Natasha Ednan-Laperouse's Parents Launch £10 Million Allergy Prize 10 Years After Her Death
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Jun 1
Natasha Ednan-Laperouse's Parents Launch £10 Million Allergy Prize 10 Years After Her Death
12 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Jun 1
£10 million will be offered through Natasha's Prize, a new global fund that invites scientists to develop ways to prevent food allergies rather than just treat them.
The initiative was launched by Tanya and Nadim Ednan-Laperouse, whose 15-year-old daughter Natasha died in 2016 after eating a Pret A Manger baguette containing undeclared sesame.
The foundation says the award is the largest UK fund yet for food-allergy research and will focus on the first 1,000 days from conception, which it sees as the key window for prevention.
Applications are open worldwide, with shortlisted researchers to work collaboratively before the foundation chooses which concepts to fund on June 1, 2027.
The prize extends the family's campaign after Natasha's death, which already helped secure stricter ingredient and allergy labelling rules for food packed on site and sold directly.
If early peanut introduction slashed allergy risk, what next breakthrough could this £10 million prize uncover for preventing allergies from birth?
Can AI and environmental science truly pinpoint the root cause of the food allergy epidemic and finally reverse the trend?
Preventing Food Allergies Before They Start: Inside the £10 Million Natasha's Prize and Its Impact on Policy and Research
Overview
Natasha's Foundation launched Natasha's Prize in 2026 as a landmark £10 million global research initiative, aiming to prevent food allergies before they begin. The prize focuses on the first 1,000 days of a child's life, with the belief that stopping allergies from birth can give children a completely different life. Motivated by Natasha's parents' desire to use the best science to prevent other families from experiencing heartbreak, Natasha's Prize stands as the largest UK fund ever dedicated to food allergy prevention, encouraging global collaboration and innovative solutions to transform the future of allergy care.