The International Congress of Infant Studies -or in short ICIS 2022 – took place in the beautiful Canadian capital city Ottawa. The conference set the stage for an inspiring three-day program within an international and interdisciplinary scientific environment that saw theoretical and methodological exchanges and discussions. The DPB lab was well represented by the attendees Carolina, Roseriet, Stefania & Yvonne. Carolina & Stefania organized a symposium dedicated to COVID-19 pandemic effects on young parents and their newborns, and presented the research from the COPE study. Roseriet presented several findings from research on the effects of war exposure prior to conception and its effects on the new mothers and children development, research on caregiving quality in mothers and fathers, insights into skin-to-skin interventions, and the consequences of returning to work after maternity leave on breastmilk composition. Yvonne gave a talk on the gut microbiota and its associations with children’s executive functioning. In addition to a rich scientific program, lunch and dinner meetings were organized with researchers from all over the world, providing network opportunities. Our researchers also did some sightseeing of Ottawa and other neighboring cities, Toronto, Montreal, Gatineau. All in all, this was the first post-pandemic in-person conference overseas and an amazing experience.