MILC Club
The MILC Club is an interdisciplinary group of researchers, trainees and knowledge users (healthcare providers and community stakeholders) who are interested in breastfeeding, human milk and lactation. We meet monthly to discuss MILC initiatives, share updates, and catalyze knowledge mobilization. Each meeting includes a presentation from a Member or Special Guest. If you are interested in joining the MILC Club or giving a Guest presentation, please contact us!
Members
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Dr. Meghan Azad | MILC co-Director and MILC Club Chair
Associate Professor, Pediatrics and Child Health, University of Manitoba Dr. Azad holds a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Developmental Origins of Chronic Disease and co-Directs the new Manitoba Interdisciplinary Lactation Centre (MILC). Her research program is focused on the role of infant nutrition and the microbiome in child growth, development and resilience. Dr. Azad co-leads the Manitoba site of the CHILD Cohort Study, a national pregnancy cohort following 3500 children to understand how early life experiences shape lifelong health. She is leading a clinical trial to improve matching procedures for preterm neonates receiving donor human milk, and directing the new International Milk Composition (IMiC) Consortium. |
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Dr. Nathan Nickel | MILC co-Director
Associate Professor, Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba Dr. Nickel is an applied population health scientist. He uses administrative data to conduct policy-focused health outcomes research as well as research into the organization of the healthcare system. Specifically, Nathan’s research interests centre on examining how the social and structural determinants impact population health and health inequities. Within this framework he has conducted evaluation research looking at programs aimed at improving child outcomes; mental health and addictions research examining outcomes associated with alcohol use disorders and methamphetamine use; and outcomes associated with interactions with provincial systems such as the justice and child welfare systems. Much of his research is done in partnership with First Nations, Metis, and Inuit organizations in Manitoba. |
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Dr. Merilee Brockway | Postdoctoral Fellow
Azad Lab, Pediatrics and Child Health, University of Manitoba Dr. Merilee (Meredith) Brockway is a PhD prepared registered nurse with expertise in maternal-child health, infant feeding, and patient engagement. She completed her PhD in nursing at the University of Calgary, examining maternal breastfeeding self-efficacy and infant feeding outcomes in moderate and late preterm infants. Merilee is currently a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Manitoba in Dr. Meghan Azad’s lab, exploring clinical applications of donor human milk for very preterm infants. Specifically, her proposed research will explore the hypothesis that in the absence of mother’s own milk, the use of donor milk matched to maternal secretor status will result in significantly more favourable microbiome diversity. Merilee is also a co-lead on the iPOP study, building on her expertise in patient and community engagement to ensure inclusiveness and meaningful exploration throughout the collaboration. Merilee’s research is funded by the Molly Towell Perinatal Research Foundation and the Garfield Weston Foundation and her research space is supported by the NorthernStar Mother’s Milk Bank. When Merilee is not researching breastfeeding and human milk, she enjoys skiing and hiking with her family, reading and drinking good coffee. |
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Ms. Sarah Turner | PhD Candidate
Azad Lab, Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba Sarah is a Vanier Scholar and PhD student in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba. Her research focuses on how breastmilk and breastfeeding contribute to child neurological development and behavioural outcomes. She is interested in how both the nutritional qualities of breastmilk and the psychological benefits of breastfeeding contribute to infant health and wellbeing. Sarah is interested in knowledge translation and how to best communicate breastfeeding research to the public. |
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Dr. Taiana M. Pierdona Martins | Postdoctoral Fellow
Kinesiology and Recreation Management, CHRIM, University of Manitoba Dr. Martins is a post-doctoral fellow at FKRM and CHRIM since Sept 2019, funded by a Research Manitoba Health Research Postdoctoral Fellowship Award. She completed a bachelor's degree in Pharmacy (2008), MS.c. in Pharmacology (2011), and a Ph.D. (2019) in Pharmacology at the Federal University of Ceara (UFC), Brazil. She has 14 years of hands-on experience in performing basic scientific research, as well as teaching pharmacology-related courses at the undergraduate level. She worked mainly in drug development, evaluating the pharmacological activity of natural products and their downstream effects. The main focus of her post-doctoral research is to decipher the role of extracellular vesicles in the breast milk of mothers with and without asthma. Dr. Christina Raimondi, MD CCFP FCFP IBCLC | Physician
