 Image credit: JA PreventNCD and THRiVE THRiVE Director Dr. Meghan Azad, contributed an educational video to BreastFEEDucation, a newly launched free online course designed to strengthen breastfeeding counselling and education across Europe and beyond. Developed through an international collaboration, the course aims to equip healthcare professionals, students, and educators with evidence-based knowledge to better support breastfeeding families. Dr. Azad's expertise helped shape this educational resource, which is now freely available online and expected to reach learners around the world.
 Photo credit: THRiVE lab Researchers from the MuMi (Multi-omics Milk) Study gathered in Winnipeg for their second in-person Hackathon, led by Dr. Meghan Azad and co-investigator Dr. Nima Aghaeepour (Stanford University). Funded by the NIH, the study builds on two major research platforms: the International Milk Composition (IMiC) Consortium, led by Dr. Azad, and the CHILD Study, a Canadian birth cohort. The study has analyzed multiple components of human milk in 1,600 samples from mothers in the CHILD Study and uses multi-omics to uncover how milk composition affects child health. The event brought together a multidisciplinary group of 22 team members (including 9 members from THRiVE lab) to analyze MuMi study data using advanced machine learning and data science techniques. Participants collaborated intensively to identify novel patterns in milk composition that predict child growth, allergic disease and gut microbiome, offering insights that may guide personalized nutrition and public health strategies.
THRiVE Trainees Participate in Manitoba Student Health Research Forum and Poster Competition6/18/2026
 Photo credit: THRiVE lab, clockwise from top left: Rowan Shwaluk, Anne Manson, Shayna Giesbrecht (THRiVE staff), Sam Stead and Karinne Muniz. THRiVE trainees participated in the annual Manitoba Student Health Research Forum (MSHRF), on June 16–17 at the University of Manitoba’s Bannatyne Campus. The forum brings together emerging health researchers from across Manitoba to showcase their work, build professional networks, and celebrate excellence in health research through poster presentations, workshops, and awards. Congratulations to THRiVE MSc student Rowan Shwaluk, who received both a Manitoba Medical Service Foundation (MMSF) Poster Award and a Manitoba Medical College Foundation (MMCF) Graduate Student Travel Award. THRiVE was also proudly represented by postdoc trainees Anne Manson and Sam Stead, and MSc student Karinne Muniz. Their participation highlights the talent and innovation within the THRiVE lab.
 Photo credit: University of Manitoba THRiVE Director, Dr. Meghan Azad, has received the James House Memorial Award for Excellence in Postdoctoral Mentoring, presented by the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies at the University of Manitoba. The award honours the legacy of Dr. James “Jim” House, a respected researcher, educator, and mentor. The nomination was led by THRiVE postdoctoral fellows Sam Stead, Anne Manson, Kozeta Miliku, and Merilee Brockway, who described the many ways Dr. Azad has supported their professional development and fostered a positive and inclusive research environment. The award recognizes her contributions to postdoctoral training and mentorship.
 Photo credit: THRiVE website, human-milk.com THRiVE is pleased to announce that THRiVE Director, Dr. Meghan Azad, has been appointed Science Advisor for Human Milk. Human Milk is an organization built on 11 years of harnessing the influence of fashion, media, art and pop culture to deliver products, knowledge and community that connect, embolden and support mothers all over the world. Dr. Azad will help guide the sharing of both established research and emerging discoveries related to breastmilk and breastfeeding.
 Image credit: THRiVE website, Research Manitoba THRiVE congratulates Sam Stead on receiving a Research Manitoba Postdoctoral Fellowship. This annual award supports outstanding postdoctoral researchers as they prepare for careers as independent investigators and recognizes their contributions to advancing impactful research in Manitoba. The fellowship helps develop, attract, and retain highly qualified researchers with innovative skills while strengthening Manitoba’s research capacity. This fellowship will allow Sam to continue her training in exploring how maternal stress influences milk composition and, in turn, child health. We are proud of Sam’s achievement and look forward to her continued research success and contributions to the THRiVE lab.
 Photo Credit: Amy Barcenas, used with permission. On Friday June 5th, THRiVE team member Bridget McGann delivered the closing plenary at the 2026 USBC National Breastfeeding Conference & Convening in Bethesda, Maryland. The talk, entitled “Humanity’s First Food: Breastfeeding and Human Milk as a Keystone of Planetary Health,” presented human milk and breastfeeding as a natural resource in need of protection and conservation, a buffer against food insecurity for children under five, a low-carbon green food, a source of food sovereignty, and an emerging technology ethics frontier. It closed with a call for a focus on local initiatives, community, and imagining possible futures as an exercise in hope and resilience. Companion materials are available at thrivediscovery.ca/humanitysfirstfood.
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