Paul Bobin’s work was recently recognized with the PhD Thesis Award from the French-speaking Society for DOHaD

Paul Bobin conducted his PhD research from 2021 to 2025 within UMR PhAN, under the supervision of Marie-Cécile Alexandre-Gouabau and Gwenola Le Dréan. His research, carried out as part of the ANR GDM-MILK project, focused on the long-term effects of gestational diabetes on the health of the next generation.

Gestational diabetes affects around one on six pregancies worldwide and can increase the risk of metabolic disorders in children later in life. Paul’s research investigated whether breastfeeding and, more specifically, the composition of breast milk could influence these long-term effects.

Using an innovative rodent model, his work showed that gestational diabetes alters the mothers’s metabolism (Bobin et al., 2024, https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpendo.00396.2024), and the composition of breast milk (Bobin et al., 2026, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnutbio.2026.110421), with potential consequence for the offspring’s metabolic health. His results also revealed differences between males and females, highlighting the importance of considering sex-specific effects when studying the long-term impact of gestational diabetes [Bobin et al., in progress].

This research provides new insights into how the environment during pregnancy and early life can shape health later in life. In the longer term, it could contribute to improving nutritional and breastfeeding strategies for mothers affected by gestational diabetes and help reduce the burden of insulin resistance-related metabolic disease in future generations.

Paul Bobin is currently a postdoctoral researcher in Professor Deng’s laboratory at the Department of Molecular Biosciences, The Wenner-Gren Institute (MBW), Stockholm University.