My research focuses on the intersection of nutritional epidemiology with maternal and child health. Over the past decade, my research has expanded the scientific understanding of how maternal diet and early-life exposures affect maternal and child health outcomes, particularly within the Developmental Origins of Health and Diseases (DOHaD) framework. My work has explored these intergenerational health effects extensively in Europe and in Asia, where research on early-life influences has been limited. My lab’s recent focus is on dietary quality and meal timing (chrono-nutrition), and their effects on metabolic diseases, particularly gestational diabetes. Throughout my career, I have leveraged advanced methodologies to generate high-impact findings in the field of maternal and child health and nutritional epidemiology. For example, I have applied longitudinal statistical techniques, individual participant data meta-analysis, and sophisticated body composition measurement methods in my research. More recently, I have employed network meta-analyses to understand the relative effects of different fasting methods and multivariate dimension reduction techniques to explore temporal dietary patterns in chrono-nutrition studies. Taken together, my research underscores the importance of optimized early-life exposure to support long-term metabolic health. These insights into diet, metabolism, and health not only benefit immediate mother-child health outcomes but may also have intergenerational implications. My research has broad public health implications and could eventually reduce healthcare burdens and enhance workforce productivity.
