A chronology of the “fetal origins of disease” research theme at OHSU

1959

Herbert Griswold, M.D., created Heart Research Laboratory to be housed in the not yet completed Medical Research Building.

1961

James Metcalfe, M.D., hired from Harvard Medical School as first director of the Heart Research Laboratory. The Heart Research Laboratory studied pregnancy and fetal development long before the early origins of disease was discovered.

1988   

David Barker, M.D., Ph.D., and Kent Thornburg, Ph.D., met at an international scientific meeting.

1994  

Heart Research Center (HRC) began as official entity. Dr. Kent Thornburg named director.

First Annual HRC Lecture: Born Bigger … Live Longer, Presented by Dr. David Barker, Environmental Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton.

1997 – present    

Thornburg program project grant funded by NICHD: Maternofetal Signaling and Lifelong Consequences. Current project directors are Kaul, Giraud, Thornburg and Stork.

1999   

Thornburg convened an international conference on Fetal Origins of Adult Disease in San Diego, CA. The group that became the DOHaD council met there to organize the idea of an international organization.

2003   

Barker joined OHSU Heart Research Center and faculty at OHSU. His interest in Oregon is due to the long track record on the study of pregnancy and fetal development.

Kent Thornburg elected as honorary member of the Society for the Natal Effects of Health on Adults, India.

The International Society for the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease was formed; Thornburg and Barker on Council. The society now includes over 500 members from 35 countries.

Kevin Grove, Ph.D., awarded NIH grant to determine how brain chemistry in early life affects abnormal body weight management during adulthood.

2005    

David Barker awarded Danone International Nutrition Award.

2006   

David Barker awarded Arzobispo Gandarillas Medal, Catholic University of Chile.

2006-2008    

Oregon Women’s Study — funded by Northwest Health Foundation, Collins Medical Trust and private donors. A study of 150 women of childbearing age in Klamath Falls, OR to determine how food intake of pregnant women influences growth patterns of fetus and later the infant through its first year. Cynthia Morris, Ph.D., PI.

2007   

HRC DOHaD Group formed, Susan Bagby, M.D., Director.

Kevin Grove awarded NIH grant to study maternal high fat diet and health of offspring.

Thornburg joined Finland Epidemiology Group.

Barker awarded Foundation Ipsen Prize, Paris.

2009    

HRC Education Committee formed to share knowledge, create curriculum and improve health of adolescents. MoU signed with Wilsonville-West Linn School District.

Thornburg and Barker collaborate with researchers at Université de la Méditerranée, Marseilles, France, to study childhood growth as a predictor of abnormal heart growth in young adults.

2010    

NIA funds Barker/Thornburg collaborative project with Finland to determine how maternal nutrition and childhood living conditions and growth predict physical and mental health in the elderly.

HRC hosted meeting of international experts to determine optimal pre-conception and prenatal nutrition for Oregon women and to explore potential interventions for Oregon, sponsored by the March of Dimes.

Collaborations formed with University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.

Grove, Thornburg & Friedman awarded NIH funds to study the impact of maternal diet on development of a healthy fetus.

2011    

David Barker awarded Agnes Higgins Award, March of Dimes.

National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development Scientific Vision Workshop on Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, co-chaired by Dr. Thornburg, issues a White Paper on DOHaD.

Co-hosted meeting with PSU to educate local public health leaders about the public health implications of DOHaD and to explore policy changes to improve public health. Funded by Northwest Health Foundation.

2012

DOHaD World Congress held in Portland, Ore. with David Barker as honorary president. David Barker awarded Richard Doll Prize, International Epidemiological Association.

2013

Bob and Charlee Moore Institute for Nutrition & Wellness founded.

Moore Institute's founding three projects selected. First Moore Institute Nutrition Consortium Forum held in Portland, Ore.  

David Barker passed away.

2014

Second Moore Institute Nutrition Consortium Forum held in Corvallis, Ore.

Tessa Roseboom, Ph.D., announced as Senior International Fellow of the Moore Institute.

Let's Get Healthy epigenetics station completed as part of one of the institute's founding research projects.