UNews - David Olson

Studying the effects of maternal social isolation on the health of offspring

caroline.zentner — Tue, 02 Jul 2024 19:20:53 +0000

Dr. Gerlinde Metz, a ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge neuroscientist, Dr. Gerald Giesbrecht from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary and Dr. David Olson from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta have received a One Child Every Child Strategic Catalyst Award worth $50,000 to look at maternal social isolation as a risk factor for adverse pregnancy outcomes and developmental trajectories in their offspring.

“We are extremely pleased to have received this award,” says Metz. “The more we know about the negative effects of prenatal stress on mothers and their children the better we can develop targeted strategies to mitigate those effects.”

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted an urgent need to improve mental health during an extremely stressful time. Recent studies have shown that pregnant mothers are at higher risk of experiencing social isolation as a stressor, with potential effects on their offspring.

“Our work in rat models has confirmed these findings,” says Metz. “Pregnant female rats are especially vulnerable to social isolation, with lasting impacts on their mental and physical health and that of their offspring.”

Metz and her collaborators will use a rat model to identify the physiological and behavioural consequences of social isolation in rat mothers and their male and female offspring. They plan to study the effects of oxytocin, the bonding hormone, in interaction with sex hormones and how it changes during pregnancy. They’ll also look at the development and behaviours of their offspring. A second goal of the study is to determine if social enrichment in offspring can help build resilience against prenatal stress.

Women in rural and remote areas may face more social isolation, especially in northern communities. If they have to travel long distances to access prenatal care and deliver their babies, they experience significant social distancing from their families and communities.

“While we are not working with human populations, our study can help identify new ways to build resilience to stress through social supports,” says Metz. “Like rats, humans are a social species and the biomarkers we find using a rat model can be translated to human populations at risk.”

In addition, the research will provide transdisciplinary training in the field of developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD), including virtual-reality and online tools for community engagement and the design and implementation of social support programs.

Dr. David Olson, world renowned researcher on preterm birth, to be recognized with honorary degree

trevor.kenney — Fri, 21 May 2021 20:58:53 +0000

Recognized as one of the world’s leading researchers on preterm birth, Dr. David Olson will be awarded an honorary degree as the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge celebrates 2021 Spring Convocation in June.

Olson has spent nearly 40 years addressing an urgent need for improved pregnancy outcomes by developing new strategies for early risk assessment and intervention and inspiring a generation of scientists throughout the world to work collaboratively to address this vital issue.

“Dr. Olson has dedicated much of his research career to tackling this extremely important issue,” says U of L Chancellor Charles Weaselhead. “His work with researchers here at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge has led to some excellent collaborative relationships and inspired many trainees to further research in this field. We are extremely pleased to present Dr. Olson with an honorary degree for his dedication to finding improved pregnancy outcomes for all women.”

The U of L will present Olson with a Doctor of Science, honoris causa, at the Chancellor’s Reception on Thursday, June 10, 2021.

Dr. David Olson

David Olson, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics and physiology at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta, has spent nearly 40 years addressing an urgent need for improved pregnancy outcomes for those affected by preterm birth by developing new strategies for early risk assessment and intervention.

Olson has consistently been at the forefront of establishing national and international research networks to work collaboratively to address this vital issue. Over the years, he has obtained $45 million in research funding individually and collaboratively, including more than $8 million in funding for projects at uLethbridge, where he is an adjunct professor.

Working closely with the U of L’s Dr. Gerlinde Metz, Board of Governors Research Chair in Neuroscience, their research has inspired and trained young scientists and health professionals from high school students to post-doctoral fellows.

Olson has been recognized as the founder of the Optimal Pregnancy Environment Risk Assessment program, a global framework that brings together researchers and their trainees from North America, Europe, Asia and Africa for workshops and collaborative grants and projects.

Olson continues, through his own research as well as the colleagues and trainees he inspires, to improve perinatal health for the benefit of maternal and baby health locally, nationally and throughout the world.

Healthy futures

trevor.kenney — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 21:29:19 +0000

Why do some women go into premature labour?

