Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD)

We study how early-life exposures and experiences shape lifelong health. Our current research is focused on the role of maternal nutrition, infant feeding and human milk composition in the development and prevention of asthma, allergies, obesity and diabetes.

Our team is transdisciplinary, combining expertise in molecular biology, epidemiology, statistics, nutrition and maternal-child health. We collaborate and use model systems, clinical cohorts, and administrative databases to study DOHaD in cells, animals and human populations,

Current projects include:
  • Breastfeeding and chronic disease risk in childhood (obesity, allergies, asthma)
  • Breastfeeding and chronic disease risk in adulthood
  • Human milk oligosaccharides and microbiota: maternal determinants and impact on infant gut microbiota and health
  • Impact of human-milk based fortifiers on gut microbiota and oxidative stress in premature infants
  • Developmental origins of responsiveness to behavioural vaccines: moderation of PAX effects by early-life exposures and biological factors in the Manitoba CHILD cohort
  • Immunomodulatory factors in breast milk on the development of allergic disease: translational research in pre-clinical models and the CHILD birth cohort
  • Stakeholder engagement to inform strategies for improving breastfeeding education in Manitoba schools
  • Prenatal exposure to non-nutritive sweeteners and cardiometabolic health: translational and mechanistic studies in the CHILD cohort and pre-clinical models

If you are interested in graduate or postgraduate training in the Azad Lab, please review this information.

Research and Funding Partners