The Neonatal Window of Opportunity, Early Priming for Life

Date: 12/05/2016, 14:00h to 12/07/2016, 15:00h

Location:
Schloss Herrenhausen / Herrenhausen Palace
Herrenhäuser Str. 5
30419 Hannover

Speaker: Rebecca Adkins (University of Miami, USA) *** Richard Blumberg (Harvard University, USA) *** Donna Faber (Columbia University Medical Center, USA) *** Johan Garssen (University of Utrecht, Netherlands) *** Peter Ghazal (The University of Edinburgh, Scotland) *** David Hackam (Johns Hopkins Children's Center Baltimore, USA) *** Gesine Hansen (Hannover Medical School, Germany) *** Mathias Hornef (Uniklinik RWTH Aachen, Germany) *** Arnaud Marchant (Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium) *** Benjamin Marsland (University Hospital of Lausanne, Switzerland) *** Kathy McCoy (University of Bern, Switzerland) *** John Penders (Maastricht University, Netherlands) *** Immo Prinz (Hannover Medical School, Germany) *** Harald Renz (Universitätsklinikum Gießen und Marburg (UKGM), Germany) *** Xin Sun (University of California, USA) *** Sina Bartfeld (University of Würzburg, Germany) *** Henrique Veiga-Fernandes (University of Lisbon, Portugal) *** Valérie Verhasselt (University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis, France) *** Erika von Mutius (Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Munich, Germany) *** Jeffrey Weiser (University of Pennsylvania, USA) *** Duane Wesemann (Harvard University, USA) *** Agnes Wold (University of Gothenburg, Sweden)

Further information: https://www.volkswagenstiftung.de/en/events/calendar-of-even...

Description: Environmental, nutritional and microbial exposure modulates important biological processes in our body including the maturation of our immune system. Recent epidemiological and experimental studies indicate that exogenous factors when encountered early in life can result in life long imprinting of immune and other processes and thereby predispose for disease resistance or susceptibility. This phenomenon is known as "window of opportunity" to describe the restricted time frame during early development during which the influence can take place. These findings thus shed light on a new interrelationship between early postnatal development and long term health and represent a possible paradigm shift in the understanding of the etiology of human diseases with major influence on future epidemiological studies and impact on the clinical management and care of neonates and young children.

To obtain more insight in the interaction between the environment and the host during this early time in life a cooperative effort between researchers of different disciplines and an extended view on epidemiological links between early exposure and disease development is needed overcoming the traditional view on the etiology of human diseases. The Herrenhausen Conference "The neonatal window of opportunity, early priming for life" aims at providing a first step in this direction in order to initiate inter-actions and cooperative initiatives and booster future research on factors that influence the priming period early in life and determine the susceptibility to disease in adult individuals.

Contact:
Mareike Rüßmann
VolkswagenStiftung
Kastanienallee 35
30519 Hannover
Phone: +49 (0)511 8381-335
Fax: +49 (0)511 8381-4335
ruessmann@volkswagenstiftung.de
https://www.volkswagenstiftung.de/

Organizer: VolkswagenStiftung

Program coordination: Prof. Mathias Hornef (Uniklinik RWTH Aachen, Germany) and Prof. Harald Renz (Universitätsklinikum Gießen und Marburg (UKGM), Germany)

Keywords: embryo research; research ethics; reproductive medicine; medical ethics; prenatal diagnosis