Co-Director, ORIGINS Project
MBBS BMedSci PhD FRACP
Susan Prescott is a Professor of Paediatrics in the School of Medicine at the University of Western Australia. She is a Paediatrician and an Immunologist at the Perth Children’s Hospital. Susan is a Founding Director of the ORIGINS Project at the Telethon KIDS Institute, a $26 million legacy project based at Joondalup Health Campus examining how the environment influences health throughout life, and how we can improve this.
She is also founding Director of inViVO Planetary Health, an global initiative of the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN). This interdisciplinary network is focused on the links between personal and planetary health through social and ecological justice
Her interests and expertise are focused around early life risk factors for inflammation as an antecedent (and preventive target) for a broad range of noncommunicable diseases (NCD), with a particular interest in early onset NCDs such as allergy, obesity and mental health. She is the Founding President of the multidisciplinary ‘DOHaD’ Society in Australia and New Zealand (Developmental Origins of Health and Disease).
She works at the highest international level of her field, and is a former Director of the World Allergy Organisation (WAO), and former Head of Children’s Allergy Immunology Research at University Of Western Australia.
In addition to over 300 scientific publications, she is also author of several books for an international public audience: The Allergy Epidemic – a Mystery of Modern Life, The Calling, and Origins - Early Life Solutions to the Modern Health Crisis, and most recently The Secret Life of Your Microbiome: Why Nature and Biodiversity are Essential to Health and Happiness – 2018 Gold Medal winner of the Independent Publishers Book Awards (health), and 2017 Finalist in the Foreword Reviews Indies Book awards.
She has received numerous prizes, awards and fellowships including a Winston Churchill Fellowship. Over the course of her career Susan has raised over $50 million in research funding as Chief Investigator. In 2009 she was awarded a prestigious Practitioner Fellowship (2009-2018) by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and in 2010 her work was recognised in the “10 of the best” in Australia. Susan cares deeply about the social determinants of health, and takes a holistic approach to life.
Her inspiration to study medicine came from her grandmother, one of the few women to study medicine in the 1930s, and her love of research and academia was inspired by her grandfather Sir Stanley Prescott, former Vice-Chancellor of The University of Western Australia.
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Projects
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Publications
January 2019
The ORIGINS Project
ORIGINS is a new birth cohort study, collecting detailed information about the early environment's influence on a broad range of non-communicable diseases
Published research ORIGINSOctober 2018Can polymorphisms in the fatty acid desaturase (FADS) gene cluster alter the effects of fish oil supplementation on plasma and erythrocyte fatty acid profiles?
Supplementation with fish oil may only significantly increase DHA in minor allele carriers of FADS1 SNPs
Published research Nutrition ORIGINSSeptember 2018Early life innate immune signatures of persistent food allergy
Early life innate immune dysfunction may represent a key immunological driver and predictor of persistent food allergy in childhood
Published research ORIGINS Food AllergyAugust 2018Worldwide variation in human milk metabolome: Indicators of breast physiology and maternal lifestyle?
This study investigates the variation of human milk metabolites in human milk between five different countries
Published research Breastfeeding ORIGINSJuly 2018Cardiometabolic risk factors at 5 years after omega-3 fatty acid supplementation in infancy
Supplementation with n-3 LCPUFA in infancy revealed a reduction in waist circumference at 5 years
Published research ORIGINSJanuary 2018Taking a prebiotic approach to early immunomodulation for allergy prevention
In this review we examine maternal and infant dietary sources of prebiotics with a particular focus on non-digestible oligosaccharides, which undergo SCFA.
Published research Child Allergy & Immunology ORIGINSDecember 2017Effects of prenatal n-3 fatty acid supplementation on offspring resolvins at birth and 12 years of age: a double-blind, randomised controlled clinical trial
This study aimed to assess the effect of n-3 fatty acid supplementation in pregnancy on offspring SPM at birth and 12 years of age (12 years)
Published research ORIGINSNovember 2017An Australian Consensus on Infant Feeding Guidelines to Prevent Food Allergy: Outcomes From the Australian Infant Feeding Summit
Infant feeding in the first postnatal year of life has an important role in an infant's risk of developing food allergy
Published research ORIGINS Food AllergyNovember 2017Each meal matters in the exposome: Biological and community considerations in fast-food-socioeconomic associations
As we discuss, equal weekly visits to major fast-food outlets by the affluent and deprived do not translate into biological equivalency.