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge neuroscientist Dr. Gerlinde Metz has been searching for the answer for nearly a decade. Today, she is deepening her exploration with help from a new research grant, an international team of investigators and numerous student researchers at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

Originally from Germany, Metz came to Canada purposely to conduct her research at the U of L's acclaimed Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience (CCBN). An expert on the physiology of stress, Metz is now a principal researcher at the CCBN, a professor in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's Department of Neuroscience and a Senior Scholar of Alberta Innovates - Health Solutions (AIHS).

Metz is also a co-investigator on a new project that will examine various aspects of preterm birth. Led by ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta researcher Dr. David Olson, the international group received more than $1 million in funding this fall from the Global Alliance to Prevent Prematurity and Stillbirth (GAPPS). An initiative of Seattle Children's, GAPPS supports innovative research and interventions to improve maternal, newborn and child health around the world.

Dr. Gerlinde Metz and her student research team are helping to solve the issues of tomorrow.

Characterized by a gestational period lasting less than 37 completed weeks, a preterm birth is the most frequent cause of infant death and is a global health problem, according to a study released earlier this year by the United Nations, the World Health Organization, March of Dimes and Save the Children. In 2010, for example, approximately 15 million babies were born prematurely worldwide – and more than a million of those infants died. Survivors, meanwhile, can face a range of health issues, including cerebral palsy, developmental delay, and vision and hearing impairment.

While most premature babies are born in south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, preterm births also occur in developed regions. In fact, Alberta has Canada's highest provincial rate for premature births, accounting for about nine per cent of babies.

That being the case, says Metz, it's fitting that her latest project involves two researchers from the province. Both Metz and Olson are members of the Preterm Birth and Healthy Outcomes Team, an interdisciplinary group of AIHS-funded researchers, who are advancing our understanding of premature labour.

"There are several steps that collectively cause labour to take place, but in a preterm birth situation, they start much earlier, and with significantly more risk to the mother and baby," Metz explains. "It's a complex problem that is surrounded by mystery. In half of all cases of preterm birth, there is no known cause, and in all cases, it is difficult to prevent preterm birth."

Metz has been studying the causes of preterm birth for nearly a decade.

Working with her CCBN colleagues and a team of determined student researchers, Metz used laboratory rats to develop an animal model of spontaneous preterm birth. The goal: to learn more about the physiological factors behind the event, especially hormones.

"What we have learned so far is that there's a cascading effect which starts with an inflammation – or what the body thinks is an inflammation. This triggers white blood cells to go into defensive mode," she explains. "Members of our team have discovered that where there is a risk of preterm birth, the white blood cells respond differently to some type of change in the body. We will be looking at how to identify and reduce this inflammatory trigger."

To that end, she found that maternal stress experienced by one generation can affect the risk of preterm birth among offspring well into the future.

"This means that our focus isn't just on prenatal stress anymore," Metz says. "We're now looking at health and disease across generations."

Student researchers have played a key role in driving Metz's research forward. In addition to postdoctoral fellows, undergraduate and graduate students – as well as a particularly ambitious high school student – work with Metz in the lab. There, the students are learning the intricacies of academic research by handling a variety of responsibilities, such as developing ways to measure maternal health among rats.

"The students are putting together a puzzle," says Metz. "They are helping to solve the issues of tomorrow."

And their work is paying off. "The support we have received will advance our ability to hopefully change a large-scale health problem," she says. "It's really exciting for me, my colleagues at the CCBN and our students to be able to play a part. This is foundational research that could change how people generations from now live."

With the GAPPS funding through the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta, Metz will work with Canadian, Australian and Chinese researchers to explore four areas of study. First, the team aims to identify factors that lead to preterm birth. This information, in turn, will be used to help predict who is at greatest risk of the phenomenon. Next, the researchers intend to create new therapies to prolong pregnancy and prevent preterm birth. Specifically, Metz will test the effectiveness of peptides or molecules made up of amino acids.

Finally, the researchers hope to secure additional funding down the road in order to improve newborn health. The objective is to develop inexpensive and easily accessible tools for the early detection of preterm birth and treatments to delay it from happening. Both innovations are especially needed in low- and middle-income countries.

