Understanding what's in breast milk and how it affects babies
Official title: The Multi-Omic Milk (MuMi) Study: Leveraging the IMiC Platform and the CHILD Cohort to study human milk as a biological system and understand its composition, determinants and impacts on child health
Funded at University of Manitoba · NIH-11139437 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Researchers are looking at many parts of breast milk from mothers and infants to see how milk ingredients relate to babies' growth, immunity, and allergy risk.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Manitoba NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Winnipeg, Canada) |
| Project start | August 12, 2022 |
| Project end | July 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $545,085 |
| NIH project number | 5R01HD109859-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11139437 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are breastfeeding mothers and their infants or young children who can provide milk samples and health information, especially families enrolled in or near the CHILD cohort.
✕Less likely to help
Families who do not breastfeed or who seek immediate clinical treatment rather than contributing to research findings may not receive direct benefit from participation.
What this research studies
This project combines the International Milk Composition (IMiC) network and the Canadian CHILD birth cohort to treat breast milk as a complex biological system. Scientists will analyze milk from about 1,600 mother–baby pairs for sugars, fats, proteins, bacteria, and thousands of metabolites using modern multi-omic methods. They will link those milk measurements to child health records such as growth, allergy, and development outcomes. Advanced data science and AI tools will be used to understand how maternal, infant, and environmental factors shape milk and child health.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could identify milk components that support healthy growth and lower allergy risk, helping to improve breastfeeding guidance and future nutrition strategies.
How similar studies have gone: Smaller studies have linked specific milk sugars, fats, and microbes to infant outcomes, but this large multi-omic, 1,600-pair approach is more comprehensive and partly novel.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, Canada Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Azad, Meghan Brianne — University of Manitoba
- Study coordinator: Azad, Meghan Brianne
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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Multi-Omic Milk: Understanding how breast milk’s components shape child health
A study using advanced “multi-omics” analyses to understand how breast milk’s many components interact and influence health in 0-11 year-olds.
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Predictive learning and brain signals in schizophrenia
A study using EEG to understand how people with schizophrenia form beliefs from sounds, which may help explain and treat auditory hallucinations.
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Investigating the complex composition and health impacts of human milk on infants
This study is looking at the different ingredients in human milk and how they can help babies grow healthy, by examining samples from 1,600 moms and their infants to see how things like the mother's environment and health can change the milk's benefits.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.