Vlieg & Melse Dietitians

Gezond van Vlieg en Melse

Dr.Berber Vlieg-Boerstra graduated as a dietician in 1984. She has a long standing interest in food allergy. Since 1987, she has been working as a dietician in private practice in the field of food allergy. Because of her increasing interest in research, and challenged by many unanswered questions in the field of food allergy, in 2002, she completed a post graduate course in methodology and statistics at the Dutch Institute for Allied Health.

Her scientific career started in 2001 at the Beatrix Children’s Hospital of the University Medical Centre Groningen, where she has been working on a doctorate thesis on double-blind, placebo-controlled food challenges in children. She recently completed her PhD and since then has been working as a Post Doc in Food allergy at the University Medial Centre Groningen.

Currently, she is continuing her research work on food challenges in children, and is also involved in research on (hypo)allergenic apple cultivars, quality of life in food allergy and threshold levels and eliciting doses of food allergens in both children and adults.

She participated in numerous national and international publications, book chapters, workshops and seminars for patients, dieticians, physicians, and other health care professionals. She has been a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Dutch National Foundation for Food Allergy, as well as a member of the Advisory Board of the Dutch Patient Organisation for Food Allergy (LIVO) for many years. She is also a member of the Dutch Academy for Allergy and Immunology, the European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunlogy, as well as the American Academy of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology.

For any inquiries, please contact Berber Vlieg:info@allergie-envoeding.nl or b.vlieg@bkk.umcg.nl

References
  • Jansen JJ, Kardinaal AF, Huijbers G, Vlieg-Boerstra BJ, Martens BP, Ockhuizen T. Prevalence of food allergy and intolerance in the adult Dutch population. J Allergy Clin Immunol 1994;93:446-56
  • Huijbers GB, Cohen AA, Janssen JJ, Kardinaal AF, Vlieg-Boerstra BJ, Martens BP. Masking foods for food challenge: practical aspects of masking foods for a double-blind, placebo-controlled food challenge. J Am Diet Assoc 1994;94:645-9.
  • Vlieg-Boerstra BJ, Bijleveld CM, van der Heide S, Beusekamp BJ, Wolt-Plompen SA, Kukler J, Brinkman J, Duiverman EJ, Dubois AEJ. Development and validation of challenge materials for double-blind, placebo-controlled food challenges in children. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2004;113:341-6.
  • Vlieg-Boerstra BJ, Dubois AEJ. Published recipes for double-blind, placebo-controlled food challenges. Allergy 2005;60:1212.
  • Vlieg-Boerstra BJ, van der Heide S, Oude Elberink JN, Kluin-Nelemans JC, Dubois AEJ. Mastocytosis and adverse reactions to biogenic amines and histamine-releasing foods: what is the evidence? Neth J Med 2005 ;63:244-9.
  • Vlieg-Boerstra BJ, van der Heide S, Bijleveld CMA, Kukler J, Duiverman EJ , Wolt-Plompen SAA, and Dubois AEJ. Dietary assessment in children adhering to a food allergen avoidance diet for allergy prevention. Eur J Clin Nutr 2006;60:1384-1390.
  • Asero R, Ballmer-Weber BK, Beyer K, Conti A, Dubakiene R, Fernandez-Rivas M et al. IgE-mediated food allergy diagnosis: Current status and new perspectives. Mol. Nutr. Food Res. 2007;51:135-47.
  • de Blok BM, Vlieg-Boerstra BJ, Oude Elberink JN, Duiverman EJ, DunnGalvin A, Hourihane JO, et al. A framework for measuring the social impact of food allergy across Europe: a EuroPrevall state of the art paper. Allergy 2007;62:733-7.
  • Brand PLP, Vlieg-Boerstra BJ, Dubois AEJ. Dietary prevention of allergic disease in children: are current recommendations really based on good evidence?. Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2007;18:475-9.
  • Vlieg-Boerstra BJ, van der Heide S, Bijleveld CMA , Kukler J, Duiverman EJ, Dubois AEJ. Placebo reactions in double-blind, placebo-controlled food challenges in children. Allergy 2007;62:905-12
  • Kootstra HS, Vlieg-Boerstra BJ, Dubois AEJ. Assessment of the reduced allergenic properties of the Santana apple. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2007;99:522-5.
  • Vlieg-Boerstra BJ, Dubois AEJ, van der Heide S, Bijleveld SMA, Wolt-Plompen SAA, Oude Elberink JNG, et al. Ready-to-use introduction schedules for first exposure to allergenic foods in children at home. Accepted.
  • Vlieg-Boerstra BJ , Duiverman EJ , van der Heide S, Bijleveld CMA , Kukler J, Dubois AEJ. Should children with a history of anaphylaxis to foods undergo challenge testing? Submitted
  • Flokstra-de Blok BMJ, DunnGalvin A, Vlieg-Boerstra BJ, Oude Elberink JNG, Duiverman EJ, Hourihane JO et al. Development and validation of a self-administered health-related quality of life questionnaire for food allergic children. Submitted