The first of this year’s Lilley Fellows shared his research and findings with his Upper School peers and teachers on Monday, Sept. 30, during a presentation in the Class of 1944 Chapel.
Rohan Dalal '25 spent several months exploring the impact of environmental factors on food allergies.
Rohan said that his interest in the topic was prompted by a "lethal anaphylaxis reaction" he experienced in November 2023—a scary and unfortunate occurrence that is "all too common for many Americans."
According to Food Allergy Research and Education, 1 in 10 adults and 1 in 13 children in the United States have food allergies, Rohan explained. "Many of these food allergies prove to be severe, as the rate of severe allergic reactions increased 377% between 2007 and 2016," he said. "Despite the increasing prevalence of food allergies, researchers have still been unable to pinpoint their exact cause.
With a plan to "shed light on potential causes for food allergies by identifying a correlation between food allergy prevalence and a variety of environmental factors," Rohan got to work.
During the research process, he first identified the environmental factors on which his study would focus by interviewing medical professionals. After that, Rohan "searched for datasets online and transformed them into a more suitable format for analysis" before "identifying an appropriate statistical procedure to establish potential correlations between environmental factors and food allergy prevalence."
To pick his environmental factors, Rohan interviewed Dr. Fadugba and Dr. Anesi of the University of Pennsylvania and Dr. Slade of GlaxoSmithKline. "Through these conversations, I gained an understanding of the biological mechanisms behind food allergies, which helped me understand how someone’s surroundings could affect their risk of developing food allergies."
A central theory to his research was the 'Hygiene Hypothesis,' which states that exposure to pathogens in one’s early life is a protective factor against food allergies because they make children’s immune systems stronger. "The Hygiene Hypothesis explains why core countries, such as the United States, have higher food allergy prevalence than periphery countries, which tend to have lower levels of sanitation and hygiene," he explained. "This theory allowed me to identify environmental factors that could potentially have a protective effect on food allergies."
As Rohan continued his research, he focused on pet ownership, farm prevalence, and the prevalence of wildfires as factors that may help one develop a stronger immune system. At the same time, he also examined air quality, hypothesizing that "increased air pollution would lead to increased food allergy prevalence because poor air quality does not necessarily contain the same types of protein which prime a learning response that strengthens the immune system." The final environmental factor he examined was pollen levels, which Rohan said did not have a strong negative or positive correlation.
Using data from scholarly sources and cleaning it up for statistical analysis, Rohan came to a series of conclusions. "The results of my study align with the Hygiene Hypothesis with the possible exception of pollen prevalence, as I found that higher pollen levels lead to higher levels of food allergy prevalence," he said. "The factor that contributed to food allergies the most was poor air quality, and the best protective factors against food allergies were wildfire and farm prevalence."
"Besides contributing to literature about food allergies and helping our understanding of what could potentially cause them, my research will help allocate resources to communities in geographic hotspots," he explained. "Residents in areas with high wildfire rates, for example, may require more access to allergists or food allergy preventative care programs. Additionally, my research can guide policymakers on how to stop the spread of food allergies. Now that I have found a correlation between air pollution and food allergies, we now know regulations around industrial emissions may curb the spread of food allergies."
Mr. Matt Memmo, Hon. was Rohan's fellowship advisor.
The three other Lilley Fellows will present their capstone projects in October, November, and December, respectively.
Established in 2018 by Mr. and Mrs. William Lilley III ’55, the Lilley Fellowship Fund awards research fellowships to students who exemplify academic curiosity, intellectual rigor, and scholarly passion. The Fellowship program is overseen by Director of Libraries Lorie Harding, and is modeled after Yale University's Scholars of the House program that ran from 1945-1995.