Published research ORIGINSOctober 2017Bugging allergy; role of pre-, pro- and synbiotics in allergy prevention
Here, we summarize and discuss findings of randomized clinical trials that have examined the effects of these strategies on short and long-term.
Published research ORIGINSSeptember 2017Can polymorphisms in the fatty acid desaturase (FADS) gene cluster alter the effects of fish oil supplementation on plasma and erythrocyte fatty acid profiles? An exploratory study
Overall results of this preliminary study suggest that supplementation with fish oil may only significantly increase DHA in minor allele carriers of FADS1 SNPs. Further research is required to confirm this novel finding.
Published research ORIGINSAugust 2017Expert consensus document: The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) consensus statement on the definition and scope of prebiotics
In December 2016, a panel of experts was convened by the International Scientific Association for Probiotics an Prebiotics to review the scope of prebiotic.
Published research ORIGINSAugust 2017Astrofood, Priorities and Pandemics: Reflections of an Ultra-Processed Breakfast Program and Contemporary Dysbiotic Drift
The United Nation, recognizing the importance of nutrition as a part of the challenges faced by humanity, and declared 2016-2025 the decade of nutrition.
Published research ORIGINSAugust 2017Down to Earth: Planetary Health and Biophilosophy in the Symbiocene Epoch
Advances in science have illuminated the role of the “ecological theatre”—the total living environment—in human health
Published research ORIGINSAugust 2017Expert consensus document: The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) consensus statement on the definition and scope of prebiotics
Consistent with the original model of prebiotics, but aware of the latest scientific and clinical developments, the panel updated the definition of a prebiotics
Published research ORIGINSJuly 2017Planning ahead: the mental health value of natural environments
Over the past decade, a growing number of studies have linked urban green space and aspects of biodiversity with emotional wellbeing.
Published research ORIGINSMay 2017Early introduction of food reduces food allergy – Pro and Con
When an infant is developmentally ready, a variety of nutritious foods should be introduced including the ‘more allergenic’ foods during infancy
Published research Child Allergy & Immunology ORIGINS Food AllergyMay 2017Protection against maternal infection-associated fetal growth restriction: Proof-of-concept with a microbial-derived immunomodulator
This study suggests that broad-spectrum protection-of-pregnancy against infection-associated inflammatory stress represents an achievable therapeutic goal
Published research Experimental Immunology Human Immunology Systems ImmunologyMay 2017Randomized controlled trial of early regular egg intake to prevent egg allergy
determining if regular consumption of egg protein from age 4 to 6 months reduces the risk of IgE mediated allergy in infants with genetic risk, without eczema.
Published research ORIGINSMay 2017Physician training programs significantly improve diagnosis in cases coded as anaphylaxis over time: A major factor compounding time-trend data?
Recent studies based on hospital admissions have reported a significant increase in anaphylaxis prevalence.
Published research ORIGINSMay 2017Randomized controlled trial of early regular egg intake to prevent egg allergy
We aimed to determine whether regular consumption of egg protein from 4-6 month old reduced the risk of IgE-mediated egg allergy in infants without eczema.
Published research Allergy & Infectious Diseases ORIGINSMay 2017Association Between Family Characteristics and the Effect of Timing of Regular Egg Introduction in Infant Egg Allergy
A recent systematic review of 5 randomized clinical trials, found that early egg introduction was associated with reduced egg allergy.
Published research Allergy & Infectious Diseases ORIGINSMay 2017Physician training programs significantly improve diagnosis in cases coded as anaphylaxis over time: A major factor compounding time-trend data?
We conducted an investigation of all cases coded as anaphylaxis presenting to the main tertiary PED in Perth, Australia, where all coding is performed by staff.
