Clinical Research Directory

Modulating Early-life Nutrition for Childhood Obesity Prevention

In this study, betaine intake will be increased in formula-fed infants through formula milk supplementation. To do this, a double-blind randomized study has been designed with the supplementation group (infant formula supplemented with betaine) and control group (unsupplemented infant formula). The main objectives of the study are to determine the safety of supplementation and to assess whether there are changes in infant growth.

Early Avocado Exposure on Development and the Gut Microbiome in American Hispanic Infants

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if daily avocado intake can improve growth and brain and gut health in infants. The main questions it aims to answer are: Does daily eating of avocados change which microbes live in the infant's gut? Does daily avocado intake improve infant motor skills and cognitive development? Researchers will compare avocado intake to standard of care (no or limited avocado intake) to see if regular avocado intake from 6-12 months of life influences gut and brain health. Participating mothers/guardians and their infants will: Parents will provide avocado or no avocado to their infant every day for 6 months starting around 6 months of infant age. Parents will allow study staff to visit participant homes to collect data via surveys and observations and measure infant growth. Parents will swab soiled infant diapers for gut microbe measures. Parents will keep a diary of the infant's avocado consumption and acceptance of the food. Parents will record their infant's dietary intake

Mothers and CareGivers Investing in Children Study 2.0

The study will use a longitudinal, randomized control trial design to determine intervention impact on parent and child behaviors, and infant health. The two intervention groups include: 1) MAGIC-FEED+; and 2) MAGIC-SAFE. This trial is an efficacy trial of the MAGIC-FEED and MAGIC-SAFE program that has been successfully implemented with families as part of the MAGIC 1.0 program trial (IRB#: 2015040017). * The primary aim is to investigate each intervention's impact on infant BMIZ at 13 months. * The investigators will also assess the effect of MAGIC-FEED on caregiver nutrition knowledge and feeding practices, responsive feeding, infant diet, and child self-regulatory abilities and assess how these factors impact child self-regulation of eating and adiposity. * Finally, the investigators will determine if the interventions demonstrate the factors necessary to be a successful intervention as determined by the RE-AIM and PRISM frameworks.

Breastfeeding Education Support Tool

The proposed project seeks to evaluate the effectiveness and implementation of the Breastfeeding Education Support Tool for Baby (BEST4Baby) intervention, an mHealth-supported community-based peer counselor breastfeeding intervention for mothers in India. Given that rates of optimal infant feeding practices have remained stagnant over the past two decades in India, and that India is the most populous country and icontributes one-fifth of all global live births, this project could have major global health implications if the intervention is found to improve maternal breastfeeding practices and infant clinical outcomes. The project will also provide evidence needed to adopt BEST4Baby nationally and in other low resource communities.

International Milk Composition (IMiC) Consortium

The IMiC Consortium will analyze milk from 1000 mother-infant dyads across 4 diverse settings (Tanzania, Pakistan, Burkina Faso and Canada). Samples will be stored centrally at the Manitoba Interdisciplinary Lactation Centre (MILC) biorepository and distributed to multiple laboratories for analysis of macronutrients, micronutrients, oligosaccharides, growth factors, immunoglobulins, cytokines, metabolites and microbes. Data will be harmonized and stored in a central database, and diverse statistical methods will be applied for data integration and analysis.