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Allergies, Immunology, and Human Milk: Exploring Maternal and Infant Factors

Program Date: 3 June 2020

Publication Date: 25 March 2021

Location: Webinar

Continuing Education Units: Nurse Contact: 1.0; Dietitian CPEU: 1.0

Course Description:

In this course, you’ll describe normal immune development and differences between breastfed and bottle-fed infants; discuss the dysregulation in the immune system that results in allergic responses; define the role of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) in breast milk; and evaluate the current state of evidence for the role of HMOs in diseases and disorders. Originally presented as a live webinar on June 3, 2020.

Course Objectives:

• Describe normal immune development and differences between breastfed and bottle-fed infants.
• Discuss the immune system dysregulation that results in allergic responses.
• Define and describe the role of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) in breast milk.
• Evaluate the current state of evidence for the role of HMOs in diseases and disorders relevant to infancy and beyond.

CDR Level: 2
Performance Indicators: 4.2.8, 8.1.4, 8.3.4
Run Time: 48

Course Instructor Bio(s)

Christine Loscher, PhD

Associate Dean for Research
Faculty of Science & Health
Dublin City University
Dublin, Ireland

Professor Christine Loscher is currently the Associate Dean for Research in the Faculty of Science & Health. She completed her PhD in Immunology at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth in 2000 and was awarded a Health Research Board Fellowship to pursue her postdoctoral studies at Trinity College Dublin. In 2003 she moved to the Institute of Molecular Medicine at St James Hospital to continue her research and then was appointed to a permanent academic position at DCU in 2005. Since then she has established the Immunomodulation Research Group. She currently holds a number of other strategically important positions within the University. She is the Director of the BioAT Programme, a multi-disciplinary training and research programme spanning 6 academic institutions. She led this initiative for DCU on behalf of 6 institutions and has designed, developed and implemented the programme. She is also Director of the Nano-Bioanalytical Research Facility, a facility currently being built at DCU which is designed to provide a significant infrastructural enhancement to DCU to facilitate new developments in emerging areas at the interface of the science, engineering and technology disciplines.

Evelyn Jantscher-Krenn, PhD

Research Fellow
Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology
Medical University of Graz
Graz, Austria

A research fellow at the Medical University of Graz’s, with a background in glycobiology and neonatology/perinatology. She received a PhD in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from Graz, studying glycosaminoglycan biosynthesis in inflammation. During her post-doctoral she studied Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMOs) and their roles on breastfed infants, receiving a Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship in 2014 from the European Commission to study HMOs in the novel context of pregnancy.

Barbara Marriage, PhD, RD

Global Science Lead
Abbott Scientific & Medical Affairs
Columbus, OH, USA

Barbara Marriage is the global science lead for Pediatric Specialty Nutrition and a senior associate research fellow at Abbott Nutrition. She was previously an associate director in Global Regulatory Science and Innovation and manager of the Pediatric Clinical Nutrition group in Scientific and Medical Affairs. In her present role, she is responsible for clinical research and scientific support for pediatric specialty products globally. Barbara received a BSc in applied human nutrition from the University of Guelph and an MSc in nutrition and a PhD in medical sciences from the University of Alberta. Before joining Abbott in 2002, she worked for over 20 years as a clinical research dietitian with extensive experience in pediatric nutrition and management of patients and families with inborn errors of metabolism. Her research interests include early programming, childhood obesity, maternal health, allergy, and inborn errors of metabolism. Dr Marriage has published over 35 articles in peer-reviewed journals, written book chapters and newsletters, and has given many presentations on nutrition related topics.

Abbott Nutrition’s Provider Statement for Nursing CEs:

Abbott Nutrition Health Institute is an approved provider of continuing nursing education by the California Board of Registered Nursing Provider #CEP 11213.

Abbott Nutrition’s Provider Statement for Dietitian CPEUs:

Abbott Nutrition Health Institute (RO002), is a Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Accredited Provider with the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR). CDR credentialed practitioners will receive continuing professional education units (CPEUs) for completion of this program/materials. Continuing Professional Education Provider Accreditation does not constitute endorsement by CDR of a provider, program, or materials.

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