Research Interests
- Breastfeeding in humanitarian, disaster, and post-conflict settings
- Lactation support for marginalized immigrant and refugee communities in the U.S.
- Climate change, environmental exposures, and breastfeeding knowledge, attitudes, and practices
- Global bioethics and culture: human milk science, biobanking, and commercialization
- Community milk sharing
- Food sovereignty and reproductive justice
- Community movements to reclaim cultural breastfeeding practices
Selected Grants
Breastfeeding intervention to prevent obesity among Latine children
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by University of North Carolina - Greensboro · 2024 - 2027Fellowships, Gifts, and Supported Research
Breastfeeding intervention to prevent obesity among Latine children ·
July 2024
- June 2027
Co-PI ·
Awarded by: NIH-NIDDK
· $264,361.00
Due to high rates of obesity, Latine children are more likely to have type 2 diabetes (T2D) than other racial/ethnic groups. If current trends continue, it is estimated that 50% of Latine children and adolescents will develop T2D in their lifetime. This is critical since the impact of early onset of T2D is extensive involving premature morbidity, high healthcare costs and significant loss of productivity. Hence, interventions that effectively reduce obesity risk and T2D among fastest growing group of Latine children are urgently needed. Excess weight gain during infancy is associated with childhood obesity. Exclusive breastfeeding (directly or expressed) for the first six months is associated with lower risk for excess weight gain and insulin insensitivity during infancy. In our longitudinal sub-study with low-income, Latine mother-infant dyads, mixed feeding (combination of breastfeeding and formula feeding) was more common than exclusive breastfeeding. It was also found that obesity risk among infants increased with an increase in formula feeding. Utilizing Social Cognitive Theory, our goal is to measure the effectiveness of a multi-component randomized control trial - Solo Mi Leche (SMile) – involving: I) Provision of conditional incentives of cash or combination of cash and electric breast pump to enroll in WIC’s Exclusive Breastfeeding Package; and, II) Support of home visiting, culturally and linguistically competent breastfeeding peer-counselors to increase breastfeeding support, knowledge, skills and ultimately self-efficacy. The intervention spanning from birth to six months postpartum will involve 120 Latine mothers eligible or enrolled in WIC program (60 each in intervention & control). Specific aims are to test the effectiveness of SMile intervention in: 1) improving self-efficacy and exclusivity of breastfeeding for the first six months, and; 2) reducing rapid weight gain and obesity risk among Latine infants. We will also carry out a process evaluation to understand strengths of the intervention and opportunities to improve its implementation, feasibility, fidelity, and impact. The proposed pilot trial (Small R01s, PAS-23-086) will allow us to acquire preliminary data through six months of age to develop an effective, fully powered, culturally appropriate intervention promoting breastfeeding throughout infancy, to address obesity, T2D and related disparities Latine population is facing.
Catawba Nation Maternal, Infant, and Early Care Home Visiting Program ·
2023
- 2023
Community Engagement and Data Specialist ·
Awarded by: Catawba Nation
· $49,666.00
Infant Feeding in Child Care Study ·
2021
- 2023
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by: North Carolina Division of Child Development and Early Education
· $477,815.00
Maternal Telehealth Access Project (MTAP) ·
2020
- 2021
Senior Qualitative Research Investigator ·
Awarded by: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), (Lead PI: D. Cilenti)
· $4,000,000.00
Breastfeeding Hospital Based Quality Improvement Initiative ·
2020
- 2023
Co-Principal Investigator (Lead PI: C. Sullivan) ·
Awarded by: Department of Health and Human Services CDC RFQ 1436288
· $1,352,970.00
Ebola survivors' experiences with pregnancy, birth, and breastfeeding ·
2019
- 2020
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by: Explorations in Global Health Award, IGHID, UNC-Chapel Hill
· $10,000.00
Advancing health equity in the first 1,000 days: Unpacking the disparities in critical care and donor human milk for Black/African-American mothers and infants in the NICU ·
2019
- 2020
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by: IBM Junior Faculty Development Award
· $10,000.00
Taking milk from strangers: An anthropological investigation of milk sharing in the U.S. and beyond ·
2014
- 2017
Principal Investigator ·
Awarded by: Wenner Gren Foundation
· $17,000.00