Biography

Dr Isabel Skypala is a consultant allergy dietitian and clinical lead for food allergy in the asthma and allergy group. She is also an honorary senior lecturer at Imperial College.

Dr Skypala set up a dedicated food allergy clinic in 2010. It was intended as a one-stop shop to diagnose food allergies in patients whose history and previous tests have been inconclusive.

Food allergy can have a huge impact on the quality of life and it is vital that patients are seen in a timely manner and have access to all available tests in order to ensure they are not needlessly avoiding foods, or consuming potentially dangerous foods. 

In 2014, Dr Skypala became the first non-medical practitioner to be awarded the William Franklin award, by the British Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (BSACI), for her work in the clinical allergy field.

In 2022, Dr Skypala was awarded the Allied Health Professionals Recognition Award, by the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (AAAI), for her commitment to training and mentoring dietitians and healthcare professionals in adult food allergy. 

Areas of expertise

Dr Skypala's expertise includes: 

• Diagnosing and managing adult food allergy. As an international expert, she has extensive knowledge of allergy testing, including specialist molecular allergy tests and oral food challenge.
• Real, authoritative knowledge about food intolerance, including the types of conditions involved and how to diagnose a food intolerance.
• In-depth knowledge of nutrition and the dietary management of both food allergy and intolerance.

Research interests

Dr Skypala’s research interests include:

• Researching the prevalence, diagnosis and management of pollen-food syndrome (PFS), also known as oral allergy syndrome. PFS is the most common adult-onset food allergy suffered, with fruits and nuts being the usual triggers
• Establishing the link between food allergy and other medical conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome and eosinophilic oesophagitis.
• Collaborating with colleagues, most recently from the UK and Italy, Dr Skypala has published the first report of a new plant food allergy in the UK, called lipid transfer protein allergy.
• Evaluating the effectiveness of molecular food allergy tests.

Publications

Dr Skypala has written several books, book chapters and published many articles in peer-reviewed journals. She co-wrote and edited the book, Food Hypersensitivity, a well-respected and practical guide to the diagnosis and management of food allergy. Her most recent publications include:

1. Garside L, Boyle R, Meyer R, Skypala I, Allen H, Beattie P, et al. Food Allergy Test-Guided Dietary Advice for Children With Atopic Dermatitis: A Consensus Study. Pediatr Dermatol. 2024 Nov 11.
2. Al-Shaikhly T, Cox A, Nowak-Wegrzyn A, Cianferoni A, Katelaris C, Ebo DG, et al. An International Delphi Consensus on the Management of Pollen-Food-Allergy Syndrome: A Work Group Report of the AAAAI Adverse Reactions to Foods Committee. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2024 Nov 2:S2213-2198(24)01069-9.
3. Santos AF, Riggioni C, Agache I, Akdis CA, Akdis M, Alvarez-Perea A, et al. EAACI guidelines on the management of IgE-mediated food allergy. Allergy. 2024 Oct 30.
4. Santos AF, Riggioni C, Du Toit G, Skypala I. An algorithm for the diagnosis and management of IgE-mediated food allergy, 2024 update. Allergy. 2024 Sep 20.