 Azad Lab Post-Doctoral Fellow, Dr. Merilee Brockway talked to Today’s Parent about the Baby Friendly Initiative (BFI) and how this may intersect with maternal experiences in the post-partum period. While she emphasized the importance of exclusive breastfeeding, she acknowledged that there are situations when formula may be necessary. We know that formula, even one bottle, can impact the infant gut microbiome. However, we also know that maternal mental health is equally important to consider when looking at infant outcomes. It is important to move from the “breast-is-best” or “fed-is-best” mantra to "informed is best" so that mothers are supported to make feeding decisions with a full understanding of the risks and benefits of both.
What is it like to be a Girl in Science? Azad Lab members participated in the annual Girls in Science Day, hosted by the Let's Talk Science Team at the University of Manitoba. They talked about what they study and why they love science to inform grade 8 girls on different career paths.
Dr. Meghan Azad, Scientific Director of the International Milk Composition Consortium (IMiC), and Natalie Rodriguez, Operations Director of IMiC, explain the dynamic and personalized nature of human milk as a biological system, and illustrate how Manitoba is pioneering global innovation in human milk research. This talk was given at the Pediatric Grand Rounds for the Max Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba.
 Azad Lab Trainee, Sarah Turner (ISRHML Trainee Mentorship Series Coordinator) brought together 4 experts (Drs. Berthold Koletzko, Deborah O'Connor, Natalie Shenker, and Nathan Nickel) in the field of human milk and lactation to discuss different ethical perspectives of engaging with industry and research. Each panelist spoke about their own experiences navigating ethical issues in human milk research, advice for trainees, and how to move the field forward to support mothers and help all babies to have the best start to life. ISRHML members can view the recording here.
 Azad Lab Trainee, Dr. Kozeta Miliku and co-authors published "Sex‐specific associations of human milk long‐chain polyunsaturated fatty acids and infant allergic conditions" in Pediatric Allergy and Immunology. They found that in female infants, a higher ratio of arachidonic acid (ARA) to docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) may reduce the risk of food sensitization and atopic dermatitis. These associations were not found in boys.
 Azad Lab Program Director Natalie Rodriguez was one of three CBC Manitoba's Future 40 finalists selected to speak at this year's Real Talk event. Future 40 panelists discussed business, science, arts, and culture. Natalie spoke about how she and the Azad Lab have adapted to working remotely during the pandemic, as well as the importance of equity, diversity and inclusion in research. Natalie was named as a finalist for CBC Manitoba Future 40 Awards in November, 2021.
 Azad Lab Trainee, Dr. Moossavi and co-authors optimized and applied culture-enriched molecular profiling to study culturable milk bacteria from human milk. The feasibility study was published in FEMS Microbiology Letters. This study was supported by the ISRHML Trainee Expansion Program and done in collaboration with the Surette Lab. Tweetorial here!
 Azad Lab trainees, Dr. Shirin Moossavi and Kelsy Fehr, published "Repeatability and reproducibility assessment in a large-scale population based microbiota study: case study on human milk microbiota" in Microbiome. This case study demonstrates the importance of their proposed quality-control framework to enhance reproducibility and reliability in low biomass microbiome research. Tweetorial here!
 Do you use artificial (non-nutritive) sweeteners? Did you use them while you were pregnant? Tracy Cassels, host of the Evolutionary Parenting Podcast, interviews Dr. Azad about her research in this field and the effects of non-nutritive sweetener use in pregnancy on babies. Listen to the interview on Soundcloud here!
 Drs. Azad and Brockway and others co-authored an article in The Conversation about the importance of breastfeeding research for advancing health and ultimately saving lives, and the counterproductive tensions that arise among researchers, advocates and industry in this field. This article stemmed from their experience co-writing a paper from a workshop about how researchers & stakeholders from different disciplines can collaborate to accelerate progress in the field of breastfeeding, lactation & human milk research. Follow the Tweetorial here!
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