Who We Are
We work as collaborating academic centres in the field of allergology, asthma and dermatology, started in 2004 and until 2010 together with the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) and the organisation representing European patients with allergies and asthma (EFA). Created under the European Union Sixth Framework Programme for Research, Our network becomes a model project in Europe and addresses the growing public health concern of allergic diseases. Since 2010, We successfully expanded as a non-profit organization with its headquarters in Berlin and continues to grow.
What We Do
We bring together multidisciplinary research teams that address allergic diseases in their globality. Understanding common risk factors and mechanisms will contribute to improve treatment and quality of life for up to 150-200 million Europeans with allergies and asthma.
Our Vision
Our vision is further reduce the burden of allergic diseases globally by improving the health of citizens with allergic diseases; increasing the competitiveness and boosting the innovative capacity of health-related industries and businesses while addressing health issues including emerging allergies
Our Mission
Global Allergy and Asthma European Network e. V. was created in 2005 to combat fragmentation in the European research area, ensuring excellence in EU allergy and asthma research by bringing together institutions and researchers from across the EU. The network notably put in place centralized structures and a central office overseeing the multiple assets in knowledge in the different partners, enabling them to optimally synchronize their research efforts.
We are now recognized worldwide as a leading global network of collaborating academic centres in the field of allergy.
20 Years of Experience
Global Allergy and Asthma European Network e. V. originally started as an EU funded network of excellence in 2004. From the very beginning, our aim was to decrease the burden of allergy and asthma globally, and to create platforms for joint research, education and raising awareness. An essential aspect of the EU grant agreement was to maintain Global Allergy and Asthma European Network beyond the EU funding.
In 2008, with the support of the EU, the sustainability of our organisation was established by creating its own legal entity, a democratically ruled non-profit organization, registered under German law. German law was chosen after evaluation of the EU officer as it is one of the strictest actively overlooking the activities of non-profit organizations. Formally this entity is registered under the name Global Asthma and Allergy European Network e. V.. This means “registered society” to express the legal status. Thus the former EU Network of excellence has now been successfully transformed into a legal entity.
Research
Europe has produced some of the most important recent findings on allergy and asthma, but research tends to be fragmented in different institutes and even in different departments of the same organisation. Findings are not always shared nor rapidly translated into changes in practice. The Network of Excellence (NoE) exists to help integrate research activities in Europe and to establish the structure for a European Research Area of excellence in allergy and asthma that will endure.
The network aims to accelerate the application of research results into clinical practice, to meet the needs of the patients, and to help guide policy development. We also aim to promote training and greater integration between public and private sectors in this medical field..
Audit
The Quality Management (QM) Programs addresses the problem of differing standards of care for allergy and asthma patients in EU countries, aiming to harmonize clinical practice in order to provide the best possible patient care in every country, and to make research and clinical results more comparable. We provide two levels of quality criteria, performing audits, and offering practical support to improve services (e.g. via benchmarking).
With the goal of an integrated European health care system, standardization of care is key. This has led to guidelines dealing with diagnosis and therapy of common conditions, e.g. asthma. The QM Programs solves the problem of fragmented or differing standards of care for allergy and asthma patients in different countries. The QM programs is the first and only QM programs to use a set of quality criteria to certify allergy centres of excellence (other QM programs certify e.g. standards of care in cancer centres, or general standards in medical facilities).
Non-profit Status
Our non-profit status is consistently reevaluated by the German tax authorities who check the annual report of all activities as well as all finances.
In the Annual General Assembly, each Partner, Collaboration Center, and CORE Center is invited to participate in this yearly meeting legally required by the statutes with one representative who has voting rights. The same applies to CORE activities and meetings, wherein each centre or society is represented by one individual with voting rights for all activities.
We constantly aim to ensure transparency, inclusivity of all stakeholders and sharing ideas and initiatives in a friendly democratic approach which is acknowledged by all centres of the Network as a whole and all those participating in meetings and projects.
Our Board of Directors
Our Team
Our Partners
Global Allergy and Asthma Excellence Network is now the most widespread international network of collaborating academic centres in allergy and asthma research and also manages to constantly work towards its ongoing goal, by uniting all interested parties, partners and collaboration centres in decreasing the burden of allergies across the globe. We bring together multidisciplinary research teams that address allergic diseases in their globality.