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Optimizing Nutrition and Milk (Opti-NuM) Project
Sponsor: The Hospital for Sick Children
Summary
Early nutrition critically influences growth, neurodevelopment and morbidity among infants born of very low birth weight (VLBW), but current one-size-fits-all feeding regimes do not optimally support these vulnerable infants. There is increasing interest in "precision nutrition" approaches, but it is unclear which Human Milk (HM) components require personalized adjustment of doses. Previous efforts have focused on macronutrients, but HM also contains essential micronutrients as well as non-nutrient bioactive components that shape the gut microbiome. Further, it is unclear if or how parental factors (e.g. body mass index, diet) and infant factors (e.g. genetics, gut microbiota, sex, acuity) influence relationships between early nutrition and growth, neurodevelopment and morbidity. Understanding these complex relationships is paramount to developing effective personalized HM feeding strategies for VLBW infants. This is the overarching goal of the proposed Optimizing Nutrition and Milk (Opti-NuM) Project. The Opti-NuM Project brings together two established research platforms with complementary expertise and resources: 1) the MaxiMoM Program\* with its clinically embedded translational neonatal feeding trial network in Toronto (Dr. Deborah O'Connor, Dr. Sharon Unger) and 2) the International Milk Composition (IMiC) Consortium, a world-renowned multidisciplinary network of HM researchers and data scientists collaborating to understand how the myriad of HM components contribute "as a whole" to infant growth and development, using systems biology and machine learning approaches. Members of the IMiC Corsortium that will work with on this study are located at the University of Manitoba (Dr. Meghan Azad), University of California (Dr. Lars Bode) and Stanford (Dr. Nima Aghaeepour).
Official title: Improving Growth and Neurodevelopment of Very Low Birth Weight Infants Through Precision Nutrition: The Optimizing Nutrition and Milk (Opti-NuM) Project
Key Details
Gender
All
Age Range
1 Hour - 21 Days
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
1100
Start Date
2010-10-01
Completion Date
2027-12
Last Updated
2025-03-11
Healthy Volunteers
No
Conditions
Interventions
Opti-NuM is an observational secondary use of data/samples study, the investigators will analyze information and specimens from the MaxiMoM platform RCTs. No interventions form part of this study.
Locations (6)
Stanford University
Palo Alto, California, United States
University of California - San Diego
San Diego, California, United States
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
The Hospital for Sick Children
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Mount Sinai Hospital
Toronto, Ontario, Canada