Researcher awarded university prize for childhood food allergy and infant feeding research

Murdoch Children’s Research Institute Dr Victoria Soriano has received a prize for her research into childhood food allergy and infant feeding guidelines.

Dr Soriano was awarded the University of Melbourne’s Chancellor’s Prize for Excellence for her PhD research on early life oral exposures as risk factors for food allergy and the impact of infant feeding guidelines.

The Chancellor’s Prize for Excellence is awarded to up to six PhD nominees who have completed a PhD thesis without revisions and have received international recognition for their contribution and impact on related research. Candidates also had to be nominated by their PhD supervisor to be eligible.

Dr Soriano’s PhD thesis, which was published in 2021 and accepted without revision, produced four different papers which featured in three academic journals including JAMA, Pediatrics, and the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

“I was surprised and grateful to be awarded this prize,” Dr Soriano said. “I am particularly thankful to my supervisors who supported me throughout my research.”

The award-winning research was supported by Murdoch Children’s Associate Professors Jen Koplin and Rachel Peters, and Professor Anne-Louise Ponsonby. University of Melbourne Professor Shyamali Dharmage also supported Dr Soriano’s research.

Dr Soriano is a research officer within the Murdoch Children’s Population Allergy group. The Population Allergy group is working towards preventing infants from developing food allergy, preventing adverse events in children with food allergies and aiding children to develop a tolerance to food allergy.

Dr Soriano and her team hope their research will improve the health and wellbeing of children and families living with food allergy.