# MOMMY study profile: An integrative early‐life multi‐omics cohort in China

## TL;DR

The MOMMY study is a large Chinese birth cohort investigating how microbiota transmission from parents to infants affects child health and development.

## Contribution

MOMMY is the first large-scale, multi-omics cohort in China to study microbiota transmission and its long-term health impacts in an understudied population.

## Key findings

- MOMMY collects longitudinal biospecimens and environmental data from 20,000 families across diverse regions in China.
- The cohort integrates multi-omics data to explore how microbial and molecular factors influence child development and disease risk.
- MOMMY fills a critical gap in global microbiome research by focusing on an understudied Asian population.

## Abstract

Large‐scale, prospective birth cohorts capturing the complex interplay between the gut microbiome, host biology, and environmental exposures are crucial to understanding early‐life health but remain scarce, particularly within Asian populations. To address this gap, we established the MOMMY cohort (The MOther‐infant Microbiota transmission and its link to long terM health of babY), a large, prospective birth cohort uniquely designed to investigate maternal‐paternal‐infant microbiota transmission and its impact on child health within the understudied Chinese population. MOMMY aims to recruit 20,000 families from three geographically and economically diverse regions across China. This cohort prospectively follows pregnant mothers, fathers, and their infants, with children up to 7 years of age. Since September 2019, we have systematically collected a comprehensive repository of longitudinal biospecimens—including maternal and infant stool, breast milk, cord blood, and parental blood—stored in an accredited biobank. This is complemented by extensive data on environmental exposures, diet, and health outcomes gathered through validated questionnaires and physician assessments. The MOMMY cohort's unique value lies in its unprecedented scale, geographic diversity, and its integrative multi‐omics design, which will combine metagenomic, metabolomic, immunologic, and epigenetic data. By creating this unique resource, MOMMY will elucidate how early‐life microbial and molecular trajectories, shaped by genetic and environmental factors, influence child development and disease risk, thereby filling a critical gap in global microbiome research.

MOMMY cohort (The MOther‐infant Microbiota transmission and its link to long terM health of babY) is a large, prospective birth cohort uniquely designed to investigate maternal‐paternal‐infant microbiota transmission and its impact on child health within the understudied Chinese population. MOMMY aims to recruit 20,000 families from three geographically and economically diverse regions across China. This cohort prospectively follows pregnant mothers, fathers, and their infants, with children up to 7 years of age.

MOMMY cohort (The MOther‐infant Microbiota transmission and its link to long terM health of babY) is a large, prospective birth cohort.Since September 2019, we have systematically collected a comprehensive repository of longitudinal biospecimens and extensive environmental data.MOMMY will elucidate how early‐life microbial and molecular trajectories, shaped by genetic and environmental factors, influence child development and disease risk, thereby filling a critical gap in global microbiome research.

MOMMY cohort (The MOther‐infant Microbiota transmission and its link to long terM health of babY) is a large, prospective birth cohort.

Since September 2019, we have systematically collected a comprehensive repository of longitudinal biospecimens and extensive environmental data.

MOMMY will elucidate how early‐life microbial and molecular trajectories, shaped by genetic and environmental factors, influence child development and disease risk, thereby filling a critical gap in global microbiome research.