Meghan Azad, PhD
@meghanazad.bsky.social
Scientist/Adventurer. @CRC_CRC Developmental Origins of Health & Disease. @UManitoba @CHRIManitoba @CHILDStudy #THRiVElab #Breastmilk #Microbiome #NatureSelfies www.thrivediscovery.ca
It's a lovely article @meghanazad.bsky.social 😊 Publishing data did lead to positive change in Manitoba! Here's the cited article in #IntBreastfeedJ link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Impact of discontinuation of lactation consultant program on early infant feeding in Manitoba - International Breastfeeding Journal
Background Lactation Consultants (LC) at Health Sciences Centre (HSC) and St Boniface General Hospitals (SBGH) supported the lactation of 2/3 of Manitoba newborns since 1994. The LC program in HSC was...
link.springer.com
Meghan Azad, PhD@meghanazad.bsky.social · 8mo agoResearch + Advocacy teaming up for real impact! Next, we are advocating for: - Free breast pump loan program - Milk Mentors program expansion - Insurance coverage for lactation care and pumps - Lactation spaces on campus ... and we need help in many forms. DM me if you'd like to contribute!
Research + Advocacy teaming up for real impact! Next, we are advocating for: - Free breast pump loan program - Milk Mentors program expansion - Insurance coverage for lactation care and pumps - Lactation spaces on campus ... and we need help in many forms. DM me if you'd like to contribute!
U of M Rady Faculty@um-radyfhs.bsky.social · 8mo agoResearchers from UM's Max Rady College of Medicine helped lead an advocacy campaign, backed by research data, that resulted in the announcement of permanent funding for Manitoba's lactation consultant program, which had its funding cut in 2018. umtoday.ca/stories/um-r... @umanitoba.bsky.social
New research integrates longitudinal multiomic data to show 🤱🏾 how mom shape baby's microbiome 👶🏾 how baby shapes mom's milk ⏩It's a 2-way street!⏪ Proud to be a coauthor on this exciting work, led by @trenton.phd & his amazing student @lishideng.bsky.social - w/ milk data from our #IMiC consortium
Cell Press@cellpress.bsky.social · 10mo agoMoms shape infant gut microbes, but infants shape milk back. Longitudinal data from Burkina Faso reveal a bidirectional microbial dialogue across early life. spkl.io/63325AiLAL @lishideng.bsky.social @carllachat.bsky.social @trenton.phd @cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social
We're inviting teachers in grades 1-3 to test drive lessons about baby mammals and their mothers’ milk! These lessons use stories and simple activities to help students learn about growth, nutrition, and introduce the concepts of taxonomy and adaptation. #EduSky #iTeachBio #EduSci #EvoEd 🧪 🛟
Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️@bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · last yr.In our lab we are working on materials for teaching breastfeeding in K-12. 🤱🏿 is: 🐘 Mammalogy 👧🏼 Growth 🧬 Evolution 🍎 Nutrition ✋🏽 Social studies ...To that end, I have made a list of mind-blowing #LactFacts for grade 1-3(+i) teachers! docs.google.com/document/d/1... #AnatEd #EduSky #TeacherSky 🧪🩺
A great conversation - thank you for the opportunity! #breastfeeding #humanmilk #breastmilk #microbiome 🧪 🤱🏻
GenoWrite@genowrite.bsky.social · 11mo agoGenoWrite is back with a new interview! This time, we spoke with @meghanazad.bsky.social, Professor of Pediatrics and Child Health at @umanitoba.bsky.social about breast milk in infants. You'll read about the microbiome, asthma, and helpful advice about breastfeeding. genowrite.com/breast-milk-...
Media bias against women doesn’t just hurt female scientists’ careers; it also biases the information that gets the the public. For example, my field, lactation science, is likely a thing you just now learned exists. www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪 🛟 🩺 #BlueSci #MedSky #WomenInSci #SciMoms
When women researchers publish, media attention doesn’t always follow
Men-led papers receive more media coverage than women’s, new study finds
science.org
What a Trailblazer, indeed. I had the honour of meeting Ruth Lawrence during a visit to the @urochester.bsky.social in 2019. We met 🌟in her office🌟. She was 95! RIP Ruth. www.urmc.rochester.edu/news/story/r...
