 (left) Anne Manson, (right) Karinne Muniz MILC Club proudly congratulates members Dr. Anne Manson and Dr. Karinne Muniz on receiving competitive 2025 Research Manitoba awards. Anne was awarded a Postdoctoral Fellowship, supporting her continued training toward a career as an independent researcher in the area of human milk oxylipins. Karinne received a Master’s Studentship Award, recognizing her contributions to impactful research on the immunomodulatory components of human colostrum. We are grateful to Research Manitoba and CHRIM (Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba) for their commitment to supporting the development of highly qualified talent in our province. These awards were co-funded by both organizations.
 Credit: https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio MILC director, Dr. Meghan Azad, spoke with Faith Fundal of CBC Radio's Up To Speed about some of the barriers parents who breastfeed face and how Canada compares to other countries around the world when it comes to the stigma surrounding public breastfeeding. The interview took place during World Breastfeeding Week, August 1-7, 2025. To listen to the entire conversation, please follow the link to CBC Manitoba.
 Left to right: Dr. Meghan Azad, Bridget McGann, Dr. Ryan Pace, Dr. Miena Hall. On August 1st, MILC Club members and colleagues hosted the second annual Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on the r/AskScience forum on Reddit ahead of World Breastfeeding Week. This is an opportunity to take a step back from our day-to-day work and get a snapshot of what the general public is wondering about lactation science. The event received about 81,000 views, 98 shares, and 32 questions. As with last year, the panelists were impressed with Redditors’ thoughtfulness, and their questions reflected a strong public appetite for lactation science. Participants asked about a wide range of topics including the adaptive and mechanistic biology of milk production and composition; breastfeeding and infant sleep; gaps in research, medical training, and support; factors influencing supply; and safety questions about toxins, microplastics, and medications. This event is part of our broader knowledge translation initiatives, and helps us address misinformation, increase interest in careers in lactation science, and foster public support for both research funding and breastfeeding-supportive public policy.
 Photo credit: Public Health On Call MILC Director Dr. Meghan Azad was featured on the Public Health On Call podcast hosted by Lindsay Smith Rogers, MA. In the episode Dr. Azad explains the chemical compounds that make human breast milk unique from other mammals, the opportunities to build more community support for breastfeeding, and the benefits of lactation for mothers. You can listen here: Public Health On Call, Bluesky
 Dr. Meghan Azad recently delivered the keynote address at the Lactation and Infant Feeding (LIFE) Workshop hosted by Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Her presentation, Milk-Multi-Omics: the CHILD Cohort, IMiC Consortium & Beyond, launched the two-day event, which brought together researchers and experts to explore a wide range of topics in human milk science.
 A new study involving several MILC Club members links the 2018 discontinuation of the Lactation Consultant (LC) program at Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre (HSC) to lower breastfeeding rates and increased formula use across Manitoba. Researchers analyzed data from over 126,000 births (2014–2021) and found that First Nations and remote-living infants experienced the most significant declines in breastfeeding—up to three times greater than other groups. In contrast, infant feeding rates remained stable at St. Boniface General Hospital, where the LC program continued. The study underscores the critical role of LC support in promoting breastfeeding equity, especially among vulnerable populations.
 Back row (left to right): Daniel Flores-Orozco, Sarah Bridgman, Zahra Nouri, Deane Noseworthy, Roxanne Myslicki, Carol Dick, Michelle Olivson, Kelly Fitzmaurice, Katherine Kearns, Christina Raimondi, Aislinn Hasty. Front row (left to right): Larissa Lotoski, Spencer Ames, Rowan Shwaluk, Meghan Azad (chair), Sarah Turner, Karinne Muniz (MILC Club coordinator). On May 28 2025, MILC Club members and THRiVE lab guests gathered in person in Winnipeg to share updates and exchange ideas on a range of initiatives supporting infant feeding and maternal health. Highlights included updates on the Milk Mentors program, the Community Breast Pump Library, and enhanced Indigenous engagement efforts, led by the Youville Team. Discussions also included ongoing breastfeeding education, quality improvement initiatives, community and system-level collaborations led by the Winnipeg Breastfeeding Centre, and updates from the MILC Proof-of-Concept Study. The group also brainstormed impactful ways to utilize a potential significant donation, aiming to further strengthen their support for families across Manitoba.
 MILC members along with a multidisciplinary team of scientists have published the International Milk Composition (IMiC) Consortium study protocol to better understand the complex makeup of human milk and its role in infant growth, immunity, and development. By combining expertise from nutrition, global health, and data science, the consortium aims to conduct the most comprehensive, standardized analysis of human milk to date—spanning low-, middle-, and high-resource settings—to guide new strategies for improving maternal and child health worldwide. The protocol brings together 36 authors affiliated to 33 institutions to describe the analysis of 1946 human milk samples from 1040 mother-infant dyads spanning 4 countries in 3 continents. The protocol paper is a great achievement for IMiC! Read the Tweetorial here.
 We’re excited to announce the official launch of the Community Pump Library - supported by MILC, in partnership with Youville Community Health Centre. Each pump is delivered with a personal drop-off appointment that includes usage guidance, and follow-up support is available within 48 hours. Families also have access to a Milk Mentor for breastfeeding help, and each pump comes with a collapsible wash basin and a laminated resource binder. Already serving the Winnipeg community, the program has seen strong demand since its soft launch in February and has received positive feedback from parents and care providers. We're proud to support this initiative that offers practical, wraparound care.
MILC director highlights the unmatched benefits of breastfeeding for infant health and development4/8/2025
 Credit: epsiloon.com In the French scientific magazine Epsiloon, the article 'Allairtement: Quels sont les bienfaits démontrés?' features Dr. Azad emphasizing the unparalleled benefits of breastfeeding, highlighting its unique ability to adapt to a baby’s changing nutritional and immune needs. Unlike formula, which remains static, breastmilk evolves to provide the right balance of nutrients and antibodies as a baby grows, offering tailored immune protection and fostering a healthy gut microbiome. While breastfeeding can present challenges, when possible, it remains the gold standard for infant nutrition, offering irreplaceable health benefits that formula cannot replicate.
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