and germ-free mice); analysis of humoral and cellular responses.

Collaborations with french and european clinical teams.

French academic laboratories : CEA/SPI-LERI et LEMM, Unités INRA (Equipes Anaxem, Amipem, GME et ProbiHote de l’Unité Micalis, Jouy-en-Josas ; Equipe BIA-Allergie, Nantes), Inserm (Centre de recherche en Epidémiologie et Santé des Populations, UMR-S 1018, Epidémiologie du diabète, de l'obésité et des maladies rénales : approche "vie entière", Blandine de Lauzon), Inserm-Université de Nice (EA 6302 "Tolérance Immunitaire", Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis).

European institutes and universities: University of Manchester (Pr Clare Mills), Institute of Food Research (BBSRC-IFR, Norwich, Alan Mackie), University of Wageningen (Pr Harry Wichers), University of Vienna (Pr Sabine Baumgartner BOKU, Center for Analytical Chemistry).