Robert Boyle MB ChB, MRCP (Paed), PhD

Dr. Robert Boyle was appointed to Imperial College London as NIHR Clinical Lecturer in 2007, Clinical Senior Lecturer in 2009, Director of the Paediatric Research Unit in 2013, and Clinical Reader in 2017. Prior to this, he trained in Paediatric Allergy and Immunology at the Royal Children's Hospital and Melbourne University, Australia where his PhD investigated the mechanisms through which dietary interventions may prevent eczema.

Dr. Boyle works in a specialist Clinical Research Facility for Studies of Children and Young People, with a focus on the development of new ways of preventing, diagnosing, and treating inflammatory conditions that affect young people. His research focuses on the primary prevention of allergic diseases, and the need for more robust regulation of the formula industry.

Dr. Boyle's clinical trial work has explored several different approaches to preventing allergic diseases. Current studies are focussed on the possibility that eczema or food allergy could be prevented by improving infant skin care during the first months of life. He is leading food allergy assessment in the UK BEEP trial, updating an individual participant data meta-analysis of infant skin care studies for preventing allergic outcomes, and co-leading a feasibility study of a new approach to baby skincare for preventing eczema - studies which are all funded by the UK National Institute for Health Research.

Dr. Boyle's evidence syntheses for the UK Food Standards Agency influenced infant feeding guidance in the UK and internationally. Key findings were that early introduction of egg and peanut reduce the risk of allergy to these foods JAMA and that specific maternal dietary supplements during pregnancy and lactation may reduce the risk of allergic disease in young children PLOS Medicine. Full reports are on the Food Standards Agency website Timing of Allergenic Food Introduction, Hydrolysed Formula, and Other Dietary Exposures and Interventions.

Dr. Boyle's team also identified a lack of evidence for recommending hydrolyzed formula to prevent allergic disease in the Food Standards Agency project, which resulted in a BMJ publication and associated Committee of Toxicity statement. This led to a reversal of international recommendations to use hydrolyzed formula for allergy prevention, which had been made for several decades. The team subsequently described commercially-influenced overdiagnosis of cow's milk allergy in England, leading to excess use of specialized formula and clinical advice which may serve to undermine breastfeeding.