Dr. Lars Bode is a Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Neonatology and the Division of Gastroenterology and Nutrition in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Dr. Bode received his PhD in Nutrition from the Justus-Liebig University in Giessen, Germany. He completed a predoctoral fellowship in immunology at the Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital and the Department of Infection and Immunity at the Institute of Child Health, University College London, UK, and a postdoctoral fellowship in glycobiology at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research in La Jolla, CA.
Lab Focus: Biosynthesis and Functions of Human Milk Oligosaccharides
Human breast milk is considered the gold standard for newborn and infant nutrition. It provides the baby with nutrients to grow and contains bioactive components that promote infant health and development. Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMO) are the third most abundant component of human breast milk. We are just now beginning to understand how these complex sugars benefit the breast-fed infant (Bode 2006, Bode 2009, Bode 2012).
The Bode lab is dedicated to developing a deep mechanistic understanding of HMO structure-activity relationships with the goal to answer the following fundamental questions:
- How are HMOs synthesized in the lactating mammary gland? What maternal fixed and modifiable factors determine the variation in HMO secretion?
- How do HMOs contribute to immediate and long-term infant health and development? Are HMOs also beneficial for pregnant and breastfeeding women?
- How can we learn from the many benefits of HMOs in the maternal-infant space and apply the knowledge to develop novel therapeutics for people of all ages?
For more information about the Bode lab, please visit http://www.bodelab.com.
Center Focus: Human Milk Research at Scale
Dr. Bode is the endowed Chair of Collaborative Human Milk Research and founding Director of the Family-Larsson Rosenquist Mother-Milk-Infant Center of Research Excellence (MOMI CORE) at UC San Diego. MOMI CORE's mission is to create an engine of discovery focused on understanding human milk by fostering collaborative investigation across research, education and clinical practice to improve the health and development of infants, mothers, and society as a whole.
For more information about MOMI CORE, please visit http://milk.ucsd.edu