Impact of maternal nutritional status and microbiota on child anthropometric and metabolic development

Both overnutrition and undernutrition shape the capacities of the body to process food (double burden of malnutrition), and are thus important determinants of metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions including high blood sugar or excess body fat, and diet-related diseases such as type 2 diabetes or heart diseases.

The first 1000-years of life (from conception to second birthday) are considered a key period of life where the metabolic capacities are adjusted.

We hypothesize that during this period, exposures such as the nutritional and metabolic status of the pregnant mother, her gut and vaginal microbiota, the child’s gut microbiota and other clinical parameters linked to pregnancy, delivery and early life, have an impact on how the metabolism develops.

The objective of the proposed research is to study the contribution of prenatal/early life exposures on the anthropometric and metabolic development of the child, and whether these effects could be mediated by epigenetic changes. For this, I will spend 24 months in the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, for the outgoing phase (Prof.

Pascale Vonaesch) followed by a returning phase of 12 months in FISABIO, Spain (Dr. Pilar Francino).

This collaboration gives me the unique opportunity to work on samples and data from two birth cohorts of under-, normally and over-nourished pregnant mothers and their offspring, both in a low and a high-income country (Lao PDR and Spain).

I will bring my expertise in epidemiology and clinical research, as well as specific knowledge and skills in analysing vaginal microbiota data, to the host and associated partner.

In return, I will dig into new concepts and acquire advanced skills in genomics (from bench work to bioinformatics), community analysis, epigenetics, nutrition-related diseases, as well as transferable and complementary skills, in order to enhance my career’s perspectives. This interdisciplinary research will generate new insights in both basic science and public health.