2nd UK FASD Research Collaboration RESEARCH SEMINAR

Presentations

Chair: Penny Cook

13:30 Mike Suttie (Nuffield Department of Women’s and Reproductive Health, University of Oxford)

Identification of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) using image analysis

14:00 Lesley Smith (University of Hull) and Alan Price (University of Salford)

The first UK-funded research studies into FASD: updates from Hull and Salford

14:30 Miranda Eodanable (University of Edinburgh)

FASD diagnosis: value and stigma

15:00 Break

15.15 Cheryl McQuire (Population Health Sciences Institute, University of Bristol)

Mapping the landscape of prenatal alcohol prevention in the UK: a collaborative review

15:30 Havi Carel (Department of Philosophy, University of Bristol)

From deficit to enablement: relativising norms of success for children with FASD

16:00 Luisa Zuccolo (Population Health Sciences Institute, University of Bristol)

Communicating risks of drinking in pregnancy: cooling a heated debate’

16:00: panel discussion with the Bristol team

16.15 Break

*Keynote speaker*

Chair: Raja Mukherjee

16.30 Christina Chambers (University of California San Diego, USA)

Can Choline Ameliorate the Neurodevelopmental Effects of Prenatal Exposure to Alcohol?

17.30 Close

*Keynote speaker abstract and biography

16:30 Christina Chambers: Can Choline Ameliorate the Neurodevelopmental Effects of Prenatal Exposure to Alcohol?

Abstract

Choline is an essential micronutrient in the B vitamin family and is an important component of a healthy diet. Choline supports many metabolic functions, including those of the central nervous system. In recent years, there has been interest in the potential benefits of choline in moderating the deleterious effects of alcohol on the developing embryo or fetus. Relative to this hypothesis, a number of preclinical studies of choline status and choline supplementation have provided compelling evidence that choline may be beneficial in prevention or treatment of prenatal alcohol effects. To date a limited number of human studies have examined the effects of prenatal supplementation with choline in pregnant women with moderate to heavy alcohol exposure with some promising results. Similarly, a small number of studies have examined postnatal treatment in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, with some indications that treatment at a young age may be beneficial. Further work is required to identify the genetically susceptible subgroups in women and children, and to identify the most appropriate dose, timing and duration of supplementation in pregnancy or childhood.

Biography

Dr. Chambers is a professor of pediatrics at University of California, San Diego and Vice Chair of Clinical Research for the Department of Pediatrics at UCSD and Rady Children’s Hospital. She is a perinatal epidemiologist, whose research is focused on environmental exposures and pregnancy and child health outcomes, including birth defects. She co-directs the Center for Better Beginnings in the Department of Pediatrics at UCSD and is the Program Director of MotherToBabyCalifornia – a service providing evidence-based information on exposures during pregnancy and lactation to the public and health care providers. She is the founder and Program Director of Mommy’s Milk, a nationwide human milk biorepository for research. Furthermore, she is the director of the UCSD ACTRI Center for Life Course and Vulnerable Populations Research, which brings together a unique multidisciplinary group of researchers to address study questions across the lifespan and special populations.