Born In Bradford Conference Underway at National Media Museum

By Daniel Lynch

The fourth annual Born In Bradford conference began this morning at the city's National Media Museum. 

The project began in March 2007 and the medial progress of 13,500 babies born in Bradford Royal Infirmary between then and December 2010 has been tracked by researchers.

It is hoped that the study will shed light on why some children may become ill and even die while others go on to live long and healthy lives.

Opening the conference Dr. John Wright, who's in charge of the research, addressed several hundred professionals from fields of medicine and academia.

"Born in Bradford unites us around the common interest of a healthier future. We have hundreds of researchers world wide. In a sense this is one of the world's first crowd sourcing medical research projects."

Professor of Clinical Epideniology at the University of Southampton David Barker followed to discuss the impact of a pregnant woman's diet on her unborn child. He said the first 30, including those before birth, are crucial to a child's development.

"The nutrition we get in the womb alters our genetic make up for life. Get it right for the first 1000 days from conception - there is no second chance."

By studying the Bradford children, researchers hope to develop preventative treatments for conditions from Coronary Heart Disease and diabetes to asthma. Professor Barker said that these ailments aren't genetic but are often provoked by the diet of an expectant mother, or indeed her mother.

He said that this research can do "hugely beneficial things for a generation by focussing on childhood" and by ensuring the health of this group of children we can ensure the health of future generations."

Dr. John Wright says Bradford is the ideal location for a study of this kind as it "represents a contemporary, multi-ethnic, British population".