The Nutrition in Early Life team conducts research investigating nutritional strategies for improved maternal and child health, including clinical trials, mechanistic studies and translatable research activities.
Our research includes identifying nutritional and environmental factors which influence the developing human immune system, particularly factors which predispose to allergic diseases (eczema, food allergy, hay fever and asthma in early childhood), as well as intervention studies for the prevention of allergic disease in childhood.
Team Highlights
- We have recruited more than 2000 mothers and babies in a current NHMRC funded large-scale multi-centre (Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne and Sydney) food allergy prevention study – known as the PrEggNut Study. This study is aiming to determine whether the risk of developing a food allergy can be reduced by a maternal diet rich in eggs and peanuts during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
- In 2023, we have completed the 1-year-old child follow-up and commenced the 5-year-old child follow-up of the NHMRC funded allergy prevention study, which recruited 652 mothers and their babies – known as the SYMBA Study. This study is aiming to determine whether the risk of a child developing any allergic diseases (including eczema, food allergy, asthma and hay fever) can be reduced by a maternal diet supplemented with prebiotics (a type of fibre) during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
Team leader
BSc BND PhD
Head, Early Life & Life-Course Health Program; Team Lead, Nutrition in Early Life
Team members (6)
Anita Jorgensen
National PrEggNut Study Coordinator
Emma Prescott
SYMBA Study Coordinator
Summer Walker
Research Assistant
Deborah Lawrence
Research Nurse
Michelle Thompson
Research Assistant
Kelly Faulkner
Research Nurse
Nutrition in Early Life projects
Featured projects
The PrEggNut Study – Maternal diet rich in eggs and peanuts to reduce food allergies: a randomised controlled trial
The SYMBA Study - Promoting Gut Health (SYMBiosis) for Allergy prevention