Thomas Platts-Mills is a doctor and immunologist who specialises in allergy research. He is best known for establishing the link between asthma and allergens in the home. In doing so, he brought greater understanding of the increase in the number of cases of chronic allergic asthma.
He discovered that the major allergen in chronic asthma is the dust mite, establishing the cause as inhalation of its faeces and developing a test for the allergen inside houses. He has also researched the allergic effects of pollen and domestic cats.
Thomas’s work has provided the basis for improved management of allergic asthma. He has published more than 500 research papers during his career and served as President of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. He is the first allergist to be elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.
Following the discovery that IgE antibodies specific for the oligosaccharide galactose alpha-1,3 galactose, were induced by tick bites, we found that the antibodies were strongly associated with two novel forms anaphylaxis. We have also found increasing evidence that patients with IgE to alpha-gal have an elevated risk of coronary artery disease (CAD). In 2018, our main NIH grant received a merit award from NIAID to expand the research on CAD. We are investigating whether particles of lipid carrying the alpha-gal epitope, e.g., LDL, could activate mast cells in the skin, the intestines and the heart.
