Dr. Lamers is the international lead for the project “EpiBrain: Epigenetic effects of B-vitamins on brain health throughout life: scientific substantiation and translation of evidence for health-improvement strategies.” CIHR contributed $450,000 of around $1 million internationally over three years. Together with Dr Helene McNulty and Dr Colum Walsh, Ulster University, UK, and Dr Michelle Murphy’s team in Spain, the international team led by Dr Lamers is investigating how B-vitamins in the first 1000 days of life can change the epigenetics related to cognitive development and brain function in childhood. The team will also investigate how B-vitamin nutrition in later life impacts brain function, and how much this is related to epigenetic mechanisms, taking an across the lifecycle approach.
“Vitamins such as B12 and folate can influence the extent to which genes in our brains are turned on and by how much,” says Dr. Lamers. “We hope to understand this process better so we can advise parents and older generations on how best to eat for a healthier brain.”
Dr Lamers’ project is one of only two awarded projects through CIHR’s Team Grant “Nutrition and the Epigenome” competition in January, 2019; submitted as part of the Joint Program Initiative (JPI) Healthy Diet Healthy Lifestyle (HDHL) call for Nutrition and the Epigenome.
