Dr Chris Maloney

Can nutritional supplementation prevent a rise in the obesity epidemic?
I am currently investigating nutritional approaches to prevent the transmission of effects from an obese parent to the first and second generation thru the supplementation of micronutrients. My research is centred on the ‘fetal programming of adult diseases’ namely Obesity and Diabetes.

The question I am seeking to answer is “How is it that poor Maternal or Paternal nutrition during gestation can permanently alter the developing offspring so that it is predisposed to develop diabetes, obesity and other aspects of the metabolic syndrome”. This has lead me to investigate both, what is it in the diet that can program, and to study epigenetics, in particular DNA methylation as a means of permanently altering gene expression and hence metabolism.

More recently I have focused my research on Paternal Obesity, its effects on fetal programming and transgenerational inheritance.