The majority of immune development and the ability to ‘tolerate’ food proteins occurs after birth, during the period when most infants’ are consuming human milk. The omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), is required for immune function but Canadian have one of the lowest contents of DHA in their breast milk in the world. The content of this fatty acid is highly variable in breast milk and depends primarily on dietary intake. Using information from the ...

Circadian clock genes are widely expressed in mammalian brain. Despite considerable knowledge about the role of these genes in the generation of circadian rhythms in the suprachiasmatic nucleus, the master circadian clock, insight into brain-region specific function of these genes limited. Studies in our laboratory investigate the role of core clock gene, Bmal1 and Per2 in the control of behaviors governed by the striatum, a forebrain structure critical in in motor control, reward processi...