Leading scientist shares mysteries of the human milk microbiome in public lecture

Human breast milk doesn’t just nourish an infant with essential nutrients, growth factors, and antibodies – it’s also teeming with microorganisms.

Scientists like Michelle "Shelley" McGuire are learning more about how different populations of bacteria, viruses, archaea, and fungi in breast milk influence maternal and infant health.

“We now know that human milk has an inherent microbiome, which varies globally and varies amongst women,” McGuire said in a 2021 lecture presented at BINC-Geneva, or the Biostime Institute for Nutrition and Care. McGuire is a professor and director of the Margaret Ritchie School of Family and Consumer Sciences at the University of Idaho.

McGuire will share the latest insights from her research in her public talk “The Human Milk Microbiome: A Paradigm Shift for Infant Health” at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 15 at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC in Roanoke.

"McGuire has made significant contributions to our understanding of the richness and complexities of human milk, its critical role in establishing and maintaining the maternal-infant health nexus, and microbiome dynamics in health and disease,” said Michael Friedlander, Virginia Tech’s vice president for health sciences and technology and executive director of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute.

McGuire's laboratory studies the complex interactions between maternal diet and the composition of human milk and their collective impact on maternal and infant health. By uncovering the diverse microbiomes in human milk and their variations across populations, McGuire’s research has provided crucial insights into how these microbial communities influence health outcomes.

"Several research groups at our institute are investigating areas closely aligned with McGuire's work on the human milk microbiome as well as the multitude of factors that influence the development of the baby’s brain," Friedlander said. "Thus, her pioneering work will be of great interest to our scientific community as well as to the greater public – all of whom have a vested interest in a better understanding and actionable information to inform good choices on behalf of our children. Her insights into the microbiome's impact on maternal and infant health is unveiling new pathways that could transform nutritional guidelines and disease prevention."

Her work complements the efforts of researchers like Brittany Howell, who studies maternal health influences on infant neurodevelopment in the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute’s Center for Health Behaviors Research.

Howell and other Virginia Tech scientists are part of the HEALthy Brain and Child Development study and are actively recruiting participants in the second trimester of their pregnancies. Sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, it is the largest long-term study of early brain and child development in the United States.

McGuire has authored two textbooks and over 225 scientific papers, accumulating more than 10,900 citations. Her research program at the University of Idaho has been supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the National Science Foundation, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

One of her latest projects involves comparing the milk microbiomes of women and cows who are healthy and those who have inflammation of the mammary gland or udder to discover specific microbial patterns associated with inflammation between humans and other species. This research may pave the way for novel mastitis prevention and treatment.

In 2022, McGuire was inducted into the National Academy of Medicine for outstanding contributions to her field. She was also awarded the 2018 Excellence in Nutrition Education Award from the American Society for Nutrition, the 2002 Ehrlich-Koldovsky Award from the International Society for Research in Human Milk and Lactation, and the 2000 International Life Sciences Institute’s Future Leader Award. For nine years, she served as the national spokesperson for the American Society for Nutrition.

McGuire completed her bachelor’s degree in biology and master’s degree in nutritional sciences at the University of Illinois. She completed her doctoral degree in human nutrition at Cornell University.

The institute’s free public lecture series is made possible by Maury Strauss, a longtime Roanoke businessman and benefactor who recognizes the importance of bringing leading biomedical research scientists to the community.

The public is welcome to attend the lecture, which includes a 5 p.m. reception with refreshments in the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at 2 Riverside Circle in Roanoke. McGuire’s talk will be streamed live via Zoom and archived on the institute’s website.