CANCELLED - EVENT: Breastmilk cells: from infant immunity to development

Unfortunately this event has been cancelled.



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The Seminar: Human breastmilk is the gold standard for the nutrition of the human infant at the early stages of life. In addition to its valuable nutritional components, breastmilk also contains maternal cells, the properties and role of which are largely unknown. Among those cells, immune cells are thought to confer immunity to the infant, but their relation to infection and various lactation parameters are not well understood. At the same time, stem-like cells have been shown to be present in breastmilk. This presentation will focus on recent discoveries on (a) the immune cell content of breastmilk and how it responds to mother/infant health; and (b) the stem cells of breastmilk and first evidence for a pluripotent character. Finally, the significance of these cells for the breastfed infant will be discussed.

The Speaker: Foteini graduated from the Aristotle University of Greece in 2005 with a B.Sc. in Biology and First Class Honours in Microbiology and Physiology. She then migrated to Perth with her husband and shortly started a PhD in Physiology at the University of Western Australia, which she completed in 2009. She then joined the Human Lactation Research Group of the University of Western Australia conducting research into the physiology of breastfeeding. Foteini’s research has a dual focus, concentrating on (a) the properties of the maternal cells that are present in breastmilk and their biological role, and (b) mammary stem cells in health and disease.