AllergyPal wins innovation challenge to help children with allergies

​The Australian Digital Health Agency has announced five winners of the $50,000 Innovation Challenge championing digital health innovation to provide a healthier future for Australians through connected healthcare, including AllergyPal, a digital management platform for children with food allergy. 

Developed by an MCRI-based team AllergyPal was designed to support families in managing their child’s food allergy.

AllergyPal provides ready access to a child’s allergy plan, interactive guidance on how to manage allergic reactions in an emergency and a way for parents to leave individualised instructions on their preferred approach to allergen avoidance. 

The app also has a share function which allows parents to give other carers direct access to all of the features of AllergyPal when leaving their child with friends and family or in education and care settings. 

Anyone caring for a child can then use AllergyPal to help recognise the signs of an allergic reaction and seek appropriate help.

The platform was developed by Professor Mimi Tang in collaboration with Allergy and Anaphylaxis Australia and the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy.

MCRI also partnered with Curve Tomorrow, a technology company that is passionate about changing the direction of health, to develop the platform.

Professor Tang said her team is very proud to have been an inaugural winner of this award, and look forward to working with the ADHA. 

“We plan to extend the platform to reach more families and further develop AllergyPal to improve continuity of care and health outcomes for children with food allergy. We want parents to feel supported and have peace of mind that their child is kept safe at all times, especially when left in the care of others,” she said.

Steven Issa, Australian Digital Health Agency Chief Digital Officer, congratulated the winners, who were chosen following a competitive profess which attracted over 390 applicants. 

“It was difficult to determine the finalists with so many highly innovative ideas,” Mr Issa said. “It’s great to see so many working hard to develop innovative solutions to help ensure a sustainable and fair healthcare system.” 

The Agency will now collaborate closely with the successful applicants to assist them to co-design their solution and assist with plans for national scaling.

For more details see please visit the AllergyPal website, here.