Chapter 26 - Informational Resources for Developmental Origins of Health and Disease Research

Abstract

The field of developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) has flourished since the early years of the twenty-first century. While previous chapters provide an extensive summary of the data to date, it is presumed that the information presented will in time become outdated with the escalating pace of this field. Therefore, those that are interested in DOHaD need to be cognizant of the various resources to keep abreast of advancements in this field. This chapter details the current DOHaD-related resources, including: (1) scientific societies where DOHaD is the central theme or those where it is a sub-part but still integral to the mission of the organization, (2) scientific meetings, where unpublished and published data in the DOHaD field are presented, (3) scientific journals, where DOHaD may be the primary or related focus, and (4) social media resources on DOHaD that are springing up and are likely to become even more plentiful in coming years as a primary means to disseminate current findings. As with any resource, readers need to consider the reliability of the information and whether findings are anecdotal or based on rigorous testing in an animal model or large human datasets, with the resulting manuscript subjected to peer review. To aid the reader in judging the merits of the information presented, the last section of this chapter discusses such issues. This chapter provides existing external resources to learn more about DOHaD and to stay informed on developments in this area that likely have far-reaching implications for noncommunicable diseases in humans and animals.