Title: Infectious origin of so called non-communicable diseases.
Abstract: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular, diabetes, chronic respiratory, and mental illnesses remain the leading causes of death and disability in adults worldwide. Yet, their origins often trace back to early life. Mounting evidence shows that infections during pregnancy, infancy, and childhood can trigger and/or accelerate processes implicated in the development of NCDs decades later through lasting effects on function and structure of target organs.
Biography: Paediatrician and epidemiologist, previously in ISGlobal, currently in Erasmus MC with a MCSA fellowship. I am developing a harmonized data resource on early life infections in the EU child cohort network and trying to advance research on this field. In my free time I am leading the Rhea mother-child cohort in Greece, cook and cycle around Netherlands.