Scientific Advisory Board

Our thanks and appreciation

As the Foundation moves into its second decade of work, we continue to evolve. 

While the first 10 years were marked by a strong focus on research, funding individual research projects and endowing five research centers, the Foundation is moving on to increasingly focus on translational and knowledge management topics and has commenced working in LMICs.

As the Foundation’s focus evolves, so do its advisory needs. The Foundation and the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) jointly decided to sunset the SAB and transition to creating a more diverse, international group of advisors that will continue to provide counsel on key projects, participate in technical advisory groups for individual projects or participate on the editorial board of LactaHub, the breastfeeding knowledge platform.

Hence, we would like to take this opportunity to cordially thank each member of the SAB for supporting and guiding us in the first years of the Foundation’s existence, helping establish the base for our future work.

Many projects we have undertaken greatly benefited from the guidance of the group and from individual members. Capturing a comprehensive list of input and contributions from the last 10 years would be nearly impossible; thus, we would like to highlight a few milestones.

Many members were involved in the development of various LRF endowed chairs, in some cases serving on their scientific boards. Similarly, several members contributed to one of our earliest projects – the publication of a multi-author book on human lactation, Breastfeeding and Breast Milk – from Biochemistry to Impact. A Multidisciplinary Introduction. Additional to authored and edited chapters, shaping the book into a useful resource for practitioners was the result of many a discussion with different members of the SAB.

The Trainee Expansion Program (TEP), which supports early career scientists and is now in its ninth year, is another cross-cutting example. TEP has been directly shaped by members of the SAB. Many members have also actively participated in awarding TEP grants or hosting TEP grant recipients since the program was launched in 2016.

LactaMap is another example. It would not have become the valuable resource it is without input from the SAB, such as detailed guidance on how the tool should be developed to be most effective for practitioners.

Many SAB members served as principal investigators to other projects we funded, each listed here on the website. Ensuring each FLRF project is diligently scrutinized from an ethical point of view has been another great, overarching contribution by members of the SAB. Still other members participated in technical advisory groups for our projects, providing critical technical guidance.

It is with great thanks to your joint and individual contributions that the Foundation has become what it is today. For this we extend our heartfelt gratitude to each of you:

Michael S. Kramer, MD, SAB chair

Zulfiqar A. Bhutta, MBBS, FRCPCH, FAAP, PhD

Nikola Biller-Andorno, Prof. Dr. Med. Dr. Phil

Lars Bode, PhD

Kathryn G. Dewey, PhD

Uwe Ewald, MD, PhD, Prof. Em.

Ernst Fehr, Univ. Prof. Dr.

Peter E. Hartmann, E/Prof, PhD, BRurSc (†)

Berthold Koletzko, Univ. Prof. Prof. h.c. Med. Habil. Dr. h.c.

Paula Meier, PhD, RN, FAAN

Daniel W. Sellen, PhD