Research

Historically, research around breastmilk and breastfeeding has been chronically underfunded.

While much is known about the benefits of breastmilk, considerable research gaps persist. Additionally, research in the field has not always aligned with real world needs or addressed questions that require long-term views. When the foundation began in 2013, it saw an unmet need to complement and build on the evidence and knowledge base to support the global community’s efforts to close those gaps and increase breastfeeding rates worldwide.

Since 2013, FLRF has endowed five independent breastfeeding research centers around the globe. These fully funded research centers focus on key topics of their choosing including basic research (endocrinology, immunology, microbiome, neuro development) and behavioral economics. The research centers seek to generate and expand evidence-based knowledge that can inform strategies to accelerate impact towards reaching the global Sustainable Development Goals.

Together these research centers form a multi-disciplinary research network, engaging across the journey from science to impact, generating and disseminating basic research and closing knowledge gaps on the links between human milk and optimal health, growth and development.

Endowments facilitate financial independence in perpetuity, and thus enable academic organizations to accommodate panoramic research with long horizons.

The universities and professorships sponsored by FLRF have complete independence and freedom of research and teaching. The research is meant to further the field of breastfeeding, and as such, all research results are published in full and available in the public domain for the global public good.

Through endowed chairs and grantmaking, we support research endeavors that align with real world needs, so evidence can lead to lasting impact.