PREVENTING DISEASE and CREATING A HEALTHY MICROBIOME FOR LIFE
Our gut contains a vast and complex ecosystem of bacteria, viruses and fungi. This balanced ecosystem constitutes about 90 percent of the cells in our body - human cells are a mere minority of all the cells in our body. This microbiome or microbiota is essential for our wellbeing.
Our microbiome at birth is heavily influenced by our mother’s microbiome. It is shaped further during the early years of life, particularly by diet. Every individual’s microbiome differs from another. Once fully shaped and formed our microbiome “fingerprint” is relatively stable for life.
Many modern diseases throughout life are thought to have their origins in the earliest years of life, and a disturbed microbiome. Recent evidence suggests that a mother’s microbiome during pregnancy may influence the newborn baby’s microbiome, contributing to its formative “fingerprint” and shape for life.
The single biggest risk for an individual to develop inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in life is to have a mother with IBD. While this may relate to an inherited genetic risk, it may also be heavily influenced by mother’s microbiome and diet. Infants born to mothers with IBD have an altered microbiome and already have low-grade inflammation in their gut, as evidenced by simple markers of inflammation in the stool.
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We believe that a healthy maternal diet during pregnancy will lead to an infant acquiring from their mother an improved microbiome and lower gut inflammation.
We also believe that some infant formulas may have a negative effect on the baby’s microbiome.
In the BABYCINO program we will be researching the effect of a pregnant mother’s diet on their baby’s microbiome and future risk of developing gut diseases.
We will also be researching the optimal supplemental diet for babies receiving formula feeds.
These studies will form the basis of dietary advice programs for pregnant women, with and without a variety of diseases. They will also lead to improved public health recommendations.
CLINICAL GROUP
​PROFESSOR MICHAEL KAMM
PROFESSOR OF
GASTROENTEROLOGY
The University of Melbourne,
St Vincent’s Hospital
ASSOC PROF EMILY WRIGHT
GASTROENTEROLOGIST
St Vincent’s Hospital, The University of Melbourne
DR. EMMA FLANAGAN
G​ASTROENTEROLOGIST
St Vincent's Hospital
​
ERIN RUSSELL
RESEARCH DIETITIAN
The University of Melbourne, St Vincent's Hospital
EMILY THOMPSON
RESEARCH DIETITIAN
The University of Melbourne, St Vincent's Hospital
DR. TANYA LEE
RESEARCH FELLOW
St Vincent’s Hospital
DR. AMY WILSON-O'BRIEN
CLINICAL SCIENTIST
The University of Melbourne,
St Vincent’s Hospital
ALYSON ROSS
RESEARCH NURSE
St Vincent’s Hospital
SCIENTIFIC GROUP
PROFESSOR MARK MORRISON
PROFESSOR OF MICROBIOLOGY
The Diamantina Institute, The University of Queensland
DR. JULIE DAVIES
RESEARCH FELLOW
St Vincent’s Institute
EVE GRAY
RESEARCH ASSISTANT
St Vincent’s Institute