Human Milk and Nutrition Research Group at the University of Minnesota

Human milk and babies are meant for each other.

Breastfeeding and lactation are fundamental components of human biology and a rich source of information that we can use to promote and protect the health and well-being of parents and infants.

We employ cutting-edge technologies to probe the interplay of the social determinants of health with human biological variation to improve maternal and infant nutrition.

More about our research

Characterisation and validation of lactation information from structured electronic health records for use in pharmacoepidemiological studies
Paediatric Perinatal Epidemiology
March 2024
Assembly, stability, and dynamics of the infant gut microbiome are linked to bacterial strains and functions in mother’s milk
bioRxiv
January 2024

Human Cytomegalovirus in breast milk is associated with milk composition, the infant gut microbiome, and infant growth
bioRxiv
July 2023
Human milk variation is shaped by maternal genetics and impacts the infant gut microbiome
bioRxiv
January 2023

Revisiting one-carbon metabolites in human breast milk: Focus on S-adenosylmethionine
Nutrients
January 2023
Gestational diabetes mellitus is associated with differences in human milk hormone and cytokine concentrations in a fully breastfeeding United States cohort
Nutrients
February 2022

Infant sex differences in human milk intake and composition from 1- to 3-month post-delivery in a healthy United States cohort
Annals of Human Biology
February 2022
Human milk glucose, leptin, and insulin predict cessation of full breastfeeding and initiation of formula use
Breastfeeding Medicine
August 2021

Maternal dietary intake of total fat, saturated fat, and added sugar is associated with infant adiposity and weight status at 6 mo of age
The Journal of Nutrition
August 2021
Infants exposed to antibiotics after birth have altered recognition memory responses at one month of age
Pediatric Research
May 2021

Associations of breastfeeding or formula feeding with infant anthropometry and body composition at 6 months
Maternal and Child Nutrition
April 2021
Human milk exosomal microRNA: Associations with maternal overweight/obesity and infant body composition at 1 month of life
Nutrients
March 2021

Increasing breast milk betaine modulates Akkermansia abundance in mammalian neonates and improves long-term metabolic health
Science Translational Medicine
March 2021
Brown fat–activating lipokine 12,13-diHOME in human milk is associated with infant adiposity
The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism
February 2021

Carbohydrate composition in breast milk and its effect on infant health
Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care
January 2021
Maternal obesity and the human milk metabolome: associations with infant body composition and postnatal weight gain
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
July 2019

Association of full breastfeeding duration with postpartum weight retention in a cohort of predominantly breastfeeding women
Nutrients
April 2019
Relationship of maternal weight status before, during, and after pregnancy with breast milk hormone concentrations
Obesity
April 2019

Body composition changes from infancy to 4 years and associations with early childhood cognition in preterm and full-term children
Neonatology
June 2018
High-fructose corn-syrup-sweetened beverage intake increases 5-hour breast milk fructose concentrations in lactating women
Nutrients
May 2018

Associations of maternal weight status before, during, and after pregnancy with inflammatory markers in breast milk
Obesity
December 2017
Associations between human breast milk hormones and adipocytokines and infant growth and body composition in the first 6 months of life
Pediatric Obesity
August 2017

Maternal executive function, infant feeding responsiveness and infant growth during the first 3 months
Pediatric Obesity
August 2017

Human Milk and Nutrition Research Group at the University of Minnesota

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