The role of environmental complexity in the protection and rehabilitation against early-life inflammation

Dr. Anne TM Konkle is an Assistant Professor in the Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences at the University of Ottawa since 2009. Her research focus is on better understanding the mother/infant dyad. Her work serves to characterize the impact of in utero/pregnancy and neonatal/ postpartum exposure to environmental perturbations (including stress, maternal infection, toxicants, noise, etc) on development of the brain in the offspring but also on plasticity of the maternal brain and related maternal behaviours. Given that offspring brain development and behaviour are uniquely tied in with maternal care – better understanding the plasticity of the maternal brain and how environmental factors may affect this plasticity is key to understanding interactions between direct and indirect environmental effects on offspring brain development. A multidisciplinary approach finds her investigating the social media representation of peripartum mental health in order to better understand the information typically available to the lay person and how this might impact their perceptions and behaviours; her ultimate goal being awareness and advocacy for mental health, toward a de-stigmatization of mental health, and providing better social support to individuals with peripartum mental health issues.

Dr. Kozeta Miliku completed her Medical Doctorate at the Medical University of Tirana, Albania. Following her medical degree, she received a doctoral degree in Clinical Epidemiology, in the Generation R study, at the Erasmus University Medical Centre in the Netherlands. Dr. Miliku’s postdoctoral research at the University of Manitoba and McMaster University focused on understanding the role of early life nutrition and genetics in the developmental origins of chronic disease, including cardiometabolic health and asthma.

Currently, she is an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto in the Department of Nutritional Science, an Adjunct Assistant Professor at McMaster University in the Department of Medicine and Chief Clinical Science Officer at the CHILD Cohort Study. Her research interest focuses on the field of developmental origins of health and disease, with a specific focus on cardiometabolic health. With dual expertise in medicine and epidemiology, Dr. Miliku uses a trans-disciplinary approach to bridge the traditional pillars of research. Her current projects are incorporated in birth cohorts and focus on the role of preconception nutrition. The ultimate goal is to prevent chronic disease through evidence-informed interventions during critical periods of development.

Dr. Christine Till is a Professor in Clinical Developmental Psychology at York University in Toronto, adjunct scientist to the Neurosciences and Mental Health Program at SickKids, and a clinical neuropsychologist. She is the 2019 recipient of the President’s Emerging Research Leadership Award. Her research interests include children’s environmental health and understanding both protective and risk factors for cognitive decline following insult to the developing brain. She is currently leading multi-disciplinary research teams on studies examining the effects of early-life exposure to fluoride and other neurotoxicants on maternal thyroid functioning and child neurodevelopment. Her team is involved in three different population-based cohorts to understand how environmental chemicals are implicated as underlying risk factors for emerging morbidities in childhood, including ADHD.