Alumni and guests are invited to join the Cambridge Society of Australia (Victoria) and Professor Katie Allen for her talk on "Food, politics and other allergies".

Professor Katie Allen is a senior doctor at The Royal Children’s Hospital and a senior researcher at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute. She is also Director of the Population Health Theme and leader of the Gastro and Food Allergy Group at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute.

Katie’s research focuses on primary prevention and early immunological, genetic and epigenetic factors. Katie is also a Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Melbourne.

The number of children with a food allergy or food-related immune disorder has increased dramatically in the last 10 years. In fact, in 2011 the Murdoch Children's Research Institute found that as many as 10 per cent of 12-month-old infants have a clinically confirmed food allergy – one of the highest reported rates in the world.

Food allergies can be really uncomfortable and even life threatening. Another allergy that many adults suffer is to politics. Katie stood as the Liberal candidate for the Prahran District in last year’s election but, despite winning the highest number of first preference votes, was beaten by the Green’s candidate on preferences. She is currently seeking preselection for the Federal seat of Higgins.
In her talk Katie will discuss food allergies and politics and how they are related.