The 10^th anniversary World Congress in Rotterdam will be focused on ‘Life course Health & Disease: Observations, experiments and interventions’. This congress will focus on the translational approaches by experimental, intervention and observational studies that have substantial implications for health throughout the life course in both high, middle and low income populations. Presentations and discussions will have great impact on preventive and health care strategies focused on young couples, pregnant women and their young children. This congress will bring together pediatricians, neonatologists, obstetricians, epidemiologists, genetic and epigenetic scientists, nutritionists, clinical researchers, public health professionals and policy leaders from around the world.

Within the main theme of the 10^th DOHaD World Congress, specific sessions during the meeting will be focused on animal and human studies, methodological approaches for life course studies and new results. We will have an exciting 4 day, state-of-the-art scientific programme in which the latest results will be presented. Specifically, the influence of critical periods of prenatal and postnatal development, nutrition and other environmental stimuli on developmental pathways will be discussed. New approaches such as epigenetic, microbiome and metabolomic mechanisms underlying DOHaD will extensively discussed. We will organize plenary sessions with a broad, general approach, along with more specific parallel sessions. Specific sessions focused on hot topics will be organized. Pre-congress workshops will be focused on important topics such as preterm birth, early nutrition interventions, life course modelling, animal programming studies, epigenetics, embryonic and early placental development.

The congress programme is focused on the fetal and developmental origins of NCDs across the life course. Main NCD related outcomes of interest include allergies, asthma and COPD, bone health and osteoporosis, brain development, cardiovascular disease, cognitive impairment, mental illnesses, obesity, preterm birth, stunting, type 2 diabetes and metabolic disturbances.