News and Announcements

John Colombo - a BNCD researcher - published an article this summer in the journal Child Development documenting that mothers with higher levels of DHA have babies who show more advanced cognitive function through the second year. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is an essential omega-3 fatty acid that affects brain and eye development. It is provided to fetuses from their mothers and accumulates in the brain primarily during the third trimester of pregnancy. DHA levels can be strongly affected by the mother's diet.

Colombo has long been involved in studies of infant cognition. He and Carlson (professor of nutrition at KU Medical Center) teamed up to evaluate the effects of DHA. The results of their work in 2001 helped convince Ross Products and Mead Johnson Nutritionals to add nutritional compounds to their Similac and Enfamil brand formulas.

In a new study funded by the National Institutes of Health (R01 - HD045430), John Colombo and Nelly Zavaleta will collaborate as part of a grant awarded to Johns Hopkins University (PI: Laura Caulfield) to investigate the effects of zinc supplements on infant cognitive development.