"Ultimately," Metz says, "we want to support healthy mothers and babies."

This story first appeared in the Fall 2012 issue of SAM. For a look at the full issue in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Metz part of team investigating premature labour

trevor.kenney — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 22:09:15 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge neuroscience researcher Dr. Gerlinde Metz is part of a global team working to answer a simple question with no clear answer: Why do some women go into premature labour?

While more than 60 per cent of premature babies are born in south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, preterm births also occur in developed regions.

Dr. Gerlinde Metz works with lab assistant and recent neuroscience graduate Sophia Vathracoulis in the Metz Lab. Alberta has Canada's highest provincial rate for premature births, accounting for more than nine per cent of babies born each year.

In fact, Alberta has Canada's highest provincial rate for premature births, accounting for more than nine per cent of babies born each year.

Metz and her research team at the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience (CCBN) are part of a broader effort led by ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta researcher Dr. David Olson and colleagues from universities in Montreal, Australia and China.

The group recently received more than $1 million in funding from the Preventing Preterm Birth Initiative, a Grand Challenge in Global Health administered by the Global Alliance to Prevent Prematurity and Stillbirth (GAPPS) an initiative of Seattle Children's Hospital, in Seattle, WA.

The GAPPS program seeks to discover biological mechanisms that lead to preterm birth and develop novel interventions to prevent them. In total, there were 320 applications from 50 countries and five were selected to receive funding.

"The support we have received will advance our ability to hopefully change a large-scale health problem, and is really exciting for me, my colleagues at the CCBN, and our students to be able to play a part," says Metz. "This is foundational research that could change how people generations from now live."

Metz says her team's role in the project is to work with a unique animal model developed at the CCBN that allows the researchers to reliably test methods that reduce the inflammation-like triggers that the researchers believe cause premature labour.

"There are several steps that collectively cause labour to take place, but in a preterm birth situation, they start much earlier, and with significantly more risk to the mother and baby," says Metz.

"It's a complex problem that is surrounded by mystery. For instance, in half of all cases of preterm birth, there is no known cause. In all cases, it is difficult to prevent preterm birth."

For the past five years, Metz has been a member of the Alberta-based Preterm Birth and Healthy Outcomes Team, an interdisciplinary group of Alberta Innovates—Health Solutions (AIHS)-funded researchers who have already conducted a significant amount of research to advance the understanding of premature labour. This new funding will allow the group to move forward more quickly with their work.

"What we have learned so far is that there's a cascading effect which starts with an inflammation – or what the body thinks is an inflammation," says Metz.

"This triggers white blood cells to go into defensive mode. Members of our team have discovered that where there is a risk of preterm birth, the white blood cells respond differently to some type of change in the body, and we will be looking at how to identify and reduce this inflammatory trigger."

A preterm birth is characterized by a gestational period lasting less than 37 completed weeks – generally a baby born a month or more premature.

The most frequent cause of infant death, preterm births are a global health problem. Each year, approximately 15 million babies are born prematurely worldwide – and more than a million of those infants die.

Survivors, meanwhile, can face a range of health issues, including cerebral palsy, developmental delay and vision and hearing impairment.

Metz adds that by learning more about the interplay of inflammation, stress, hormonal changes or other factors that affect preterm births, the researchers can apply more than one idea to her model and, by extension, speed up the project.

"For example, work in my laboratory has discovered that maternal stress experienced by one generation can affect the risk of preterm birth among offspring well into the future," says Metz. "Other members of our team are looking at how molecules change with the onset of preterm birth symptoms, and are developing a low-cost method of early diagnosis and treatment of the symptoms caused by the change in molecular structure. This has shown promise in early testing."

Students who show promise as researchers have played a key role in driving Metz's research forward. In addition to postdoctoral fellows, several undergraduate and graduate students – as well as a "particularly ambitious" high school student – work with Metz in the lab.

There, the assistants are learning the intricacies of academic research by handling a variety of responsibilities, including developing ways to measure maternal health among rats.

UNews - David Olson

Studying the effects of maternal social isolation on the health of offspring

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