Wecome to the website for the ASAB Christmas Conference 2008 to be held in London on the 4th and 5th December 2008. This year, the conference aims to bring together those with an interest in how maternal effects might act to shape the development, health and evolutionary fitness of animals and humans. Mothers can have a profound effect on their offspring’s physiological development by shaping the conditions in which their offspring start life, grow and develop. Several otherwise disparate fields of research currently share a common interest in understanding how such maternal effects on offspring fitness might arise, why they might be adaptive and what their implications are for human and animal health. This Christmas meeting aims to bring together people working on diverse aspects of maternal effects with the aim of stimulating and informing future work on all research fronts.

The ASAB Christmas Conference is one of three ASAB Conferences organised each year. Traditionally, the Christmas conference is open to all with an interest in the field. Registration is free and will be open throughout the conference. The meeting isalways held at the Institute of Zoology meeting rooms, Regent’s Park, London on the first Thursday and Friday of December. Follow the links on the left to find out more and we look forward to seeing you in December.

Emma Cunningham, Becky Kilner, Camilla Hinde.