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We and the International Society for Research in Human Milk and Lactation are honored to introduce the 2024 Trainee Expansion Program (TEP) grant awardees.
Trainee Bridge Fund awardees – USD 100,000 each
Dr. Ruthfirst Eva Anaale Ayande, PhD, MSc, RD, Postdoctoral Associate
Dr. Rachel E. Walker, PhD, MSEd, CLC, Postdoctoral Scholar
Trainee Travel Fund awardees – up to USD 10,000 each
Dorothy Kareainto Bundi, MSc, Clinical Nutritionist, Research Fellow
Hatice Çetinkaya, MS, PhD Student
Dr. Haslina Binti Abdul Hamid, PhD, MS, RDN, Senior Lecturer
Xuehua Jin, MSc, PhD Candidate
Please join us in wishing these truly impressive early career academics heartfelt congratulations and the very best of luck with their projects! You can find details about their project aims, the universities they will travel to, and their mentors below.
TEP grant applications will reopen on 1 August 2025. Find details here on the TEP grants website.
Trainee Bridge Fund (TBF) Awardees
Dr. Ruthfirst Eva Anaale Ayande, PhD, MSc, RD, is a Postdoctoral Associate at the Yale School of Medicine, USA, and a pediatric clinical dietitian at Yale-New Haven Hospital.
Project: ‘Neonatal Feeding Practices, Lactation Support, and Infant Outcomes: A Needs Assessment to Elucidate Facilitators of, Gaps in, and Opportunities for Improving, Neonatal Lactation Outcomes for Vulnerable Infants in Ghana’
The majority of infants born preterm (<37 weeks gestational age) are in low- and middle-income countries, where the mortality rates are also highest in this population. Determining how to best deliver nutrients from maternal milk to preterm infants is critical in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and special care baby unit (SCBU), yet the feeding practices for this vulnerable population are understudied in Ghana. Needs assessments to identify gaps and opportunities for improving lactation outcomes in the NICU are warranted.
Ruthfirst’s postdoctoral research is focused on improving lactation and nutrition outcomes for mother-infant dyads in the NICU. Her TEP project aims to generate preliminary data on neonates’ lactation and feeding practices at the Tamale Teaching Hospital in Ghana and assess maternal milk nutrient composition as an initial step to conducting more extensive lactation interventions in Ghanaian NICUs/SCBUs.
“I hope that this TEP project helps me establish long-term partnerships between research institutions in the Global North and the Global South to co-design and implement lactation interventions for vulnerable infants which leverage on the unique expertise, perspectives, and resources that each environmental context brings. I am eternally grateful to ISRHML and the Family Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation for supporting this dream and look forward to doing this important work in Ghana,” says Ruthfirst.
Ruthfirst will travel to Ghana, her home country, to conduct the first half of this Trainee Bridge Fund at the Tamale Teaching Hospital. She will then return to the Yale School of Medicine to complete the second half of her project. Ruthfirst’s co-mentors are Dr. Alhassan Abdul-Mumin, MD, MSc, FGCP and Dr. Sarah N. Taylor, MD, MSCR.
Dr. Rachel E. Walker, PhD, MSEd, CLC, is a Postdoctoral Scholar at The Pennsylvania State University, USA.
Project: ‘Linking the Placenta to Secretory Activation and Milk Volume in Mothers of Preterm Infants’
Rachel’s project will investigate the potential of placenta evaluation to predict lactation outcomes in the first postpartum weeks in mothers giving birth to preterm infants. The study cohort will be recruited at the Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital in Mbarara, Uganda, and use field-friendly methods to connect placental features to early lactation. The PlacentaVision algorithm will calculate placental dimensions and features at birth with digital photographs, and Rachel will measure daily milk sodium concentrations, dried milk spot fatty acid composition, and daily pumped milk volume during hospitalization.
“During my time in my TEP Bridge training, I look forward to gaining experience and skills in designing and implementing research in the field to improve lactation outcomes for vulnerable mothers and babies in low- and middle-income countries,” says Rachel.
Rachel will travel to Uganda to complete this project under the primary mentorship of Dr. Elias Kumbakumba, Senior Lecturer and Head, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at Mbarara University of Science and Technology, and at Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital, with secondary mentorship from Dr. Paula Meier, Professor of Nursing, at Rush University and Dr. Alison Gernand, Associate Professor of Nutritional Sciences, at The Pennsylvania State University in the United States.
Trainee Travel Fund (TTF) Awardees
Dorothy Kareainto Bundi, MSc, is a Clinical Nutritionist working at Dedan Kimathi University of Technology, Kenya, and a Research Fellow with The Aga Khan University-Oxford University Women in Science Programme.
Project: ‘Exploring Community-Based Approaches for Improving Lactation and Optimizing the Nutritional Status of Lactating Women and Their Infants in Informal Settlements in Kenya’
The first 1,000 days of life is a critical window of opportunity to enhance the nutritional and health outcomes of mothers and their infants, and breastmilk is the gold standard for infant feeding under 6 months. However, in Kenya, optimal breastfeeding practices in the first 6 months postpartum and complementary feeding thereafter are largely inadequate, particularly among the most impoverished families living in the growing number of informal urban settlements.
Through the joint Aga Khan University and Oxford University Women in Science Research Fellowship, Dorothy is currently conducting a study on evaluating the baseline nutrition and growth status of lactating mothers and their infants which will be followed by co-design and piloting the interventions in an informal settlement in Nyeri, Central Kenya. This will inform her PhD project that seeks to rigorously evaluate a community-based intervention to optimize the nutritional status of lactating women and their infants in informal settlements in Kenya.
