Ten of the World's Leading Breastfeeding Researchers Present New Findings in London this April.

The 14th International Breastfeeding and Lactation Symposium will see ten of the world’s most influential researchers, in this field, present their recent discoveries.

The event, on 4th and 5th April in London, offers a rare opportunity to hear the globally recognised experts dive deeper into the unexplored territory of breastfeeding and neonatal care.

Join the Symposium Press Conference to hear from the Speakers before they hit the stage…

When: 9-10.30am - Thursday 4th April 2019
Where: London Hilton on Park Lane.

Highlights include:

• New findings will give clues to why breastfed babies are less likely to become obese in later life will be shared. Prof Donna Geddes, Director of the Human Lactation Research Group at the University of Western Australia, a team that has become world renowned for its ground-breaking discoveries, will share recent results from her project ‘The role of human milk in programming infant body composition’ that she has worked on for over 5 years.

• Dr María Carmen Collado of the Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology-Spanish National Research Council, Spain, will present recent findings that has exposed how each mother’s unique microbiota shapes the milk she passes on to her infant, and each feed is a personalised microbial inheritance. These findings are uncovering potential strategies for modifying mothers’ diets during the lactation period, which could permanently improve babies’ gut health.

• Dr Janet Berrington, Consultant in Neonatal Paediatrics and Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at Newcastle University will give a sneak preview of the cutting-edge technology being cited as a model ‘unique to the UK’. It is being used to research necrotising enterocolitis and late onset sepsis. She will also talk about the ‘mini-gut’ her team has been able to develop from preterm gut stem cells, which offers unique insights into the way in which the infant gut develops and is allowing new research angles into gut health and disease.

• Assoc. Prof Daniel Munblit of Sechenov University, Moscow, Russia will present updated findings about the sheer complexities of breastmilk to protect against allergies. It is full of different components which have synergistic and/or antagonistic effects to each other. “Dozens of cytokines, as well as the microbiome, fatty acids and the oligosaccharides, are all involved,” he says “It is these intricate interactions, which we are getting closer to uncovering, that play a part in breastmilk’s ability to protect an infant against allergies."

• Melinda Boss, Senior Research Fellow at The University of Western Australia (UWA) will launch the world’s first internationally collaborative glossary of lactation terminology for science and medicine. LactaMap, is a unique evidence-based information portal to support doctors caring for women and infants experiencing difficulty with lactation. It will be unveiled in the UK for the first time at the Symposium.

For more information, to register for the press conference or to request an interview with any of the speakers please contact: Lisa Bryant, bumpPR on lisa@bumppr.co.uk or call 01462 613002

About Medela:

Medela is committed to the benefits of breastfeeding and has pledged its dedication to breastfeeding as the best nutrition for babies and families. Medela employs more than 900 employees around the globe, all of whom proudly promote this message and work tirelessly to support breastfeeding mothers world-wide. Its overriding commitment to innovative, research-based medical technology is at the core of Medela and is driving the future of technologies to support Breastfeeding around the globe.

As the only company to develop products based on research by the world’s leading lactation experts, Medela has become the number one choice of healthcare professionals and facilities worldwide. All its products are designed to improve quality of life and to support new mothers and lactation professionals to ensure breastfeeding success.
Medela has developed an extensive line of products to meet the diverse needs of nursing mothers. These products include hospital-grade, double and single electric and manual personal breastpumps; breastfeeding accessories such as breast care products and specialty feeding devices. Trusted and loved by parents and healthcare professionals across the globe, Medela breast pumps have won countless awards, including a Which? Best Buy and are found in 94% of UK hospitals.
Founded in 1961 by Olle Larsson in Zug, Switzerland, Medela continues to grow under the ownership of the Larsson family. Medela serves customers through a worldwide network of distribution partners in more than 90 countries and its 14 subsidiaries in Australia, the Benelux countries, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.