IRR Group Leader Professor Debby Bogaert joins international expert group in the call for early-life healthcare decisions to be evaluated not only by short-term clinical outcomes, but also by their long-term health and societal impact. Cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, chronic respiratory conditions and mental health disorders are major health challenges of our time. However, healthcare often intervenes only once risk factors or disease have already emerged. In a recent paper, an international group of clinicians and scientists, including IRR’s Debby Bogaert, argues that promoting long-term health should begin at the very start of life. The work brings together experts from leading institutions across Europe and North America and spans disciplines ranging from obstetrics and paediatrics, to cardiology, immunology, psychology and health economics. The authors focus on the period from conception through to the first four weeks of life. During this time, biological and psychosocial systems undergo rapid development. The microbiome, genetic regulation, nutrition and early nurturing experiences may all influence developmental trajectories associated with the later emergence of noncommunicable diseases. The paper emphasises that early life experiences does not solely predetermine future health. Genetics, nutrition, physical activity, social and environmental conditions, and later periods of the brain’s developmental changes remain important throughout life. Evaluating the short- and long-term effects of healthcare decisions at the beginning of life and actively promoting healthy development during this critical stage of life could allow for more years lived in good health, a lower future burden of disease for individuals and families, and more sustainable use of healthcare resources. Professor Debby Bogaert IRR Group Leader and one of the paper’s authors The authors call for an international and multidisciplinary research agenda combining biological information with clinical, nutritional and psychosocial measures from early-life and following health trajectories over time. Digital health data, sensor technologies and artificial intelligence may increasingly help to understand the influence of early-life experiences on future diseases and identify effective disease prevention strategies. As World Patient Safety Day 2026 highlights safe care for noncommunicable diseases, the authors argue that the discussion should encompass not only how chronic diseases can be treated safely, but also how their future burden might be reduced by promoting health from the very beginning of life. Related links Bogaert research group Read the full article in PNAS Tags CIR This article was published on Thursday 17 September 2026