Published research ORIGINSApril 2017Infective respiratory syncytial virus is present in human cord blood samples and most prevalent during winter months
Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) remains the most common cause of severe lower respiratory tract disease amongst infants, and continues to cause annual epidemics of respiratory disease every winter worldwide.
Published research ORIGINS P4 Respiratory Health for KidsMarch 2017Food Challenge and Community-Reported Reaction Profiles in Food-Allergic Children Aged 1 and 4 Years: A Population-Based Study.
This publication compares reaction profiles from food challenges and parent-reported reactions on accidental ingestion, and assess predictors of severe reactions.
Published research ORIGINS Food AllergyMarch 2017The role of PKCzeta in cord blood T-cell maturation towards Th1 cytokine profile and its epigenetic regulation by fish oil
Here, we present evidence that there are two major control points to explain the immunodeficiency in CB T-cells, leading to a decreased IFNy synthesis.
Published research ORIGINSJanuary 2017Influence of maternal obesity on the long-term health of offspring
Increasing evidence implicates maternal obesity as a major determinant of offspring health during childhood and later adult life
Published research ORIGINSJanuary 2017Influence of maternal obesity on the long-term health of offspring
Including immediate implications for pregnancy complications, increasing evidence implicates maternal obesity having a major impact on long term child health.
Published research ORIGINSJanuary 2017The Secret Life of Your Microbiome: Why Nature and Biodiversity are Essential to Health and Happiness
The Secret Life of Your Microbiome shatters this deeply held myth, presenting a revolutionary new paradigm, backed by vast science
Published research ORIGINSDecember 2016Effects of maternal dietary egg intake during early lactation on human milk ovalbumin concentration: A randomized controlled trial
Increased maternal egg ingestion is associated with increased breastmilk ovalbumin, and markers of immune tolerance in infants
Published research Child Allergy & Immunology ORIGINS Food AllergyNovember 2016Dysregulation of innate immunity in ulcerative colitis patients who fail anti-tumor necrosis factor therapy
Study the innate immune function in ulcerative colitis patients who fail to respond to anti-tumor necrosis factor therapy
Published research ORIGINSNovember 2016Transforming Life: A Broad View of the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease Concept from an Ecological Justice Perspective
With emerging research involving green space, the microbiome, biodiversity and positive psychology, we discuss ecological justice in the dysbiosphere
Published research ORIGINSOctober 2016The establishment of DOHaD working groups in Australia and New Zealand
This report introduces the DOHaD ANZ Working Groups and summarizes their plans and activities
Published research ORIGINSSeptember 2016Prenatal omega-3 fatty acid supplementation does not affect offspring telomere length and F2-isoprostanes at 12 years: A double blind, randomized controlled trial
Maternal n-3 LCPUFA supplementation did not provide sustained effects on postnatal oxidative stress and telomere length as observed in the offspring
Published research ORIGINSAugust 2016Consensus of stakeholders on precautionary allergen labelling: A report from the Centre for Food and Allergy Research
Precautionary allergen labelling is the main tool available to indicate safety levels for food-allergic consumers with regard to potential allergens
Published research ORIGINS Food AllergyJune 2016Probiotics for treatment and primary prevention of allergic diseases and asthma: looking back and moving forward
Review treatment and primary prevention studies, recent meta-analyses, and discuss the current understanding of the role of probiotics in this context
Asthma Published research ORIGINSMay 2016The Microbiome and Mental Health: Looking Back, Moving Forward with Lessons from Allergic Diseases
The microbiome is intimately connected to diet, nutrition, and other lifestyle variables
Published research ORIGINSApril 2016Early Nutrition as a Major Determinant of 'Immune Health': Implications for Allergy, Obesity and Other Noncommunicable Diseases
A better understanding of nutritional programming of immune health may lead to dietary strategies that reduce the burden of many inflammatory diseases
Published research ORIGINSFebruary 2016Immune-Microbiota Interactions: Dysbiosis as a Global Health Issue
The implications of the microbiome extend to virtually every branch of medicine, biopsychosocial and environmental sciences
Published research ORIGINSJanuary 2016Natural environments, nature relatedness and the ecological theater: connecting satellites and sequencing to shinrin-yoku
Mechanisms-including aerobiological and epigenetic-that might help explain some of the noted positive health outcomes
Published research ORIGINSJanuary 201625-hydroxyvitamin D status of pregnant women is associated with the use of antenatal vitamin supplements and ambient ultraviolet radiation
Vitamin D deficiency in a predominantly white Caucasian cohort of pregnant women is less prevalent than has been reported in other studies
Published research Vitamin D and Sunlight Child Allergy & Immunology ORIGINSJanuary 2016World Allergy Organization-McMaster University Guidelines for Allergic Disease Prevention (GLAD-P): Prebiotics
Develop evidence-based recommendations about the use of prebiotics in the prevention of allergy
Published research ORIGINSJanuary 2016Epigenetic modifications: Mechanisms of disease and biomarkers of food allergy
The rise in IgE-mediated food allergy in recent times is the likely result of gene-environment interactions mediated via epigenetic pathways.
