Chronology

1959

Herbert Griswold, M.D., creates the Heart Research Laboratory.

1961

James Metcalfe, M.D., of Harvard Medical School, is named first director the Heart Research Laboratory, which studied pregnancy and fetal development long before the early origins of disease were discovered.

1988

David Barker, M.D., Ph.D., and Kent Thornburg, Ph.D., meet at an international scientific meeting.

1994

Heart Research Center established; Thornburg named director.

1994

Barker presents first annual Heart Research Center Lecture: “Born Bigger … Live Longer.”

1997-present

National Institute of Child Health & Development funds Thornburg project grant: “Maternofetal Signaling and Lifelong Consequences.” (Current project directors are Sanjiv Kaul, M.D.; George Giraud, M.D.; Thornburg; and Philip Stork, M.D.

1999

Thornburg convenes international conference on Fetal Origins of Adult Disease in San Diego, Calif. The group, which later became the DOHaD council, met there to further the idea of an international organization.

2003

Barker’s interest in OHSU’s long track record in the study of pregnancy and fetal development prompts him to join the Heart Research Center, become an OHSU faculty member.

2003

Thornburg elected honorary member of the Society for the Natal Effects of Health on Adults, India.

2003

The International Society for the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease is formed with Thornburg and Barker on council.  The society now includes more than 500 members from 35 countries.

2003

Kevin Grove, Ph.D., awarded National Institutes of Health grant to determine how brain chemistry in early life affects abnormal body weight management during adulthood.

2005

Barker awarded Danone International Nutrition Award.

2006

Barker awarded Arzobispo Gandarillas Medal, Catholic University of Chile.

2006-2008

Cynthia Morris, Ph.D., launches Oregon Women’s Study, a study of 150 women of childbearing age in Klamath Falls, Ore., to look at how food intake of pregnant women influences growth patterns of fetus and later the infant through its first year. The study is funded by the Northwest Health Foundation, Collins Medical Trust and private donors. 

2007

Heart Research Center forms DOHaD Group directed by Susan Bagby, M.D.

2007

Grove awarded NIH grant to study maternal high-fat diet and health of offspring.

2007

Thornburg joins Finland Epidemiology Group.

2007

David Barker awarded Foundation Ipsen Prize, Paris

2009

Heart Research Center forms Education Committee to share knowledge, create curriculum and improve health of adolescents. Memo of understanding signed with Wilsonville-West Linn School District.

2009

Thornburg and Barker collaborate with researchers at Université de la Méditerranée, Marseilles, France, to study childhood growth as a predictor of abnormal heart growth in young adults.

2010

National Institute on Aging funds Barker, Thornburg collaborative project with Finland to determine how maternal nutrition and childhood living conditions and growth predict physical and mental health in the elderly.

2010

Heart Research Center hosts meeting of international experts, sponsored by the March of Dimes, to determine optimal pre-conception and prenatal nutrition for Oregon women and to explore potential interventions.

2010

Formed collaborations with University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.

2010

Grove, Thornburg and Jed Friedman, Ph.D., University of Colorado School of Medicine, awarded NIH funds to study the impact of maternal diet on healthy fetus development.

2010

Barker awarded March of Dimes Agnes Higgins Award.

2011

Co-hosted with PSU meeting to educate local public health leaders about the public health implications of DOHAD and to explore policy changes to improve public health.  Funded by Northwest Health Foundation.

2011

Barker awarded Richard Doll Prize, International Epidemiological Association