This TEP-funded project will provide Dorothy with an opportunity to gain experience in designing and implementing interdisciplinary community-based scalable research on behavioral aspects of human lactation. In addition, she will acquire skills on assessment and interpretation of body composition measures (PeaPod, BodPod with Air Displacement Plethysmography method) for the mother-child pairs in their first 1,000 days of life. These skills will enable Dorothy to achieve her long-term goal of establishing a Human Milk and Lactation Research Institute in Kenya.
“This TEP project is a stepping stone, to becoming a leading researcher in behavioral aspects of lactation in Africa and establishing the first Human Milk and Lactation Research Institute in Kenya,” says Dorothy.
Dorothy will travel to and conduct this TTF project at Jimma University, Ethiopia, under the mentorship Dr. Mubarek Abera Mengistie, PhD, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medical Sciences.
Hatice Çetinkaya, MS, is a PhD Student in Epidemiology in the Department of Environmental & Public Health Sciences in the College of Medicine, at the University of Cincinnati, USA, and a Presidential Fellow at the University of Cincinnati Graduate College.
Project: ‘Elucidating Biological Underpinnings of Impaired Lactation with Transcriptome Analysis of Human Milk Fat Layers’
In the US, 85% of mothers now initiate breastfeeding, but only 25% exclusively breastfeed for the first 6 months of life. Low milk supply is one of the most important reasons for early breastfeeding termination, and physiological barriers to breastfeeding success are understudied, particularly with comprehensive investigation of molecular mechanisms. Moreover, there is lack of consideration for objective assessment of milk production in the existing literature. Therefore, this research will allow us to compare the milk fat layer transcriptomes of high and low milk producers in the NICHD-funded MOM2Child study.
“The deeper skills in bioinformatics and mammary gland biology I develop in this program under the mentorship of Dr. Monique Rijnkels will augment my doctoral training in molecular epidemiology and will help me build purposeful multi-disciplinary research skills,” says Hatice.
Hatice will travel to and conduct this TTF project at Texas A&M University, USA, under the mentorship of Dr. Monique Rijnkels, PhD, Research Associate Professor.
Dr. Haslina Binti Abdul Hamid, PhD, MS, RDN, is a Senior Lecturer at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (The National University of Malaysia).
Project: ‘Hormonal Concentrations of Preterm Breastmilk and Its Association with Infant Growth Outcomes’
Preterm birth poses significant challenges to infant growth and development. Preterm infants are at a higher risk of postnatal growth failure due to their immature organ systems and metabolic demands, making adequate nutrition crucial for their survival and long-term health. Breastmilk provides essential nutrients and bioactive components, including hormones such as prolactin and insulin, which play a critical role in metabolic regulation and growth outcomes. However, the precise relationship between hormonal concentrations in preterm breastmilk and infant growth parameters remains unclear.
Understanding the concentrations of prolactin and insulin in preterm breastmilk is essential for developing targeted nutritional interventions to mitigate growth failure in preterm infants. Prolactin supports lactation and immune modulation, while insulin contributes to glucose metabolism and energy utilization. Investigating these hormonal levels will provide valuable insights into their potential impact on weight gain, length, and head circumference in preterm infants.
Haslina will travel to and conduct this TTF project at the Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation Oxford Centre for the Endocrinology of Human Lactation (LRF OCEHL), University of Oxford, under the mentorship of Professor Fadil Hannan, Director of the LRF OCEHL.
Xuehua Jin, MSc, is a PhD Candidate in the School of Molecular Sciences, at The University of Western Australia.
Project: ‘Human Milk Xenobiotics in Women with Low and Normal Milk Supplies: Implications for Infant Exposure’
Hundreds of xenobiotics with diverse origins have been detected in human milk, including contaminants of emerging concern, personal care products and other current-use substances reflecting lifestyle.
This project aims to analyze more than 80 compounds, including exogenous hormones and environmental toxicants, in human milk samples using advanced liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) techniques. This study represents the first comprehensive quantification of such a wide array of xenobiotics in human milk samples from Australian women, and it is the first to explore these xenobiotics in the context of low and normal milk supplies. Additionally, the inclusion of infant milk intake data provides a unique opportunity to estimate infant exposure more accurately and the potential to explore co-exposures to multiple xenobiotics and their additive or synergistic effects.
Xuehua will travel to and conduct this TTF project at the Department of Food Chemistry and Toxicology, The University of Vienna, under the mentorship of Professor Benedikt Warth, PhD, to develop laboratory and statistical expertise in analyzing human milk xenobiotics.
The Trainee Expansion Program (TEP)
TEP grant applications will reopen on 1 August 2025. Find details here on the TEP grants website.
TEP is an international professional development initiative, offering two types of merit-based grants annually to academics seeking to enter or advance their career in human milk and lactation.
Trainee Bridge Fund grants – up to USD 100,000 over approximately 12 months to support a research project that will bring recipients collaboration and networking opportunities and lead to an independent position
Trainee Travel Fund grants – up to USD 10,000 over a period of two weeks to three months so recipients can gain a new skill or acquire experience in a different setting
TEP 1.0 launched in 2016, awarding USD 1.25 million in over 30 grants. It was such a success, ISRHML and FLRF launched TEP 2.0 in 2021 – offering another USD 1.25 million in grants over another five years.
Learn about prior TEP grant recipients and their projects in the TEP Hall of Fame.
About the International Society for Research in Human Milk and Lactation (ISRHML)
ISRHML is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion of excellence in research and the dissemination of research findings in the field of human milk and lactation. These objectives are met through a biennial international meeting, annual symposia and mini symposia, awarding of trainee expansion grants, awards recognizing significant contributions to the field by established researchers, and communication among members and established liaisons with government agencies, public health authorities, industry, and other organizations interested in human lactation.