Greetings Faculty, Students and Staff,
The Department of Physiology Seminar Series continues TODAY March 12th!
We are pleased to announce Dr. Qi Zhao, Professor of Epidemiology, in the Department of Preventative Medicine, and Vice-Chair of the Department of Medicine will present her seminar titled “Early Origins of Childhood Obesity: Insights from the CANDLE Study” today,
Thursday, March 12th form 3:30-5:00 PM in the Cancer Research Building Auditorium.
Please Join Us! Refreshments will be provided.
ABSTRACT:
The prevalence of childhood obesity in the U.S. has reached an alarming level, with approximately one in five children aged 2 to 19 classified as obese and another 16% as overweight. This growing public health crisis highlights the urgent need for novel biomarkers to predict and identify effective targets for the early prevention of childhood obesity. The Conditions Affecting Neurocognitive Development and Learning in Early Childhood (CANDLE) study, a pregnancy cohort based in Memphis, Tennessee, provides a unique opportunity to investigate the prenatal origins of childhood obesity. Within the CANDLE cohort, we have identified prenatal metabolic and nutritional risk factors, including maternal Obesity, excessive gestational weight gain, and gestational diabetes as well as dietary patterns such as high fast-food consumption, that are associated with accelerated childhood growth and increased obesity risk. Beyond traditional risk factors, we have also identified prenatal metabolomic profiles, placental transcriptomic signatures, and placental epigenomic alterations linked to adverse growth trajectories. Together, these findings deepen our understanding of the developmental origins of childhood obesity and highlight potential early-life biomarkers and intervention targets to inform prevention strategies beginning before birth.