THRiVE hosts Reddit AMA for World Breastfeeding Week

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:

• Meghan Azad, PhD - Director of THRiVE & MILC
• Bridget McGann - Biological Anthropologist & Knowledge Translation Consultant at THRiVE & MILC
• Karinne Cardoso Muniz, MD - Neonatologist & MSc Student at THRiVE & MILC
• Christina Raimondi, MD, IBCLC, NABBLM-C - MILC member & Co-Founder/CEO at the Winnipeg Breastfeeding Centre
• Sanoji Wijenayake, PhD - MILC member & Assistant Professor at University of Winnipeg
• Ryan Pace, PhD - Assistant Director of the Biobehavioral Lab at the Health Microbiomes Institute, University of South Florida
• Emma Bhakuni - Neonatal Clinical Support Worker, NHS Foundation Trust in the UK
• Raha Afshariani, MD, IBCLC - Canadian Lactation Consultant Association