Family Medicine, University of Manitoba Dr. Raimondi is a Family Doctor, a Mother to 2 daughters and an advocate for women’s rights. In 2017 she co- Founded the Winnipeg Breastfeeding Centre, the first Breastfeeding Medicine Clinic in Manitoba, and in 2018 became an IBCLC. She sees mother-infant dyads with breastfeeding challenges and guides them through this transitional and vulnerable time in their lives. She believes human milk feeding is medicine, and breastfeeding/chestfeeding is a fundamental reproductive right. With information and support, families can be confident in the postpartum period to achieve their feeding goals and create the relationship they desire with their child. Their social media platforms (@mbmilkdocs) aim to educate families and health professionals about evidence based lactation information and research. As a clinical teacher at the University of Manitoba Department of Family Medicine, her goal is also to educate physicians about human milk and Breastfeeding Medicine. The function of the breast (lactation) is often overlooked in medical schools leaving women and babies unable to access help from their physicians. With increasingly complicated pregnancies and birth, the act of feeding your baby with your body has also become more complicated. Collaboration between clinical, research and hospital policy makers are key to make a woman’s choice to feed her baby with her body an actionable one. |
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Dr. Rilwan Azeez, MD | MSc Student
Immunology Department, University of Manitoba Rilwan is a foreign-trained physician and 1st year Immunology MSc student in Dr. Meghan Azad’s lab at the University of Manitoba. He is also concurrently enrolled in the one-year Visual and Automated Disease Analytics (VADA) program. VADA trains graduate students to develop and use automated techniques and tools to collect, analyze and visualize chronic and infectious disease data. |
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Dr. Ayesha Saleem | Assistant Professor and Principal Investigator
Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management, CHRIM, University of Manitoba Dr. Saleem is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management (FKRM) at the University of Manitoba, and a Principal Investigator at the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba (CHRIM). She has expertise in molecular and cellular physiology, specializing in mitochondrial metabolism and extracellular vesicle (EV) biology. She is passionate about the therapeutic potential of pro-metabolic signaling factors mediated by endurance exercise to promote healthy aging, and attenuate chronic metabolism-related disease conditions such as cancer and diet-induced obesity. Her current research program is designed to delineate how EVs regulate the interplay between host tissues and imposed physiological challenges. These challenges can be physiological (exercise, age), metabolic (cancer, obesity), environmental (cigarette smoke) or developmental (breast milk, prenatal materno-fetal cross-talk). Dr. Saleem was recently named to CBC Manitoba’s Future 40 class of 2020 to recognize her achievements, and outstanding professional and service contributions to the community. She currently holds operating grants from SSHRC New Frontiers in Research Fund, Research Manitoba, University of Manitoba, CHRIM, Children’s Hospital Foundation (CHF), New York Academy of Sciences Interstellar initiative, and Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED). |
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Mrs. Carol Dyck | IBCLC
Douglas College Perinatal Program Carol has an extensive background in public health nursing both in Manitoba as well as BC. This work included coordinating several pilot projects in perinatal and early childhood. She has recently retired from nursing but continues to work part-time in a variety of lactation opportunities including instructor for Douglas College Perinatal Education (BC based), specifically lactation program. She is currently the chair of the Wpg Breastfeeding Network with a goal of moving to a MB wide network in order to provide opportunities for a wide collaboration of interdisciplinary lactation care providers. She has also been doing some mentoring of 2 Lactation Consultant candidates working on their clinical hours (IBCLC Pathway 3) required to write the IBCLE exam. She has a passion for supporting breastfeeding parents who are experiencing health equity challenges in accessing the support they need to meet their infant feeding goals, particularly Indigenous families. When she is not working at breastfeeding education and support, you will find her at one of several Indigenous social justice committees she is on. She is also very much looking forward to lifting of pandemic restrictions so she can watch her 2 grandsons play at one of the many sports teams they are on. |
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Ms. Bridget McGann | Graduate Student
Azad Lab, University of Manitoba and Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado Denver Bridget is a graduate student in Anthropology at the University of Colorado Denver and a Volunteer Research Assistant in the Azad Lab at the University of Manitoba. Her scientific curiosity is centered around the bio-behavioral adaptations associated with lactation in human and non-human primates. She is passionate about communicating lactation science to the public, collaboration with the medical community, and improving access to careers in science for mothers and for people with disabilities. She is currently working on a project involving breastfeeding outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Bridget holds a BA in Anthropology from Indiana University. |
More MILC Member profiles coming soon!
