Project with THRiVE Collaborators funded by CIHR National Women's Health Research Initiative10/9/2024
 Image credit: Garry Shen A CIHR National Women's Health Research Initiative grant involving many THRiVE collaborators has been funded. The project is titled, Protecting and supporting breastfeeding and lactation equity in Manitoba through community-integrated education and care using novel technologies, culturally safe and gender affirming approaches. The project is led by Dr. Garry Shen and will expand the Milk Mentors program, develop a lactation course for health care providers, and create a 'lactation support hub' for the province.
THRiVE Director interviewed by CTV News about new study on breastfeeding and the microbiome10/1/2024
 Photo credit: CTV News THRiVE Director Meghan Azad was interviewed by CTV News about a new study on breastfeeding and the microbiome. She also described the new MILC research study, open for recruitment as of October 2024. Read more here.
THRiVE Lab welcomes new graduate students Karinne Cardoso Muniz (right) and Rowan Schwaluk (left) for Fall 2024 at the University of Manitoba.
Karinne is a Pediatrician specializing in Neonatology with years of experience in newborn care acquired in Brazil. She is pursuing a MSC in the Department of Pediatrics and Child Health. She combines her clinical expertise with a research-oriented approach to contribute to breastfeeding and human milk knowledge. Rowan comes to THRiVE with a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology from the University of Manitoba. Her Honours project explored cancer proliferation and methods to better study the over expression of Alu RNA in cancer cells. Rowan was previously part of the THRiVE team as a CHRIM Summer Studentship recipient, studying variables in human milk nutrition. Rowan is now pursuing a MSc in Immunology to continue investigating the dynamics of human milk composition.  The IMiC Consortium, directed by THRiVE Director Meghan Azad, held its second in-person meeting from September 11-12th 2023, at Stanford University, USA. The group focused on discussing and interpreting the latest results ahead of knowledge translation activities. Several important IMiC milestones have been achieved including assay development and validation, analysis of nutrients and bioactives on nearly 2000 human milk samples, extensive data harmonization and development of machine learning pipelines. Publications to date include a series of 3 systematic reviews on breastmilk nutrients and bioactives on child growth and body composition and a proof-of-concept study on machine learning for predicting infant head circumference from maternal milk composition. Stay tuned for more updates from the IMiC Consortium as the group prepare to publish their new results!
 Photo credit: Cell THRiVE Director Dr. Meghan Azad, along with THRiVE analyst Kelsey Fehr and collaborator Liat Shenav of New York University and the CHILD Study team, published Microbial colonization programs are structures by breastfeeding and guide healthy respiratory development in Cell. This paper explores the nasal and gut microbiomes, maternal milk composition, and breastfeeding characteristics of 2,227 children in the CHILD Cohort Study. Tweetorial
  Photo credit: Nature Communications THRiVE Director Dr. Meghan Azad, along with former THRiVE postdoc Dr. Kozeta Miliku and the CHILD Study team, published Human milk oligosaccharides are associated with maternal genetics and respiratory health of human milk-fed children in the Nature Communications. This paper explores the mother-milk-infant "triad" that has evolved to protect and nourish babies, and how HMO's are produced during lactation along with the genes that drive the process. The project was a collaboration with Dr. Lars Bode at UC San Diego and Dr. Qingling Duan at Queen's University. Tweetorial
 Imagine credit: The Economist THRiVE Director Dr. Meghan Azad was interviewed by the Economist for a piece titled: Breast milk's benefits are not limited to babies. The article provides a deep dive into cutting edge research in milk science.
 Photo credit: Red River College, Science of early Development course THRiVE Director Meghan Azad was interviewed by Red River College for their Science of Early Development course. She was featured in 5 topics areas: early brain development research, genes and environments, monitoring early child development, womb as environment, and nutrition. A complete list of links to the interview clips can be found on our resource page. Please note these resources are only available in select provinces.
 Rowan Shwaluk, a THRiVE Summer Student, showcased her research project titled “Understanding the Predictors of Human Milk Composition Variation with an Observational Approach” at the CHRIM Summer Research Rounds on August 27th, 2024. Her project analyzed data from The International Milk Composition (IMiC) Consortium. Congratulations to Rowan for delivering an engaging and insightful presentation!
 Credit: promotional graphic created by THRiVE and shared on Reddit. Personal selfies shared by event collaborators on X (Twitter). From left to right: Ryan Pace, Meghan Azad, and Bridget McGann. In honor of World Breastfeeding Week, THRiVE and MILC teamed up with the “r/AskScience, forum on Reddit to host an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session with lactation researchers hailing from the fields of biochemistry, epidemiology, microbiology, neonatology, family medicine, nursing, epigenetics, and biological anthropology. This was a valuable opportunity to take a step back from our day-to-day work and get a snapshot of what the general public is thinking and wondering about breast milk and lactation. Our expert panelists were impressed with how thoughtful and informed the Redditors’ questions were (over 90 in total!) - ranging from lactation pharmacology, antibodies in donor milk and risks/benefits of formula, to infant feeding controversies, lactation-related misinformation, and trans lactation... and much more! This AMA Session was part of our knowledge mobilization efforts at MILC & THRiVE recognizing that public science engagement is a crucial strategy for combating misinformation, increasing interest and accessibility to careers in science, and increasing public support for research funding as well as for public policies that improve reproductive and child health.
The participants were:
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Photos from wuestenigel, rabello_
