About this event
Low Milk Production is Real: Maternal Mechanisms, Clinical Relevance, and Translational Implications
Prof. Lindsay Hinck, PhD and Prof. Donna Geddes, PhD
Description: Low milk production is a biologically measurable condition, not merely perceived. Emerging biomarkers and machine learning models offer diagnostic potential to support targeted interventions and improve maternal-infant outcomes. This session explores maternal physiological and cellular mechanisms underlying lactation insufficiency, highlighting the need for translational research in this area.
Learning Objectives:
- Distinguish physiological causes of low milk production from perceived insufficiency, with reference to developmental mechanisms of breast and glandular maturation.
- Explain the cellular mechanisms of milk production and how mammary gland adaptation may influence lactation success:
- Distinguish between the standard mitotic cell cycle and endoreplication, an alternative cell cycle in which a cell duplicates its DNA without undergoing cell division.
- Explain how experimental evidence from mouse models suggests that gestational DNA damage induces endoreplication to enhance milk production.
- Evaluate potential therapeutic strategies that target the cell cycle and increase cellular DNA content to enhance milk supply.
- Apply antenatal and postnatal screening approaches to identify women at risk of low milk production and determine appropriate education and actions.
- Evaluate clinical and emerging strategies, including monitoring tools, to optimise milk production relative to each woman’s functional breast capacity.
This program has been approved for 1.0 Contact Hours; provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider #13692
Hosted by
-
External speaker
Donna GeddesE
Prof. Donna Geddes, DMU, PostGrad Dip. (Sci), PhD, is globally recognized for her pioneering research in human lactation and breastfeeding. She directs the UWA Centre for Human Lactation Research and Translation, ABREAST, and the WA Human Milk Biobank. Her work addresses lactation challenges, including low milk production, and develops diagnostic tools and treatments. Her team uses innovative techniques like ultrasound to study breast anatomy, milk ejection, and infant feeding. They also explore milk composition—its microbiome, immune proteins, nutrients, and hormones—to understand its impact on maternal and infant health. As Sensor Lead for the ARC Biomedical Analysis Training Centre, she integrates advanced technologies into point-of-care diagnostics. She also advises the International Milk Composition Consortium (iMiC) and the MILQ project, contributing to global lactation science.
-
External speaker
Lindsay HinckE
Dr. Lindsay Hinck is a developmental and epithelial biologist with a strong interdisciplinary background. She is the Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She earned her M.S. in Biochemistry from the University of California, Davis, and her Ph.D. in Cancer Biology from Stanford University, followed by postdoctoral training in Neuroscience at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Hinck joined the UCSC faculty in 1998. Dr. Hinck’s lab examines how the DNA damage response is regulated in the contexts of lactation and endometriosis. From 2016 to 2022, she led a collaborative drug-discovery program with Zoetis, a leading animal health company, developing stem cell-based approaches to enhance milk production in ruminant animals.
Medela Webinars
Turning Science into CareWe believe in turning science into care. Offering solutions based on deep insights into research and nature. Listening to real needs. For the benefit of mothers, patients and healthcare professionals.
