HeLTI is a global consortium supported by CIHR, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, India’s Department of Biotechnology, and the Medical Research Council (South Africa), in partnership with the World Health Organization. With an initial investment of $50 million, the initiative spans Canada, China, India, and South Africa. The program evaluates a comprehensive, multi-sectoral intervention beginning preconception and continuing through pregnancy and early childhood. Its goals are to reduce childhood adiposity, enhance early child development, and lower the risk of non-communicable diseases (www.helti.org). The HeLTI-India trial, conducted in rural Mysore in collaboration with Drs. Kumaran and Kumar, completed recruitment of more than 5,600 women prior to conception in February 2026. Intervention delivery, follow-up and outcome analyses are ongoing, with completion anticipated by 2032. In addition to deep clinical phenotyping, the study includes extensive longitudinal biospecimen collection, enabling detailed mechanistic investigations.
