How a child’s simple request led to an extraordinary breakthrough in peanut allergy treatment

NOTRE DAME, Ind., Feb. 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Peanut allergies affect millions of Americans, causing reactions that range from itchy hives to life-threatening anaphylaxis—and there is still no true cure. But at the University of Notre Dame, one unexpected question helped spark a promising new approach that could change the future of allergy treatment.

In 2017, twelve-year-old Lauren Eglite attended a Notre Dame football game with her father, Erik, navigating the constant vigilance required by her severe peanut allergy. Her excitement grew when the stadium aired an NBC Fighting For story spotlighting the work of Notre Dame bioengineer Basar Bilgicer, whose research focuses on blocking peanut allergens from triggering dangerous immune system overreactions.

Lauren turned to her father—a pharmaceutical executive and Notre Dame business school alumnus—and asked whether this research might offer a way to get involved in solving a condition that had shaped her daily life since childhood.

That simple question would ultimately help change the trajectory of Bilgicer’s work. Nearly a decade later, Artin Immunology—a company co-founded by Bilgicer and Erik Eglite—is working to translate Bilgicer’s patented inhibitor technology into a drug designed to protect patients from accidental exposure and fundamentally reshape how allergies are treated.

Unlike current therapies, which focus on managing symptoms after an allergic reaction has already begun, this approach aims to prevent immune overreactions altogether. Proof-of-concept studies in humanized mice have already shown success, and planning for clinical trials is underway. Artin’s goal is to bring a market-ready treatment as early as the end of the decade.

If approved, the implications extend far beyond peanut allergies. The same inhibitor platform could potentially be adapted to address other common allergens, including shellfish, penicillin, and even asthma-related triggers—offering new hope to millions of patients and families living with chronic allergic disease.

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SOURCE University of Notre Dame