LRF MOMI CORE
The Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation Mother-Milk-Infant Center of Research Excellence (LRF MOMI CORE) at the University of California San Diego is led by Professor Lars Bode.
LRF MOMI CORE focus: We investigate how maternal factors affect human milk composition, how human milk impacts short- and long-term infant health and development, how breastfeeding influences maternal health, and how we can learn from human milk to develop novel therapeutics for people of all ages.
LRF MOMI CORE team
How LRF MOMI CORE describes its work
We connect and collaborate with experts from basic research, clinical practice, and education and use a comprehensive approach – from tissue cultures and in vivo preclinical models to human cohort and intervention studies – to generate a detailed understanding of human milk and its biological mechanisms.
An unprecedented infrastructure for deep molecular phenotyping of human milk
As part of the Human Milk Institute at UC San Diego, LRF MOMI CORE has created the Milk Analytics Core (MAC), a centralized platform at UC San Diego dedicated to deep molecular phenotyping of human milk and related samples, bringing advanced analytics into one coordinated research pipeline. MAC exists to address major scientific blind spots in our understanding of human milk composition, generating high-quality data that supports research into infant development, maternal health, and lifelong disease prevention.
Innovation through intersection
Siloed research delays medical breakthroughs. For instance, evidence shows breastfeeding reduces breast cancer risk, yet cancer experts rarely collaborate with human milk researchers to explore this connection. It’s time to tear down walls and unite disciplines to inspire bold new ideas.
Disrupting traditional research funding
Research is a marathon, not a sprint. However, research funding is time-limited, forcing researchers to spend precious time pursuing dollars instead of answers. LRF MOMI CORE utilizes a sustainable financing system that allows investigators to focus on what matters – actual research.
MOMI Fellows: Investing in people
The MOMI Fellows initiative is designed to develop the next generation of innovators in human milk research. With MOMI Fellows, MOMI CORE provides funding to support visiting fellows and professors, postdoctoral and medical fellows, as well as graduate students.
MOMI Seeds: Investing in ideas
Raising startup funds can be a significant roadblock for researchers. That’s why we created MOMI Seeds – an annual grant program to fund early-stage projects and enable multidisciplinary research. MOMI Seeds pilot grants are open to UC San Diego researchers from all areas of study related to human milk.
Prof. Lars Bode
Director, LRF MOMI CORE
"As a scientist and the director of MOMI CORE, I see health crises emerging and worsening every year. I believe we need to look somewhere new for answers - human milk. The idea that human milk is just food for babies couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s full of molecules and cells that protect infants and mothers from diseases and improve their overall health and development. What exactly is in human milk? How does it work? Can we leverage it to improve the health of all people at every stage of life? We created MOMI CORE - the first-ever interdisciplinary research center committed to human milk and lactation - to answer these questions and many more. I invite you to join us as we look to human milk for new answers."
Photo: © Markus Forte, all rights reserved
Open access key publications reflecting main research of LRF MOMI CORE
Human milk oligosaccharides: every baby needs a sugar mama
Evaluation for SARS-CoV-2 in Breast Milk From 18 Infected Women
Additional to its own projects, LRF MOMI CORE comes together with the other LRF Research Centers on GHMRC collaborations and interdisciplinary, multi-center projects.
Cross-center, interdisciplinary collaborations via the GHMRC
LRF MOMI CORE and LRF OCEHL: ‘The Biology of Delayed Secretory Activation with a Focus on Mothers with Small Vulnerable Newborns’
LRF MOMI CORE and LRF NGN: ‘Human Milk Composition and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes.’
Discover more about LRF MOMI CORE
LRF MOMI CORE research vision
Our ultimate goal at LRF MOMI CORE is to improve health outcomes for people around the world. By rising about dogma, following the evidence, and sharing discoveries with healthcare professionals and decision-makers, we make a positive and lasting impact on global health for years to come.
LRF MOMI CORE mission
Our mission is to create an engine of discovery focused on understanding human milk by fostering collaborative investigation across research, education and clinical practice to improve the health and development of infants, mothers, and society as a whole.