Pre- and early pregnancy nutritional status and related in-utero metabolic environment have significant implications for offspring health that persist throughout their lifespan. Specifically, maternal obesity and dietary quality in pregnancy are associated with increased risk for obesity, diabetes and adverse neurodevelopment in the offspring. Given the high and increasing rates of obesity in women of reproductive age, it is imperative to acknowledge the long-term effects posed on future generations. Furthermore, understanding the complex biological mechanisms of developmental programming in maternal obesity and pregnancy diet is primordial in designing effective intervention studies to halt these intergenerational effects.

In this webinar, we will discuss trends in maternal pre-pregnancy obesity and gestational diet and implications for childhood health, describe translational studies elucidating metabolic pathways which may underpin these programming effects, review the impact of some nutritional intervention studies in pregnancy and current limitations, and finally, examine opportunities to address knowledge gaps.

Moderator:

Dr. Shibani Ghosh | Principal Investigator of the Feed the Future Jordan Nutrition Innovation Lab and Research Associate Professor, Tufts University
Dr. Shibani Ghosh is a Research Associate Professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. She is the Associate Director for the Feed the Future Food Systems for Nutrition Innovation Lab and also the Principal Investigator of the Jordan Nutrition Innovation Lab. She has experience working in the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, and her research interests are in understanding the role of agriculture in improving nutrition while ensuring health, assessing the diet and non-diet determinants of nutritional status of infants and young children, and testing interventions aimed at improving maternal and infant nutrition and growth.

Speaker:

Dr. Carmen Monthé-Drèze | Neonatologist at the Newborn Intensive Care Unit, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Instructor at Harvard Medical School
Dr. Monthé-Drèze is an attending neonatologist in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Boston, MA) and an Instructor in Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. She also co-leads the Harvard Nutrition and Obesity Research Center (NORCH) Associate Member Council. In addition to caring for sick neonates in the NICU, Dr. Monthé-Drèze also does research on the effects of maternal pre/early pregnancy obesity on infant outcomes. She is pursuing clinical and translational research pertaining to the impact of pre-pregnancy obesity and prenatal dietary quality on child obesity, brain and neurodevelopment, with a focus on inflammatory mechanisms which may underpin these associations. Dr. Monthé-Drèze received her MD at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and completed her residency in Pediatrics and fellowship in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard combined programs.