Laurie A. Nommsen-Rivers, PhD, RD, IBCLC Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA

Laurie A. Nommsen-Rivers, PhD, RD, IBCLC, is a Research Assistant Professor in the Division of Neonatology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Her role at Cincinnati Children’s is to contribute to the development of a multi-disciplinary research program in human milk and lactation. Her current area of research focuses on identifying barriers that impede mothers in meeting their breastfeeding goals and developing effective interventions for overcoming these barriers. Prior to completing a PhD in Epidemiology (2004-2007), Laurie had a research associate appointment at the University of California, Davis, where she was part of Kathryn Dewey’s research program. This collaboration began with the DARLING study (Davis Area Research on Lactation, Infant Nutrition and Growth) back in 1986 (in which her breastfed daughter was the first subject!). Since then, she has co-authored over 60 publications related to the growth and development of breastfed and formula fed infants; the effects of diet, body composition, and maternal metabolic health on lactation performance; and the effects of the labor and delivery experience on breastfeeding outcomes. Laurie’s research experience also included serving as the lactation consultant/neonatal team supervisor for the US site of the World Health Organization Multi-centre Growth Reference Study. Laurie has been an IBCLC since 1993, and served as the Assistant Editor of the Journal of Human Lactation between 1997- 2006.