Research

Mommy’s Milk Human Milk Biorepository at UC San Diego is building a research database that will be used to evaluate human milk. As the first-ever human milk research biorepository in the nation, we are moving science forward through highly-trained researchers contributing to human milk breakthroughs and discoveries.

Our goal is to understand all aspects of human milk in hope that this will lead to optimal health for mothers and infants. Clinical data points will be collected from all human milk donors including health outcomes of infants. Meet our staff to learn more about our research interests and affiliations. Contact us to learn how you can get involved and request human milk samples.

Variables collected include:

Maternal Age
Race
Ethnicity
Education
Income
Primary Language
Height
Weight
Pregnancy History (Gravidity, Parity, SAB,TAB)
Breastfeeding History (Breastfeeding History and Duration)
Child Eating Habits (EBF, Formula, Solids)
Personal Medical History
Family Medical History
Child Age
Child Birth Weight, Length and Head Circumference
Child Apgar Scores
Preterm Birth
Delivery Mode
Child Current Weight, Length and Head Circumference (at the time of the milk sample)
Pediatric abnormalities
Maternal exposures (dose, frequency, dates for 7 days prior to collection)
Adverse Reactions
Maternal sleep habits
Maternal exercise habits
Milk sample collection conditions
EPDS score
STAI score
PSS-10 score
Food Frequency Questionnaire
ASQ
CDI
ITSEA
MCHAT

Current Research Analyses:

Mommy’s Milk Human Milk Biorepository supports and conducts human milk research throughout the nation and abroad. Research projects currently utilizing human milk donations from our biorepository are paving the way for the future growth of our program. Current research projects include:

Microbiome Analysis
Rob Knight Lab
 https://knightlab.ucsd.edu/

Untargeted Mass Spectrometry Analysis
Pieter Dorrestein Lab
http://dorresteinlab.ucsd.edu/Dorrestein_Lab/Welcome.html

Macronutrient Profiling
Jae Kim Lab
https://www.pediatrics.ucsd.edu/divisions/neonatology/about/division-members/Pages/Jae-Kim.aspx

Oligosaccharide Analysis
Lars Bode
http://www.bodelab.com/