Global Network

MOMI CORE is not the only LRF-endowed research center in the world. We are embedded in a network of chairs and centers with different research focus, each applying their unique perspective, expertise and skill sets to understanding human milk with the ultimate goal of improving maternal and infant health.

The Global Human Milk Research Consortium (GHMRC) exists to promote excellence in breastmilk and breastfeeding research with interdisciplinary collaborations that challenge the science, push the boundaries of knowledge and contribute meaningfully to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and WHO Global Targets.

Research in the Verhasselt lab is aimed at understanding how maternal milk affects immune development, education and long term homeostasis. A major objective guiding the work is the identification of factors that could endow breastfeeding with the capacity to prevent allergic and metabolic disease as potently as it does for infectious disease.

The Oxford Centre for Endocrinology of Human Lactation (LRF OCEHL) focuses on the molecular endocrinology of lactation (the hormonal mechanisms or chemicals that control and regulate cells and organs in the production of breastmilk).

The LRF Center for Neurodevelopment, Growth and Nutrition of the Newborn (LRF CNGNN) will explore the association between children’s early nutrition (e.g. breastmilk and breastfeeding quality, exclusivity and duration), structural changes in brain morphology and functional outcomes. The aim is to conduct congruent inquiries into the neurodevelopmental mechanisms that influence child and youth development.

The mission of the LRF Center for Economics of Breastfeeding is to increase our understanding of productive child and youth development. In particular, an important focus is to improve our knowledge of the causes and consequences of breastfeeding.