Published research ORIGINS Food AllergyJanuary 2016World Allergy Organization-McMaster University Guidelines for Allergic Disease Prevention (GLAD-P): Vitamin D
Vitamin D is involved in the regulation of the immune system and it may play a role in the development, severity and course of asthma and other allergic...
Asthma Published research Vitamin D and Sunlight ORIGINSJanuary 2016Elevated IL-5 and IL-13 responses to egg proteins predate the introduction of egg in solid foods in infants with eczema
Elevated egg-specific Th2 cytokine responses were established prior to egg ingestion at 4months and were not significantly altered by introduction of egg
Published research Child Allergy & Immunology ORIGINS Food AllergyJanuary 2016Biodiversity, the Human Microbiome and Mental Health: Moving toward a New Clinical Ecology for the 21st Century?
With a focus on the microbiome as it pertains to mental health, we define environmental “grey space” and emphasize a new frontier involving bio-eco-psychological medicine
Published research ORIGINSNovember 2015The gut microbiota and inflammatory noncommunicable diseases: Associations and potentials for gut microbiota therapies
This article discusses the relationships between gut colonization & inflammatory noncommunicable diseases, in regards to their treatment and prevention.
Published research Nutrition ORIGINS Food AllergyOctober 2015In-utero exposures and the evolving epidemiology of paediatric allergy
This paper discusses the rising prevalence of allergic disease in children. This review article considers recent findings in the field of paediatric immune...
Published research Child Allergy & Immunology ORIGINS Food AllergyAugust 2015Consensus communication on early peanut introduction and the prevention of peanut allergy in high-risk infants
The purpose of this article is to highlight emerging evidence for existing allergy prevention guidelines regarding potential benefits of supporting early...
Asthma Published research ORIGINS Food AllergyMay 2015Mechanisms of allergic disease - environmental and genetic determinants for the development of allergy
Environmental exposures including maternal inflammation, diet, nutrient balance, microbial colonization and toxin exposures can directly and indirectly...
Published research Nutrition ORIGINS Food AllergyApril 2015Assessment of cardiometabolic risk in children in population studies: underpinning developmental origins of health and disease mother–offspring cohort studies
Pregnancy and birth cohorts have been utilised extensively to investigate the developmental origins of health and disease, particularly in relation to...
Diabetes (Type 1) Published research ORIGINS Diabetes and ObesityApril 2015Food for thought: progress in understanding the causes and mechanisms of food allergy
Treatments for food allergy are still lacking, yet progress is being made, and immunotherapy appears more effective than dietary avoidance.
Published research ORIGINS Food AllergyApril 2015Gut microbiome and innate immune response patterns in IgE-associated eczema
Gut microbiome patterns have been associated with predisposition to eczema potentially through modulation of innate immune signalling.
Published research ORIGINSMarch 2015Maternal fish oil supplementation in pregnancy: a 12 year follow-up of a randomised controlled trial.
We aimed to investigate the long-term effects (12 years) of fish oil supplementation in pregnancy on neurodevelopment, including cognition, language and fine...
Published research Early Childhood Development Nutrition ORIGINSJanuary 2015Nutritional approaches for the primary prevention of allergic disease: An update
The dramatic rise in early childhood allergic diseases indicates the specific vulnerability of the immune system to early life environmental changes.
