Dr. C’s Corner, 2012
I recently completed a lecture tour in Vietnam and Singapore during which I was speaking to health care professionals about the importance of maternal nutrition. I basically was asked to educate them on the nutrients that are important during pregnancy for the proper functioning of the baby’s brain. It was a very enlightening tour. First, it was Southeast Asia. Who wouldn’t want to do that trip? Second, it was my first foray into helping children in developing countries. It was a wonderful experience. I learned so much about the problems in Vietnam – for instance, the women do not want to eat when they are pregnant for fear the baby will grow too big for them to safely give birth…which is a real concern. I left the country wondering how we could possibly help in this situation and determined to continue working on the problem.
I was subsequently invited back to Singapore for a workshop to discuss with scientists from all over Southeast Asia how best to go about insuring that mothers and babies are getting the proper nutrition. I will travel to the Philippines in a few weeks to continue that work.
In other international news, we have secured funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to start work in The Gambia. We will be doing some electrophysiological work with the children there. EGI, Inc. has even designed a solar-powered electrophysiology system for us to use! We are very excited about this work. There are long periods in The Gambia where pregnant women do not have great amounts of food. In this study, we will compare the babies born to women who had plenty of food during pregnancy to those who did not.
So, we have a lot going on here at home and in other countries. We just finished three studies and are embarking on three more. We love meeting the people in the community and feel that we are establishing lasting connections. Thank you for all you have done for our research and for science. I hope you are learning as much as I am. Look inside for results that have been coming in on the work we have completed here with your help!
Cheers,
Dr. C