Professor Helen Brough

Professor Brough is a Consultant in Paediatric Allergy and Clinical Immunology, a Professor at King’s College London, the Medical Advisor for NARF, and the founder of Children’s Allergy Doctors. Previously, she served as Head of Service at the Evelina London Children’s Allergy Service, St. Thomas’ Hospital from 2015 to 2023. She brings extensive experience in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of food allergy, food and inhalant immunotherapy, eczema, asthma, and eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders.

Professor Brough’s contributions to her field have earned her several prestigious awards, including Health Professional of the Year from Coeliac UK, the Barry Kay Award for Excellence in Paediatric Allergy Research from the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology, and the Distinguished Clinician Award from the American Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

My Experience and Approach to Care

As a Paediatric Allergy Specialist, the Founder of Children’s Allergy Doctors and a Professor at King’s College London, I have spent over two decades advancing allergy care. I have been a Consultant in Paediatric Allergy and Clinical Immunology Evelina London Children’s Allergy Service, one of the UK’s most prominent centres of excellence, and now serve as Medical Advisor to the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation (NARF).

Over the years, I have helped thousands of families through tailored treatment plans that bring relief, reassurance, and long-term improvement.

My passion for paediatric allergy stems from personal experience. My husband has severe asthma and hay fever, and my daughter was diagnosed with eczema as a baby. I understand the frustration, sleepless nights, and emotional toll these conditions bring. These experiences strengthened my commitment to early intervention, empowering families with expert guidance and support to manage allergies effectively and minimise their health impact.

Cutting-Edge Care Backed by Research

Research is central to the care I provide. I have spent years studying how food allergies develop and progress, with a particular focus on peanut allergy in young children. My PhD research at King’s College London explored the early immune responses that lead to allergic sensitisation and how environmental factors—like early environmental exposure to food allergens and skin barrier health—can influence allergy risk. These findings have contributed to preventative strategies, including early allergen introduction for at-risk children, which I now incorporate into clinical practice.

I have co-authored several landmark studies on the prevention of food allergies, including the Learning Early About Peanut (LEAP) and Enquiring About Tolerance (EAT) studies. These pivotal studies demonstrated that early introduction of peanut and egg into a child’s diet can significantly reduce the risk of developing these food allergies, shaping global guidelines on allergy prevention.

Building on this foundation, I led the Pronuts study, a multicentre European research project. The study found that children with a sesame seed or nut allergy can safely introduce an average of nine other nuts or sesame seed into their diet. Importantly, the study showed that this approach is associated with a low rate of new nut or seed allergies over a three-year period, offering families a more hopeful outlook for dietary expansion and allergy management.

Currently, I am co-leading the Stopping Eczema and Allergy (SEAL) study, an international multicentre research initiative across the US and UK. This study investigates how early interventions in children with eczema can prevent the development of food allergies, aiming to improve early prevention strategies for at-risk children.

Additionally, I served as an investigator on ground-breaking trials at Evelina London Children’s Hospital, including oral peanut immunotherapy and peanut patch desensitisation trials. These studies are advancing our understanding of how desensitisation treatments can reduce severe allergic reactions, offering safer long-term options for children with peanut allergies.

Because I stay actively engaged with the latest advancements, your child will benefit from cutting-edge treatments designed to reduce symptoms and risks. I also contribute to the development of international best practices, having co-authored the European Eczema guidelines and other publications.

For those interested, a full list of my published guidelines and research articles is available here.

Beyond research, I have held key leadership roles within the allergy and immunology community. I served as President of the Royal Society of Medicine Allergy and Immunology Section (2022–2024) and was Paediatric Chair for the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI, 2019–2022). These roles enabled me to guide research priorities and influence clinical practice across Europe and beyond, ensuring families benefit from the latest advancements in allergy care.

Achievements and Recognition

Helping families overcome these challenges has been my life’s mission. My dedication to being a paediatric allergy specialist has been recognised with several prestigious awards, including:

• Health Professional of the Year from Coeliac UK,
• The Barry Kay Award for Excellence in Paediatric Allergy Research from the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology, and
• The Distinguished Clinician Award from the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.

I regularly present my research at national and international conferences to ensure that best practices continue to evolve and improve. While these honours are gratifying, what truly drives me is seeing families feeling reassured, informed, and empowered to navigate their child’s allergies with confidence at Children’s Allergy Doctors.