There were two great sessions on breastfeeding and human milk at ASN this year, and our lab participated in both: Dr. Azad gave a presentation entitled "Breastfeeding, Human Milk Composition and the Infant Gut Microbiome: Implications for Lifelong Health" at the Science of Breastfeeding session. Postdoc Dr. Kozeta Miliku gave a presentation entitled "Human milk fatty acids and asthma development in preschool children" at the ISRHML Research in Human Milk and Lactation session. We have come back full of inspiration for new projects and collaborations in our human milk research!

Our latest breastfeeding research was featured this week on ABC news. The study, ""Association of Exposure to Formula in Hospital and Subsequent Infant Feeding Practices With Gut Microbiota and Risk of Overweight in the First Year of Life", was perfromed in collaboration with the SyMBIOTA Team and the CHILD Study, and was published in published in JAMA Pediatrics.

New results from the Azad Lab and the SyMBIOTA Team show that ​breastfeeding may contribute to protection against obesity by modifying the gut microbiota, particularly during early infancy. Among 1087 infants, earlier cessation of breastfeeding and supplementation with formula (more so than complementary foods) were associated with a dose-dependent increase in risk of overweight by age 12 months; this association was partially explained by specific gut microbiota features at 3 to 4 months. Interestingly, subtle but significant microbiota differences were observed after brief exposure to formula limited to the birth hospital stay, although these differences were not associated with overweight.

Read the study in JAMA Pediatrics and the AllerGen NCE Press Release.

Dr. Azad was an invited speaker at the "Milk Club" at the Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Conference in Toronto. Postdoc Dr. Kozeta Miliku presented a poster of her resaerch on human milk oligosaccharides and asthma in the CHILD cohort, and undergraduate medical student Alyssa Archibald presented a talk on her research about prenatal exposure to artificial sweetners in the CHILD cohort.

Dr. Azad is visiting the Mother Milk Infant Centre of Research Excellece (MoMI CoRE) at the University of California San Diego. The MoMI CoRE is dedicated to unravelling the complexity of human milk for optimal maternal and infant health by promoting excellence, synergy and innovation in research, clinical practice and education. Dr. Azad is collaborating with MoMI CoRE Director, Dr. Lars Bode, to study human milk oligosaccharides in the CHILD cohort.

Our new findings from the CHILD Study show that exclusive breastfeeding during the first few days of life is positively associated with longer-term breastfeeding, while in-hospital formula use is associated with breastfeeding for a significantly shorter duration. This association was especially strong for mothers with lower education. This study was published in Birth.  Go to the AllerGen website to see more, view the press release here, or see the article on PubMed here.

Postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Kozeta Miliku, from the Azad Lab was awarded Best Poster at the 2018 Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) Canada conference. Congratulations! 

Dr. Azad is visiting the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) in Bristol, UK. Also known as "Children of the 90's", ALSPAC is a world-leading pregnancy cohort study charting the health of 14,500 families. This incredible study has  have published over 1500 papers!

Congratulations to Dr. Meghan Azad and co-PI Dr. Jean Marshall (Dalhousie University) for receiving $742,050 in funding from CIHR. This grant will support research with the CHILD study to determine how breastfeeding can help prevent food allergies. CLICK HERE to check out all the U of M projects that were funded.