DOHaD Summer Course

A text logo representing the 2026 course

The DOHaD Summer Course is designed for graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and early-career faculty who are interested in the long-term consequences of developmental programming. The course introduces participants to different perspectives within the field of DOHaD thru a series of lectures by nationally recognized researchers.

The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHAD) is a growing body of research that shows how gene-environment interactions, beginning in the womb, play a critical role in determining an individual's life-long health profile.

The 2026 Course will take place from August 3 - 5.
Registration fee - $275 
Schedule Overview
Theme: Building the Future: Core DOHaD Principles to Emerging Trends

We are still in the midst of our planning phase and will share more information about the 2026 course as it becomes available. 

Location:
Knight Cancer Research Building
2720 S. Moody Avenue
Portland, OR 97201

Please arrange your schedule to ensure you can attend the course in full to maximize participation.

For any further questions please reach out to us at cdh@ohsu.edu. 

Register

2026 Information

This course is funded in part through a NIH R13 grant. This grant supports travel awards. Awards are contingent on the continuation of funding. This funding supports up to four awards.

To qualify for the travel awards you must provide a cover letter with your abstract outlining why an award would be impactful to your early career. The cover letter and abstract will be scored on merit, and awards are announced during the course.

Awardees will be reimbursed for actual travel expenses post-course up to $1,600. Itemized and payment receipts are required for reimbursement.

Reimbursable expenses can include:

  • U.S. based coach airfare
  • lodging
  • per diem
  • parking
  • transportation.

Course attendees must register for the DOHaD Summer Course. Submitting a travel award does not register you for the course. All participants are responsible for registering themselves, and reserving their own housing, if needed. Awardees do not receive complimentary registration. 

Submit

Abstract submission guidelines

Submission requirements

  • You are allotted 2,700 characters, which will include your Abstract Title, Abstract Body, Authors/Institutions. The allotted characters do not include white space. Figures and Tables will not be accepted.
  • Each submitted abstract will be reviewed by expert reviewers, scored according to criteria described below.
  • Submissions are required only for course participants' interested in a travel award.

OHSU will not be held responsible for abstract submissions not received via the website or for submission errors caused by internet service outages, hardware or software delays, power outages or unforeseen events.

Evaluation of abstracts will be based on the following considerations: 

  1. Originality/Innovation: Is the idea or approach novel or is the work primarily confirmatory and/or a direct extension of previous work?
  2. Significance/Relevance: Does the work address an important problem?
  3. Objective/Hypothesis: Is an objective, specific research question and/or hypothesis stated?
  4. Methods: Are the methods described? Are the methods employed appropriate to the research question? Were new methods used and validated?
  5. Results: Are the results described clearly and succinctly? Was data evaluated statistically?
  6. Discussion: Is the conclusion supported by the data
  7. Overall Quality 

For attendees of the course, we have secured a discounted rate of $139 + tax per night at the Hyatt House. 

Hyatt House 
2080 S River Drive 
Portland, OR 97201
503-241-2775

Make sure to book your stay prior to Monday, July 6, 2026, to take advantage of this discounted rate.

Book Now

To ensure the best travel experience, we recommend using the Trimet Planner, which will allow you to plan your way around Portland using the different methods Trimet provides, including buses, MAX, and the streetcar. For people traveling to Portland, you are also able to take the MAX directly from PDX into Portland.

For more recommendations about what to do in Portland, please check out the following links. 

The Summer Course is open to attendees only, as there will be sections throughout the day where participants will be interacting with one another and speakers. There will not be onsite childcare provided, but we have locations in Portland in close proximity to the conference site that allow walk-in childcare services.

WeVillage

1901 NE Broadway, Portland, OR | 971-302-6187

Peake Academy

464 First Street, Lake Oswego, OR 97034 | 503-675-7529

Below is information to assist international travelers:
The traveler is responsible for obtaining their own visa or ESTA.  We can provide you with an invitation and/or institutional support letter for your visa application.

If you need an invitation and/or institutional support letter(s) as part of the B-1 visa process – we require a minimum of 100 days. Adjust your timeline based on visa application and travel needs. To start that request please email cdh@ohsu.edu and provide a copy of your CV.

Other resources:
Visit the U.S. Department of State’s website to determine if you need a visa or are eligible for the visa waiver program/ESTA to enter the U.S. and attend the course.