Mechanisms of developmental programming

Extending heredity beyond the gene
We’re investigating how parental and early nutrition alters biological systems to influence health and reproductive fitness later in life.

Our vision is to leverage the collective knowledge of our multidisciplinary group to generate an integrated research program contributed to by all, which includes: identification of important research questions in the field; design of experiments to address these and the use of high-end equipment available at the CPC.

Our work seeks to understand the role of nutrition in influencing evolutionary strategies (life history) and developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD), bringing together methodological approaches of biology, nutritional physiology, behavioural psychology and biomedical sciences to identify molecular mechanisms of adaptive nutritional plasticity and subsequent risk of disease.  

Outcomes of this research will further our understanding of how nutritional conditions during critical developmental life stages influence life history traits and trade-offs, and are related to changes in risk of diet-related diseases later in life.

Project node leader

Associate Professor Kim Bell-Anderson
Visit Kim Bell-Anderson's profile

Project node leader