MEETING CHANGE TO VIRTUAL: Optimizing Nutrition for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Scientific Organizers: Emily Smith, Anura Kurpad and Farhad Imam Date: October 21 - 24, 2020 Location: Virtual at your computer For important information on the coronavirus, please click hereFor more information on the virtual eSymposia event Click here Maternal undernutrition leads to adverse pregnancy outcomes and poor fetal growth. Together, maternal and child undernutrition are responsible for nearly half of all child deaths globally. The first 1,000 days, including fetal life and early infancy, are key periods of growth and organogenesis. Nutrient availability during this time influences growth, development, and metabolic programming which also has implications for health and disease in later infancy and childhood. Despite the clear biological importance of maternal and newborn nutrition, our understanding of the basic biology linking nutrition to healthy growth and development is poor. Furthermore, research into innovative approaches to improving maternal nutrition and enhancing nutrition for vulnerable infants and newborns is lacking. This Keystone Symposia conference brings together population health scientists, clinical trialists, placental and breastmilk biologists, and experts in modern molecular and metabolic methods to address the unique nutritional challenges of women and infants in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC)s. This conference will encourage interdisciplinary research in maternal/fetal, newborn, and early infant nutrition, an area which has been understudied. It will also connect global nutrition and molecular nutrition experts for future collaboration. Finally, this conference is part of the Keystone Symposia Global Health Series, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. |