Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation Mother-Milk-Infant Center of Research Excellence 

The LRF MoMI CORE at UC San Diego is the engine driving discovery in human milk and lactation to improve the health and development of infants, mothers, and society as a whole. Investigators from across research, education and clinical practice collaborate to answer questions around human milk from both life science and social science perspectives.

LRF MoMI Core Mission and Goals

UC San Diego has a strong history of commitment to improving infant health as it relates to human milk. Two key factors have brought us to where we stand today, a commitment to excellence and a culture of collaboration. Combined with a critical mass of dedicated internationally recognized scientists, clinicians and educators, the support of an excellent infrastructure and a global network of collaborators and partners, LRF MoMI CORE is poised for major breakthroughs in the way the world views human milk and the role it plays in maternal and infant health. 

Visit the LRF MoMI Core Website

LRF MoMI Core Investigators

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UC San Diego has an outstanding basic and translational research environment that allows LRF MOMI CORE to connect with some of the world's top scientists in a variety of research fields, including but certainly not limited to research on the microbiome and metabolome, the immune system, infectious diseases, allergies and asthma, diabetes, obesity, neurodevelopment and cancer. Embracing this multidisciplinary environment, LRF MOMI CORE's goal is to foster new and innovative research in human milk and lactation by leveraging our expertise and technology. 

CHARM Collaboration Contact:  Lars Bode, PhD  (Director of MoMI Core)

CHARM ⬌ LRF MoMI Core Collaborations

CHARM and LRF MoMI Core Investigators and studying the impact of human milk in term and preterm infants with respect to both short- and long-term effects on health and disease. Human milk, its special oligosaccharide composition, and its transferred antibodies shape the infant microbiome and metabolome, boost host immunity and epithelial barrier integrity, and afford protection against infectious diarrhea, ear infections, and urinary tract infections.  Indeed, direct antimicrobial effects of human milk on certain newborn bacterial pathogens have recently been uncovered.

 

Human Milk Sugars Block UTI

CHARM and LRF MoMI Core Investigators found that human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) can protect bladder epithelial cells from deleterious cytotoxic and proinflammatory effects of uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) infection, and may be one contributing mechanism underlying the epidemiological evidence of reduced UTI incidence in breast-fed infants.

Read in the Journal of Infectious Diseases