AllerGen’s CHILD Study enables the microbiome research featured in “Say Hello to Your Little Friends” (Globe & Mail, June 8, 2015). The article profiles Dr. Brett Finlay, a microbiologist at The University of British Columbia, who uses CHILD Study data and biological samples to study the makeup of the infant microbiome and how variations in this internal ecosystem can affect the development of asthma later in life.
The CHILD Study involves more than 3,500 Canadian children and their families, carefully studying them until the children are at least five years old. It is one of the largest studies in the world to look in depth at how an individual’s genes and environmental exposures—such as diet, stress, antibiotic use, outdoor air pollution, dust and pets inside the home—impact health and wellbeing. Dr. Finlay’s research uses fecal samples collected from the babies’ diapers to understand how the gut microbiome may eventually affect the development of chronic diseases such as asthma.