Ruth A. Lawrence, MD, 1924–2025: A Trailblazer in Lactation Medicine and Child Health
A pediatrician and internationally recognized leader in breastfeeding science, Lawrence passed away at the age of 101. During a career spanning more than seven decades at the University of Rochester M...
urmc.rochester.edu
Intriguing New Research on Milk Stem Cells: In mice, stem cells from maternal milk can migrate to pups’ brains, where they appear to integrate and differentiate after an ischemic (stroke-like) injury. doi.org/10.1038/s415...
In love with my first commissioned art piece! 😍🦠🧪 I've had the breast for a while. My new office configuration was begging for a 'companion' so I checked out the artist's other pieces - all gorgeous, but none quite right (though if you study the brain, heart, gut, spine... you are in luck!) ...
Breastmilk components associated with a child’s early neurodevelopment: new CHILD research in @FrontNutrition from Sarah Turner & @meghanazad.bsky.social @umanitoba @CHRIManitoba #NationalBreastfeedingWeek childstudy.ca/breastmilk-a...
🚨 New #THRiVElab paper!🚨 (Just in time for #NationalBreastfeedingWeek 🍁🤱🏽 ) Led by PhD student Sarah Turner, we explored how human milk fatty acids & oligosaccharides relate to infant neurodevelopment in the @childcohortstudy.bsky.social. 🔗 www.frontiersin.org/journals/nut...
It's #NationalBreastfeedingWeek! Our MILC team is hosting info booths at public libraries this week in Winnipeg to celebrate. More about MILC: www.milcresearch.com
A Genetic Atlas of the Mammary Gland 🧬🤱🐭 New research from @geula.bsky.social & team shows shifts in gene activity across pregnancy → lactation → weaning. This new 'atlas' provides new avenues for studying lactation disorders and breast cancer. academic.oup.com/nar/article/...
We are reopening this search - apply now! viprecprod.ad.umanitoba.ca/DEFAULT.ASPX...
viprecprod.ad.umanitoba.ca
Meghan Azad, PhD@meghanazad.bsky.social · last yr.🚨 Job Alert! 🚨 We're hiring a Research Project Manager to join our #THRiVElab team at U. Manitoba. 📍 Winnipeg or Remote (in Canada) 💰 Up to $85k 🔗 Apply: www.umanitoba.ca/careers (#38881) 🌐 About us: www.thrivediscovery.ca/staff-positi... Know someone perfect for this? Please boost or share! 🙏
If you missed it live - the #GloMiNe2025 talk recordings are now available! Kudos to the organizers for the fancy editing (cited papers and website links are embedded for easy clicking🪄) Here's mine: cassyni.com/events/TkwUV...
Cassyni | Science starts with a seminar
Seamlessly organise, run and publish academic research seminars. Get started in minutes.
cassyni.com
Meghan Azad, PhD@meghanazad.bsky.social · last yr.All set for tomorrow! Happy to be joining Maria Gloria Dominguez Bello, @gilbertjacka.bsky.social, David A. Mills, Thomas Sharpton & others for the Microbiome Virtual International Forum. Registration is 🌟free🌟 for everyone, everywhere - join us!
Today at #MILCclub we are learning from Dr. Daniel Robinson about his team's new sensor technology for measuring milk volume during #breastfeeding 🧪🤱🏾 Check out their research here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#AGBTPH25 MA: up to 20% of baby deaths caused by suboptimal breastfeeding. lower risk of SIDS, respiratory infections, other issues. Human milk is a superfood, baby's first vaccine. Milk changes based on signals from baby
WOW. Learning about the #Nutrition for Precision Health initiative at #AGBTPH25. This massive study involves 8000 people tracked w/ wearables, CGM, blood & stool multi-omics, controlled feeding trials, and novel methods (apps & eye cameras!) for tracking diet. 🤯 nutritionforprecisionhealth.org
Nutrition for Precision Health
nutritionforprecisionhealth.org
Taking the stage at #AGBTPH25 this morning to propose Human Milk as Precision Health 🤱🏻🧪💫 (Following a great Women's Networking breakfast!)
Meghan Azad, PhD@meghanazad.bsky.social · last yr.Excited to nerd out about #genomics at my first @agbt.bsky.social meeting! 🧬🧪 My first love in science (long before breastmilk!) was genetics. In Grade 11, I borrowed the Cell Biology textbook over summer. In Grade 12, I did my final English project (a magazine on any topic) on DNA. #AGBTPH2025
All set for tomorrow! Happy to be joining Maria Gloria Dominguez Bello, @gilbertjacka.bsky.social, David A. Mills, Thomas Sharpton & others for the Microbiome Virtual International Forum. Registration is 🌟free🌟 for everyone, everywhere - join us!
