Synopsis

The modern environment is associated with an increasing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Mounting evidence implicates environmental exposures, experienced early in life (including in utero), in the aetiology of many NCDs, though the cellular/molecular mechanism(s) underlying this elevated risk across the life course remain unclear. The Barwon Infant Study (BIS) is a population-derived birth cohort study (n = 1,074 infants) with antenatal recruitment, designed to facilitate a detailed mechanistic investigation of development within an epidemiological framework. The broad objectives are to investigate the role of specific environmental factors, gut microbiota, and epigenetic variation in early life development, and subsequent allergic, cardiovascular, respiratory and neurodevelopmental outcomes. Peter will provide an overview of the findings from BIS to date and discuss future directions.

Speaker

A/Prof Peter Vuillermin is a general paediatrician at the University Hospital Geelong, who trained at RCH, and now co-leads the Barwon Infant Study. He has an interest in the early life origins of immune dysregulation, and the role of the clinician-researcher in the –omics era.