Sophie Petropoulos and Jessica Weidner have been named the first two Mats Sundin Fellows. Established in February 2012 through donor contributions, the Mats Sundin Fellowship is awarded annually to two post-doctoral fellows and aims to train new leaders in the field of developmental health. The award is given to one post-doctoral fellow at U of T, and one at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden. The winners will spend a year working at their partner institution, under the supervision of leaders in their field.
The Fellowship is managed by the Fraser Mustard Institute for Human Development (FMIHD), an institute that takes an interdisciplinary approach to studying human development during the first 2,000 days of life. Rather than only looking at the genetic code for answers to the causes of chronic diseases — such as childhood obesity, diabetes, and anxiety disorders — researchers at this institute focus on the environmental factors that influence how the instructions encoded by genes are carried out.
During the exchange, Weidner, who is from the Karolinska Institutet, will be looking at the effects of Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite commonly found in cat litter, on fetal development. U of T’s Petropoulos will focus on studying embryo development during the first seven days, and how this development is affected by factors such as stress. Their research can ultimately lead to the development of interventions that would prevent chronic illnesses from arising.
With files from U of T News
