Epigenetic and development: International workshop in beautiful Erice

So, for the third year in a row, I am back to Erice (little village in Sicily, Italy) to talk about prematurity, behavioral epigenetics, the power of parent-infant interaction and early intervention during and after NICU stay. The title of the workshop organized by Pierfrancesco Ferrari and Stefano Parmigiani this is year is: "Epigenetics in Cognition: Developmental and Evolutionary Perspective". The workshop is going to take place in September, 25-29 2018. I will update you on what I will learn from this international special meeting.

This year I have the honour of being an invited speaker among super-star colleagues such as Takao Hensch, Elena Battaglioli, Stephen Suomi and Moshe Szyf. Super-cool! I will talk about brand new findings from the longitudinal Preterm Behavioral Epigenetics research project at the 0-3 Center for the at-Risk Infant, with updates from the 4-year cohort including different biomarkers (e.g., DNA methylation and telomere length regulation) as well as multiple outcome measures (e.g., HPA axis programming, stress regulation, behavioral development, brain growth). The main pathway through which I will organize my discourse will be "wires" and "choices": human connections as they contribute to shape who we are and who we are going to be; and human choices as special developmental moments in which developmental trajectories can change, benefiting from the environment and leading to biological and behavioral creativity in life.

Consistently, here you find a sneak peek from my presentation. A brief clip from the movie "Mr Nobody", with which I will conclude my talk in Erice.

Enjoy.