Published research Nutrition Vitamin D and Sunlight Child Allergy & Immunology ORIGINSJanuary 2015Developing primary intervention strategies to prevent allergic disease
Allergic diseases are a major cause of morbidity in the developed world, now affecting up to 40 % of the population with no evidence that this is abating.
Published research ORIGINS Food AllergyJanuary 2015Effects of maternal n-3 fatty acid supplementation on placental cytokines, pro-resolving lipid mediators and their precursors
The aim of this study was to determine whether supplementation with fish oil-derived n-3 PUFA during pregnancy modifies modifies placental PUFA composition...
Published research Nutrition ORIGINSJanuary 2015Blood DNA methylation biomarkers predict clinical reactivity in food-sensitized infants
The diagnosis of food allergy (FA) can be challenging because approximately half of food-sensitized patients are asymptomatic.
Published research ORIGINS Food AllergyJanuary 2015Cohort profile of the HealthNuts study: Population prevalence and environmental/genetic predictors of food allergy
HealthNuts is a single-centre, multi-wave, population-based longitudinal study designed to assess prevalence, determinants, natural history and allergy...
Published research ORIGINS Food AllergyJanuary 2015World Allergy Organization-McMaster University Guidelines for Allergic Disease Prevention (GLAD-P): Probiotics
Prevalence of allergic diseases in infants, whose parents and siblings do not have allergy, is approximately 10% and reaches 20-30% in those with an allergic...
Published research ORIGINS Food AllergyJanuary 2015The maturation of immune functions in pregnancy and early childhood
This book chapter explains the maturation of immune functions during pregnancy & in early childhood, and addresses the importance of early environmental...
Published research ORIGINSJanuary 2015Prevention and Natural History of Food Allergy
The rise in food allergy is more rapid than genetic deviation would allow and the current consensus is that environmental factors integrally linked to the...
Published research ORIGINS Food AllergyDecember 2014In utero and postnatal vitamin D exposure and allergy risk
This review article examines the evidence of the impact of in utero and postnatal vitamin D exposure on allergy risk in childhood
Published research Vitamin D and Sunlight Child Allergy & Immunology ORIGINSOctober 2014Hot topics in paediatric immunology: IgE-mediated food allergy and allergic rhinitis
This article focuses on IgE-mediated food allergies and allergic rhinitis, the most commonly seen conditions in paediatric immunology.
Published research ORIGINS Food AllergyAugust 2014EAACI food allergy and anaphylaxis guidelines: diagnosis and management of food allergy
Food allergy can have significant effects on morbidity and quality of life and can be costly in terms of medical visits and treatments.
Published research Breastfeeding Nutrition ORIGINS Food AllergyAugust 2014Nutritional Influences on Epigenetic Programming. Asthma, Allergy, and Obesity
Reliance on increasing use of dietary supplementation and fortification (eg, with folate) to compensate for increased consumption of processed foods is also...
Published research Nutrition Child Allergy & Immunology ORIGINS Food AllergyJuly 2014Epigenome-wide association study reveals longitudinally stable DNA methylation differences in CD4+ T cells from children with IgE-mediated food allergy
Food allergy is mediated by a combination of genetic and environmental risk factors, potentially mediated by epigenetic mechanisms.
Published research ORIGINS Food AllergyJune 2014Epigenetics in immune development and in allergic and autoimmune diseases
This paper is a review about the importance of alterations to the DNA molecule, rather than the DNA sequence, in the development of the immune system, and...
Published research ORIGINSJune 2014Genome-wide DNA methylation profiling identifies a folate-sensitive region of differential methylation upstream of ZFP57-imprinting regulator in humans
This study identified that expsoure to folate has effects on the regulation of DNA methylation during fetal development.
Published research Nutrition Experimental Immunology ORIGINSMarch 2014Respiratory allergen from house dust mite is present in human milk and primes for allergic sensitization in a mouse model of asthma
These data highlight that antigen administration to the neonate through the oral route may contribute to child allergic sensitization and have important...
