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A MOTHER’S LOVE: FOOD ALLERGY TESTING and treatment
September 28, 2021
One mother's personal mission to protect her daughter from her near-fatal food allergies led her to create an evidence-based food allergy testing and treatment center for families.
Kimberley Yates’ daughter, Tessa almost died 4 times before she was 5 years old.
Milk spilled on her when she was a baby, sending her into anaphylactic shock. She was rushed to the emergency room each time she was exposed to dairy. Kimberley felt as if her family couldn’t safely leave their house. After years of living in fear, she was no longer willing to accept that avoidance was their only option.
In her quest to find answers for her daughter’s multiple life-threatening food allergies, Kimberley reached out to a researcher at Stanford University, Dr. Kari Nadeau in 2009. Together they pioneered a project that saw Kimberley, Dr. Nadeau, and other mission-driven parents in the food allergy community — including Julie Bitler and Debbie Chizever Taback — team up to create a world-renowned food allergy research program at Stanford.
In 2013, Kimberley's daughter, Tessa was the first patient to be successfully treated for multiple allergens simultaneously with Oral Immunotherapy (OIT) in a ground-breaking clinical trial.
Julie Bitler’s daughter Megan was next, and two of Debbie's children, Josh and Sam, participated in the initial clinical trials for multiple allergens and have been desensitized with OIT.
Their families' own successes, along with so many others, helped show the world how life-altering these treatments can be.
Above: Debbie's sons and Julie with daughter Megan. All children participated in the initial clinical trials for multiple allergens. At right: Kimberley with Dr. Kari Nadeau and daughter Tessa, who inspired Kimberley to begin her research.
The clinical trials inspired by a mother’s love looking for a solution, led to the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research at Stanford University to be established in 2014, bringing innovative science and transformative clinical trials to the field of food allergy.
With nearly a decade of experience at Stanford, supporting and advocating for food allergy families like her own, Kimberley envisioned creating access to specialized, evidence-based food allergy care to all families.
In 2018, Kimberley's vision became a reality when Latitude Food Allergy Care opened doors to their first clinic in Redwood City — the first private practice clinic dedicated to caring for families with food allergies.
And in 2019, Latitude formed a strategic alliance with UCSF, further increasing access to care for food allergy families.
“We appreciate that UCSF understands the significance of the unmet need for exceptional food allergy care and are grateful that they’ve chosen to partner with Latitude to address it,” Kimberley Yates, Latitude Founder and CEO, shared.
SMMC Crier chats with mom and co-founder of Latitude Allergy Care, Debbie Taback on spotting allergies in children and why they are growing their clinics in Marin.
Debbie Taback, Kimberley Yates and Julie Bitler
1. When is it time to test a baby/child for allergies?
If a baby shows signs of eczema or has a sibling with food allergies, a consultation with an allergist may provide confidence to move forward with early introduction of food allergies or could help to catch warning signs for food allergies. After the initial introductions of solids, if a child — or adult — develops a new symptom after eating a food, it can be important to consult an allergist. This is a great resource for how a child might describe a reaction to a food.
2. What are some common allergies that can develop in children? How do you spot them?
• While a person can be allergic to any food, the nine most common allergens are cow’s milk, egg, peanuts, wheat, soy, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, and sesame.
• 30% of patients are allergic to more than one food
• Although peanut gets a lot of attention, milk is actually the most prevalent childhood allergy.
• Shellfish is the #1 adult onset food allergy.
Here is our link about symptoms of a reaction and how we test for food allergies.
3. Science-based and designed by moms, tell us what can parents expect when they go to your practice?
Most families will begin with an initial call with one of our Patient Experience Specialists or Patient Care Coordinators to discuss where they are in general in their food allergy journey. We will also review insurance coverage and provide appointment options. As I mentioned, patient care at Latitude begins with ensuring that we have an up-to-date clear diagnosis. With a clear diagnosis in hand, the clinicians can discuss treatment options in detail. At every point along the way, our whole team also continues to be available for support including access to our on-staff nutritionist, a private facebook support group, and our popular free (and virtual) community event series. Our next event on October 26 will focus on Prevention of Food Allergies in Babies — We will provide some basic information and tips on early introduction and then Debbie and Julie will facilitate a group discussion.
It's also important to note that regardless of the personalized treatment decisions families make, Latitude is a long-term partner if issues arise and when it's time for updated testing.
4. Who are your clients?
We test and treat patients of all ages — this could include someone who is simply questioning whether a symptom they are having is related to a specific food, someone who has had a lifelong food allergy diagnosis, families navigating introducing possible allergens to their babies, and those seeking proactive treatment.
3. What do you do differently from other allergy testing services out there?
We don't want a patient to unnecessarily avoid foods. Our clinicians carefully evaluate testing and what is happening in the 'real world' when a patient eats something (intentionally or accidentally). This ensures that when families are making important decisions on what to avoid, assessing risk and evaluating treatment choices, they have as much information as possible regarding diagnosis. This may also include oral food challenges where a food is introduced in a carefully monitored setting in our clinic to potentially disprove an allergy. Ultimately, when we have a clear picture of persistent allergies, families can make informed decisions to potentially move forward with a treatment like OIT. Our clinics provide OIT simultaneously to up to 5 allergens. And our patient care model is uniquely designed to support patients through the months-long treatment process of OIT.
5. Where are your offices located and why are you growing in Marin?
Having worked with food allergy families from all over the Bay Area and across the country, we recognized for a long time that families in Marin County have had limited access to food allergy care. We are currently in Mill Valley with some in-person and telemedicine visits, but we are planning a San Rafael location with expanded availability very soon.
6. Your methods are science based and based on the studies you and your children are personally involved in. Tell us more about that.
Our treatment protocols are based on the incredible strides in research over the last decade from Stanford, and other top research institutions — including some of the earlier clinical trials that our own children participated in at Stanford. Over the last decade, researchers have made incredible strides in answering many of the questions needed to make significant impacts in food allergy families' lives like our own. At Latitude our clinical team and medical advisors evaluate each new research discovery to be able to provide our patients the most clinically impactful and sustainable treatments. We are hopeful that research will continue to drive forward to answer some of the unknown questions and help to make personalized food allergy treatment even more impactful and available to all patients.
About Latitude:
Today Latitude Food Allergy Care has 5 locations around the Bay Area, including in Marin County. Latitude is 100% focused on food allergy and offers comprehensive food allergy care including prevention, testing, and treatment, for babies, children, and adults.
Our founding team all bring their own personal connections and deep experiences in treating children with food allergies, to create a unique patient experience. Clinically led by Board-Certified Allergists, we have joined forces with world renowned researchers, clinicians, professionals and advisors who contribute their strong expertise in patient care, healthcare services and operations to Latitude.
This is a paid advertorial for SMMC.
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