Our Message

MILC Club Members present on their vision for a family-centred, collaborative approach among specialties that connects clinicians and academic researchers to ultimately overcome barriers and improve breastfeeding rates.

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. Our club includes members from the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, St. Boniface Hospital, Health Sciences Centre, Youville Community Health Centre, as well as pediatric residents. 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 at ​[email protected]!

Members

Dr. Meghan Azad, PhD | MILC Co-Director and MILC Club Chair
Professor, Pediatrics and Child Health, University of Manitoba
Dr. Azad is a Professor of Pediatrics and Child Health at the University of Manitoba, where she holds a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Developmental Origins of Chronic Disease. Her research program is focused on the role of infant nutrition and the microbiome in child growth, development and resilience. Dr. Azad co-Directs the new Manitoba Interdisciplinary Lactation Centre (MILC) and leads the International Milk Composition (IMiC) Consortium. She serves as Deputy Director of the CHILD Cohort Study, a national pregnancy cohort following 3500 children to understand how early life experiences shape lifelong health. Research in the THRiVE Discovery Lab is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the US National Institutes of Health, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Dr. Azad has previously served on the International Society for Research in Human Milk and Lactation Executive Council and currently serves on the Advisory Board to the Canadian Breastfeeding Research Network. She also serves on the joint US/Canada Human Milk Composition Initiative. Dr. Azad is a Fellow of the CIFAR Humans and the Microbiome Program and an elected member of the Royal Society of Canada College of New Scholars. She received the International Society for Research in Human Milk and Lactation Erlich-Koldovsky Early Career Investigator Award (2018) and the International Human Milk Genomics Mid-Career Investigator Award (2020). She was named among the WXN Canada Top 100 Most Powerful Women (2020) and Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 (2021), and received the prestigious Steacie Award for Research in the Natural Sciences (2023).
Dr. Karinne Cardoso Muniz, MD | MILC Club Coordinator, MSc Student
THRiVE Discovery Lab, Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, University of Manitoba
​​Dr. Karinne Cardoso Muniz coordinates the monthly MILC Club meetings. She is a Pediatrician specializing in Neonatology, with years of experience in newborn care acquired in Brazil. Currently pursuing an MSc in the Department of Pediatrics and Child Health at the University of Manitoba, she combines her clinical expertise with a research-oriented approach to contribute to breastfeeding and human milk knowledge.​
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Carol Dyck, BN, IBCLC | Youville Community Health Centre
Milk Mentors infant feeding peer support program
Carol has an extensive background in public health nursing in Manitoba and BC. This work included coordinating several pilot projects in perinatal and early childhood development. She also was a longtime instructor with Douglas College (in BC) Breastfeeding Education programs.  She has now retired from nursing and teaching but continues to support the Milk Mentors infant feeding peer support program out of Youville Community Health Centre.  She continues to volunteer with several social justice Indigenous/Settler Relations committees. She has a passion for supporting families who are experiencing health equity challenges in accessing the support they need to meet their infant feeding goals. She is currently a member of a CIHR grant team researching novel ways to provide lactation support for rural & remote areas in Manitoba.  
Kira Friesen, BA, BN, RN, MScN | Clinical Nurse Specialist
Health Sciences Centre, Women’s Health Program
​Kira has been a registered nurse at Health Sciences Centre Women’s Hospital since 2011. As a co-chair of the Manitoba Provincial Baby Friendly Initiative (BFI) Committee Kira is working with her colleagues across the province to improve patient care, breastfeeding knowledge of staff, and advocate for system level changes that will have a lasting impact on promoting, protecting, and sustaining breastfeeding for all Manitobans. Kira is also on the Board of Directors for the Breastfeeding Committee for Canada, which allows her to collaborate nationally on breastfeeding and BFI issues.  
Rachael Friesen, BA, BN, RN, IBCLC | Clinical Nurse Educator
St. Boniface Hospital and Winnipeg Regional Health Authority Baby Friendly Initiative Committees
Rachael is a registered nurse and IBCLC, working in neonatal intensive care since 2007. Over the years, she has served various roles including bedside nurse, Continuing Education Instructor, and co-chair of the St. Boniface Hospital (SBH) Baby-Friendly Initiative (BFI) Committee. As co-chair of the SBH BFI committee, and member of the WRHA, and Provincial BFI committees, she works with her colleagues to ensure that policies, education, and clinical practice guidelines equip staff to support families through their infant feeding journeys. Rachael has a passion for ensuring that lactation supports exist for premature and sick newborns and their parents, as they are particularly vulnerable to lactation and feeding difficulties and connected negative health outcomes.​
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Dr. Katherine Kearns, MD, CCFP, FCFP, IBCLC | Assistant Professor, Physician
Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba
Dr. Kearns is a Family Physician who works in Breastfeeding Medicine at the Winnipeg Breastfeeding Centre she co-founded in 2017; the first of its kind in Manitoba. She also does low risk Obstetrics, seeing moms and babies throughout the prenatal, intrapartum and postpartum periods. Needing significant support for breastfeeding difficulties with her second child, Dr. Kearns understands how important knowledge and support are to family and societal breastfeeding goals. She also regularly presents to residents and physicians in various specialties, and to students currently in medical school. Dr. Kearns was recently awarded a Manitoba Honour 150 Award, recognizing her work to educate and support Manitoba families, physicians and medical trainees about breastfeeding.
Dr. Christina Raimondi, MD, CCFP, FCFP, IBCLC | Physician
Family Medicine, University of Manitoba
Dr. Raimondi is a Family Doctor, IBCLC, 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. The Centre's social media platform (@mbmilkdocs) aims 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. 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.