Microbiome Virtual International Forum@microbiomevif.bsky.social · last yr.✨Pacific Session speakers✨ Gloria Dominguez-Bello Adrian Egli Safarina Malik @meghanazad.bsky.social Thomas Sharpton @gilbertjacka.bsky.social David Mills Kate Bowerman Takuji Yamada @fzmarques.bsky.social @calumwalsh.bsky.social 3/3
Excited to nerd out about #genomics at my first @agbt.bsky.social meeting! 🧬🧪 My first love in science (long before breastmilk!) was genetics. In Grade 11, I borrowed the Cell Biology textbook over summer. In Grade 12, I did my final English project (a magazine on any topic) on DNA. #AGBTPH2025
DYK that mothers' milk has a circadian rhythm, providing dynamic signals to baby? 🤱🏻🕧🕐 New study shows: - Cortisol peaks in early am ('wake up!' 😀) - Melatonin peaks late at night ('sleepy time' 😴) Moms who pump may want to label & feed am/pm milk separately. www.frontiersin.org/journals/nut...
Frontiers | Day/night fluctuations of breast milk bioactive factors and microbiome
IntroductionHuman breast milk is a sophisticated and complex biological fluid that provides crucial nutritional, immunological, and microbial benefits to inf...
frontiersin.org
New study: breastfeeding by mothers with COVID did *NOT* transmit infection to their newborns, whether feeding at the breast or providing pumped milk. bmcresnotes.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
Impact of maternal feeding practices on neonates born to mothers infected with COVID-19: a retrospective cohort study in Sichuan Province - BMC Research Notes
Objective To investigate the impact of different feeding methods on the manifestation of novel coronavirus infection symptoms in newborns following maternal infection with the novel coronavirus. Resul...
bmcresnotes.biomedcentral.com
Big congrats to #THRiVElab MSc student, Karinne Cardoso Muniz for receiving a studentship from @researchmb.bsky.social & @chrimanitoba.bsky.social! 👏🏻 Karinne is studying immune proteins in human colostrum together with our partners at the Aga Khan University in Pakistan. Stay tuned for results!
@researchmb.bsky.social · last yr.We are excited to announce the recipients of the 2025 Studentships & Fellowships. Thanks to the support of our partners, $1.41 million has supported 64 awards, spanning a range of disciplines & career stages. Please join us in congratulating these researchers! researchmanitoba.ca/research-man...
Proud of our new #THRiVElab postdoc Anne Manson for winning a fellowship from @researchmb.bsky.social & @chrimanitoba.bsky.social 👏🏻 Stay tuned for exciting new research on a powerful but rarely studied component of human milk: oxylipins.
@researchmb.bsky.social · last yr.We are excited to announce the recipients of the 2025 Studentships & Fellowships. Thanks to the support of our partners, $1.41 million has supported 64 awards, spanning a range of disciplines & career stages. Please join us in congratulating these researchers! researchmanitoba.ca/research-man...
Wrapping up an unforgettable family vacation in #Iceland 🔥🧊⛰️ Met long-lost relatives, stumbled upon the biggest cultural festival of the year, explored countless waterfalls & volcanoes, and even experienced a hurricane! An incredible place for #NatureSelfies!
New study involving over 300,000 children shows #breastfeeding could help prevent early puberty. Reminds me of the "lactocrine programming" hypothesis that I first learned about from pig research: maternal milk impacts reproductive health over the lifespan. www.cbc.ca/news/health/...
Breastfeeding could help prevent early puberty in girls and boys, South Korean study finds | CBC News
Girls and boys who were exclusively breastfed showed a reduced risk of early puberty in a large new study from South Korea that Canadian doctors say could apply here.
cbc.ca
Join us on Sept 11!
Microbiome Virtual International Forum@microbiomevif.bsky.social · last yr.✨Pacific Session speakers✨ Gloria Dominguez-Bello Adrian Egli Safarina Malik @meghanazad.bsky.social Thomas Sharpton @gilbertjacka.bsky.social David Mills Kate Bowerman Takuji Yamada @fzmarques.bsky.social @calumwalsh.bsky.social 3/3