In the realm of precision medicine, the concept of health and disease integrates an individual’s genetic background, lifestyle and environmental exposure. The latter two factors significantly influence, regulate, and sometimes decisively imprint on gene expression. Given this understanding, it is inferred that certain developmental defects or diseases can originate very early, during the critical first 1000 first days from conception to age two, either during pregnancy or in the initial months after birth. Maternal immune activation (MIA), a systemic inflammatory response from a variety of maternal inflammatory factors, including metabolic disorders, nutritional deficits, infections, and psychosocial stress, taking place during pregnancy, results in compromised brain function and behavior in the exposed offspring. The precise mechanisms, the key stages in the mother-child continuum when this programming occurs, and the specific effectors and targets involved remain largely unknown. Decisive progress in this sensitive area could substantially benefit public health, both in high- and low-income countries, by introducing novel concepts, mechanisms, and biomarkers to support control strategies.
We propose a multidimensional program that builds on the unique expertise and infrastructure in genetics/epigenetics, microbiology, immunology, developmental biology, and neuroscience available at the Institut Pasteur Paris. Our aim is to establish a collaborative and inclusive initiative through collaborations and external partnerships with clinical scientists in France as well as within the Pasteur Network. The aim of this initiative is to create a network, from the France’s Île-de-France region to the international level, where researchers and physicians collaboratively address unmet diagnostic, preventive, and therapeutic needs based on deciphering physiological and pathophysiological mechanisms in mother-child health. This integrated approach “from bench to bedside and back” is essential for building a sustainable research model, and this spirit and modus operandi should be reflected in the governance of the program.
EVENTS
“Mechanics of Human Embryo Compaction” :
Seminar by Julie Firmin, M.D., Ph.D. Service de Biologie de la Reproduction / CECOS, Hôpital Cochin Port-Royal, APHP, Paris, France
Wednesday 25 September 2024, , 12:00 PM, Auditorium François Jacob
The speaker is invited by Laure Bally-Cuif and Philippe Sansonetti as part of joint seminars organized by the Department of Developmental and Stem Cells Biology and the Cross-disciplinary Research Program in Maternal and Child Health.
Maternal gut microbiota programs stem cell functions in the offspring: Seminaire by Prof. Parag Kundu, Laboratory for Microbiota-Host Interactions; Shanghai Institute of Immunity and Infection-CAS
The speaker is invited by Prof. Yasmine Belkaid (President of the Institut Pasteur Paris and Head of the Meta-Organism Unit) and Prof. Philippe Sansonetti (Scientific coordinator of the “Mother and Child Health” transversal program.
