Thomas Platts-Mills, MD
Thomas Platts-Mills, MD, emeritus professor of medicine in the Department of Medicine’s Asthma, Allergy and Immunology Division, talked with The Scientist about his discovery of alpha-gal syndrome, which causes a red-meat allergy.
In the early 2000s, Dr. Platts-Mills, an allergist and immunologist, began seeing a few patients at his allergy clinic who reported a surprising new symptom: a sudden allergic reaction to red meat. He recalled being skeptical. “It doesn’t make sense,” said Dr. Platts-Mills, adding, “People don’t become allergic to red meat in the middle of their life.”
Around that time, oncologists came to him for help figuring out a strange allergy to a cancer drug. Little did he know, this case would end up giving him important clues about the unusual allergy now called alpha-gal syndrome.
Read the full article at The Scientist.
Filed Under: Research