Food Allergy

Meeting Summary

September 2, 2008

The initial meeting of the NIAID Food Allergy Clinical Practice Guidelines Coordinating Committee was held in Bethesda, MD on September 2, 2008. Representatives from 30 of the 33 member organizations were in attendance. View the meeting agenda (PDF).

A summary of significant accomplishments during the meeting includes:

1. The Coordinating Committee formally approved the procedure that will be used to develop the guidelines. View the process summary.
2. The Coordinating Committee formally approved the conflict of interest and financial disclosure policy proposed by the NIAID. The Coordinating Committee representatives and Expert Panelists will be asked to voluntarily submit relevant financial interests to the NIAID via a standardized form. Real or perceived conflicts will be managed by the NIAID.
3. The Coordinating Committee formally approved a slate of Expert Panelists. The Coordinating Committee expects that 4-6 additional members will be approved in the next 6 weeks and will be added to the formal panel. See the Expert Panelists.
4. The NIAID announced that a contract will be awarded to the company that will perform the systematic literature review and prepare the state-of-the-science report. It is anticipated that this contract will be awarded by September 26, 2008.
5. The Coordinating Committee recommended that a Methods Subcommittee should be established to review the awarded contractor’s literature search strategy and evidence grading plan, as well as the Expert Panel’s plan for grading the strength of guideline recommendations. This sub-committee will be co-chaired by Dr. Stephanie Chang, representative of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and Dr. Wyatt Decker, representative of the American College of Emergency Physicians.
6. The Coordinating Committee discussed the topics and questions that should be addressed in the systematic literature review. Representatives agreed that the Expert Panelists and Coordinating Committee representatives will review the topic list and comment via email before October 1, 2008. Recommendations and a revised topic list, if necessary, will be forwarded by the NIAID to their Contractor.
7. The Coordinating Committee discussed the process for the public review and comment on the draft guidelines, as well as the plan for integration of relevant public comments into the draft guidelines. Input from the public comment period will be reviewed by a Coordinating Committee working group and will be referred either to Coordinating Committee, Expert Panel or the NIAID for action/response.
8. The Coordinating Committee discussed the need for a ~5 page Executive summary of the final guidelines, as well as the possible development of a 1-page reference guide tailored by each Coordinating Committee member organization to address the unique needs of their constituent health care providers.
9. The Coordinating Committee discussed the ability and willingness of each organization to endorse and/or disseminate the final Food Allergy Clinical Practice Guidelines. All of the non-federal organizations agreed to participate in the dissemination of the final guidelines, and support may or may not include formal endorsement, based on the by-laws of the individual organizations.

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