What: “Why the Gut Microbiome is Critical to Children’s Health: Harnessing Microbiome Science to End Malnutrition” is a seminal discussion being held at the UN Science Summit to deepen awareness and action around microbiome science as a new tool in the fight against childhood malnutrition.
Why: Despite advances in child health, few therapeutic advances in malnutrition have occurred over the past 30 years. Growing research on the gut microbiome offers the promise of transformative new treatments.
Why now: The need continues to grow for new answers to address malnutrition, particularly in low- and middle-income countries:
-UNICEF reports that two-thirds of the world’s children – more than 400 million children – are not getting enough nutrients.
-There are lifelong implications, malnutrition robs them of their childhood and, in some cases, their lives, with malnutrition responsible for nearly half of all childhood deaths.
-The World Bank cites malnutrition as robbing global GNP by some USD$3.5 trillion in lost productivity and job growth.
Who: Open Biome, a pioneering nonprofit microbiome health organization, is hosting a discussion with leading scientists, funders and changemakers from across the globe; they are:
Julie Barrett O’Brien
Chief Executive Officer, OpenBiome
Dr. Majdi Osman
Chief Medical Officer, OpenBiome
Dr. Jeffrey I. Gordon
Dr. Robert J. Glaser Distinguished University Professor and Director of the Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology at Washington University in St. Louis
Dr. Billo Tall
Manager, Clinical Research, Institut Pasteur de Dakar, Senegal
Dr. Tahmeed Ahmed
Executive Director, icddr,b, Bangladesh
Dr. Vanessa Ridaura
Senior Program Officer, Microbiome Products, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Dr. Nigel Rollins
Medical Officer, WHO Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Aging
Hilina Belete
General Manager, Hilina Enriched Foods, Ethiopia
When: 2:00 - 4:00 p.m, September 25, 2024
Where: In person, Cure, 345 Park Ave South, NYC and online
Register here: https://ssunga79.sched.com/event/1jziU/why-the-gut-microbiome-is-critical-to-childrens-health-harnessing-microbiome-science-to-end-malnutrition
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What our panelists are saying:
Dr. Billo Tall: "Fighting malnutrition is essential to building healthy, sustainable communities. Every step we take in this direction is a step towards a future where every child has the chance to reach their full potential."
Dr. Jeffrey Gordon: “Developing and implementing microbiome-directed therapeutics for maternal and childhood undernutrition requires a great level of interdisciplinary thinking, inter-institutional cooperation and collaboration, and sustained long-term support. Early demonstration projects in a few select LMICs can provide examples of how such programs could/should be designed and executed.
These programs represent a means to study the mechanisms underlying, and to effectively treat, a variety of microbiome-associated diseases in various areas of the world including Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.”
Dr. Vanessa Ridaura: “Tremendous progress in addressing child health has been made over the last two decades, and focusing on nutrition can help us achieve more. Understanding the microbiome will be key to unlocking the next generation of solutions to fight child malnutrition — from tools to rebuild a child’s microbiome, to helping women improve their gut health before pregnancy. Working together, philanthropies, governments and researchers can accelerate the discovery of these tools and then putting them into action faster for children around the world.”
Julie Barrett O’Brien: “We are on the cusp of a paradigm shift in how we treat malnutrition but translating scientific research into action requires a broad range of disciplines. We need to move quickly from scientific proof to action. Our early work supports the need for new policies, funders and partners around microbiome therapeutics for malnutrition. Let’s make it so.”
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OpenBiome accelerates microbiome science and therapeutics to improve health for all. The nonprofit partners with leading researchers, clinicians and innovators to advance and ensure access to novel and affordable microbiome therapeutics. For more information:
openbiome.org