UHasselt professor Tim Nawrot's research team has received the science award from AstraZeneca Foundation and the Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (FWO). An award of 25,000 euros for innovative scientific research that contributes to a healthier society. Tim Nawrot receives the award for his research within the Birth Cohort, in which ageing processes are investigated in the cells of already more than 2,000 newborns.
Older cells due to environmental factors
"Of course, I am very happy with this price", says Prof Dr Tim Nawrot of Hasselt University. "It is a recognition of our research team that has been working for years to identify the effects of environmental factors on our health. With the Limburg Birth Cohort, we have shown that the pregnancy period is the most sensitive period in life to environmental exposures.“
The Limburg Birth Cohort now numbers more than 2,000 newborns. At birth, researchers take umbilical cord blood and store the placenta in a biobank. On these samples, they then measure to what extent the baby came into contact with exposure to soot particles, endocrine disruptors but also essential trace elements such as iodine even before birth. "We know that substances the mother ingests through air or food during pregnancy have an impact on the foetus. We can see this e.g. in the telomeres, the protective ends of chromosomes. The length of those telomeres gives a picture of the ageing process at cell level", says Tim Nawrot. Within the study, Tim and his team found that there is already a difference in that telomere length between newborns. "Some babies' telomeres are longer than others, due to the impact of various environmental factors. We can imagine that when you are born with longer capsules on the chromosomes, you actually have a better buffer to withstand the changes during your lifetime."
Better visibility into evolution of diseases
Through the study within the Limburg Birth Cohort, researchers hope to better understand the origins and evolutions of diseases. Participating children and mothers will be asked to return at age four for a study within the cohort. "In this way, we find out to what extent environmental factors play a role on our health."
For example, Tim Nawrot's team already found that global warming poses new health risks to humans. For example, it appears that days with high temperatures cause an increase in the number of premature births. "It is possible that adaptation to higher temperatures occurs over generations for certain impacts, but we do not know how fast this will be. Our studies show that extreme meteorological influences also have an impact early in life." "In our Limburg birth cohort, we are investigating to what extent environmental factors play a role on our health.“
About AstraZeneca Foundation Award
Each year, AstraZeneca Foundation supports scientists conducting research in fields important to public health. An independent jury from the Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (FWO) and the Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS) designates the laureates