Asthma Published research ORIGINSMarch 2014Disease prevention in the age of convergence - The need for a wider, long ranging and collaborative vision
Our global health crisis and the pandemic of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) is clearly rooted in complex modern societal and environmental changes, many of...
Published research Nutrition ORIGINS Food AllergyJanuary 201425-hydroxyvitamin D3 status is associated with developing adaptive and innate immune responses in the first 6 months of life
Vitamin D status in early life has been linked to the risk of allergic disease in multiple observational studies.
Published research Vitamin D and Sunlight Child Allergy & Immunology ORIGINSNovember 2013Does docosahexaenoic acid supplementation in term infants enhance neurocognitive functioning in infancy?
The proposal that dietary docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) enhances neurocognitive functioning in term infants is controversial.
Published research ORIGINSJuly 2013Autism spectrum disorder in children born preterm: Role of exposure to perinatal inflammation
This review aims to summarise and evaluate the potential mechanisms and evidence for the role of prenatal infection on the central nervous system, and how it...
Autism Spectrum Disorders Published research Intellectual Disability Autism Research ORIGINSNovember 2012Associations between maternal antioxidant intakes in pregnancy and infant allergic outcomes
Antioxidant intakes in pregnancy may influence fetal immune programming and the risk of allergic disease.
Published research Child Allergy & Immunology ORIGINS Food AllergyNovember 2012Neonatal antigen-presenting cells are functionally more quiescent in children born under traditional compared with modern environmental conditions
One explanation for the high burden of allergic and autoimmune diseases in industrialized countries is inappropriate immune development under modern...
Published research Experimental Immunology Human Immunology Vaccine Trials Group ORIGINSAugust 2012Fish oil supplementation in early infancy modulates developing infant immune responses
Maternal fish oil supplementation during pregnancy has been associated with altered infant immune responses and a reduced risk of infant sensitization and...
Published research Child Allergy & Immunology Human Immunology ORIGINSMay 2012Ontogeny of toll-like and NOD-like receptor-mediated innate immune responses in Papua New Guinean infants
Studies addressing the ontogeny of the innate immune system in early life have reported mainly on Toll-like receptor (TLR) responses in infants living in...
Published research Child Allergy & Immunology Human Immunology ORIGINSMarch 2012Comparison of neonatal T regulatory cell function in Papua New Guinean and Australian newborns
We compared neonatal T reg from children born in western conditions (Australia) with those of neonates born in high microbial conditions (Papua New Guinea)...
Published research Child Allergy & Immunology Human Immunology ORIGINSMarch 2012A novel role for interleukin-1 receptor signaling in the developmental regulation of immune responses to endotoxin
Suggests that IL-1R1 expression provides an additional level of Myd88-dependent signaling during this period of heighted susceptibility to infection.
Published research Child Allergy & Immunology Human Immunology ORIGINSFebruary 2012T-cell activation genes differentially expressed at birth in CD4+ T-cells from children who develop IgE food allergy
To show underlying mechanisms, we examined differences in T-cell gene expression in samples at birth and at 1 year in children with and without IgE allergy.
Published research Child Allergy & Immunology Human Immunology Systems Immunology ORIGINS Food AllergyJanuary 2012The relationship between maternal folate status in pregnancy, cord blood folate levels, and allergic outcomes in early childhood
This study examined whether maternal and/or fetal folate status in pregnancy is associated with infant allergic outcomes.
Published research Child Allergy & Immunology ORIGINS Food AllergyApril 2011Preterm infants have deficient monocyte and lymphocyte cytokine responses to group B streptococcus
Group B streptococcus (GBS) is an important cause of early- and late-onset sepsis in the newborn. Preterm infants have markedly increased susceptibility...
Published research Immunisation Child Allergy & Immunology Vaccine Trials GroupMarch 2007The effects of maternal smoking on early mucosal immunity and sensitization at 12 months of age
In this study, we examined the effects of maternal smoking as a major adverse exposure in early life, on mucosal immune function and allergen sensitization...
Asthma Published research Vaccine Trials Group ORIGINS -
Awards/Honours