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Environmental enteric dysfunction (EED) is a dynamic condition characterized by reduced nutrient absorption, increased gut permeability, and inflammation. It is associated with poor environmental hygiene and contamination, poor water quality, poor hygiene and sanitation practices, and an altered microbiota. EED has been implicated in increasing the risk of stunting and wasting in early life and the risk of a poor birth prognosis in pregnancy. However the evidence on both its causes and effects has been mixed. This may be in part due to measurement challenges as the gold standard metric of EED, the lactulose-mannitol test, measures only part of the EED process. Research supported by the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Nutrition in Uganda, Sierra Leone, and Nepal aimed to test new metrics for EED assessment, examine the relationship of EED, stunting and wasting within the context of poor WASH practices, an altered microbiota, and the presence of contaminants such as mycotoxins.  We invite you to join our webinar to learn more about findings from our studies and to discuss the necessary policy and programmatic actions required to tackle EED and its underlying causes. 

Moderator:
Dr. Christopher Duggan - For the past 25 years, Christopher Duggan, M.D., M.P.H. has been performing clinical trials in the fields of pediatric nutrition, gastroenterology and global health. Dr. Duggan and colleagues have evaluated the efficacy of micronutrient supplementation in infants and young children born to women with or at risk of HIV infection. Recent studies include the development of new biomarkers of environmental enteric dysfunction, as well as the evaluation of nutritional status on neurodevelopment. Dr. Duggan is a pediatric gastroenterologist and nutrition physician at Boston Children's Hospital where he directs the Center for Nutrition (http://www.childrenshospital.org/nutrition) and is Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and a Professor in the Departments of Nutrition and Global Health and Population at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.

Panelists:
Dr. Jacqueline Lauer - Public health nutritionist and Clinical Assistant Professor at Boston University. Dr. Lauer’s research focuses on environmental contributors to poor growth and development among infants and young children in low-resource settings, including environmental enteric dysfunction (EED) and aflatoxin exposure.

Dr. Akriti Singh - In August, Dr. Singh successfully completed her thesis defense to receive her PhD from Tufts University, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. Dr. Singh’s research focuses on determinants of maternal and child undernutrition in low and middle-income countries including diets, body composition, environmental enteric dysfunction, gut microbiota, and water sanitation and hygiene.

Dr. Shibani Ghosh - Research Associate Professor at Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. Dr. Ghosh is also the Associate Director for the Innovation Lab for Nutrition with experience working in the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Her research interests are in understanding the role of agriculture in improving nutrition while ensuring health, assessing the diet and non-diet determinants of nutritional status of infants and young children and testing interventions aimed at improving maternal and infant nutrition and growth.