Virginia Tech® home

The Human Milk Microbiome: A Paradigm Shift for Infant Health

Insert your title here

Shelley McGuire, Ph.d.

Michelle "Shelley" McGuire, Ph.D.

Director and Professor
Margaret Ritchie School of Family and Consumer Sciences
College of Agricultural and Life Sciences
University of Idaho

Member, National Academy of Medicine

Maury Strauss Distinguished Public Lecture: The Human Milk Microbiome: A Paradigm Shift for Infant Health

Date: Feb. 15, 2024

Time: 5:30 - 6:30 p.m.  (Reception and hors d'oeuvres at 5 p.m.)

Archived video

About this Seminar

Milk has historically been considered to be sterile unless it was contaminated or produced by an infected mammary gland. However, recent evidence suggests that milk produced by healthy women contains its own rich and unique microbiome - including bacteria, viruses, archaea, and fungi - which varies greatly within and among populations. Very little is known about if and how these microbes are related to maternal and infant health, but understanding the details of the complex maternal-infant-environment ecosystem will likely provide insight into lifelong health and risk for disease.

Additional Details

This is a free event hosted by Dr. Michael Friedlander and the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute. For more information, please call 540-526-2059.

About Maury Strauss

Maury Strauss is a longtime community benefactor and businessman who supports biomedical research with the goal of energizing the local economy and improving quality of life in our neighborhoods and around the world. In order to ensure the continued success of Roanoke’s biomedical research enterprise, as well as the free public seminars, Mr. Strauss has made a generous gift to the series. Read More.

Support Our Research

Your generous support of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute's rigorous biomedical research enterprise makes a difference for our faculty, students, and patients. Every donation helps accelerate the pace of new discoveries to help patients with cancer, neurological disorders, heart disease, and even rare genetic disorders. Private donations fast-track our progress. 

You May Also Be Interested In...

  • Home Item
    Organization and Control of Hippocampal Networks
    Organization and Control of Hippocampal Networks , home

    Oct. 17, 2025, 11:00 a.m. | Ivan Soltesz, Ph.D., James R. Doty Professor of Neurosurgery and Neurosciences, Stanford University | Co-Sponsored by the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Center for Neurobiology Research

  • Home Item
    Maury Strauss Distinguished Public Lecture
    Maury Strauss Distinguished Public Lecture , home

    Oct. 30, 2025, 5:30 p.m. (Reception at 5 p.m.) | Jennifer Munson, Ph.D., Professor and Director, Cancer Research Center — Roanoke, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute; Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics, Virginia Tech College of Engineering | Maury Strauss Distinguished Public Lecture

  • Home Item
    Thinking the Right Thoughts
    Thinking the Right Thoughts , home

    Oct. 31, 2025, 11 a.m. | Nathaniel Daw, Ph.D., Professor, Computational and Theoretical Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, Princeton University | Co-Sponsored by the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Center for Human Neuroscience Research

  • Home Item
    Maury Strauss Distinguished Public Lecture
    Maury Strauss Distinguished Public Lecture , home

    Nov. 6, 2025, 5:30 p.m. (Reception at 5 p.m.) | Teresa Lambe, Ph.D., OBE, Calleva Head of Vaccine Immunology, Professor of Vaccinology and Immunology, University of Oxford | Maury Strauss Distinguished Public Lecture

  • Home Item
    Understanding Vascular Morphogenesis and Morphology: Live Insights from Zebrafish
    Understanding Vascular Morphogenesis and Morphology: Live Insights from Zebrafish , home

    Nov. 21, 2025, 11:00 a.m. | Arndt F. Siekmann, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Cell and Developmental Biology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania | Co-Sponsored by the Center for Vascular and Heart Research, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute

  • Home Item
    The Metabolic Switch in Development and Degeneration
    The Metabolic Switch in Development and Degeneration , home

    Dec. 12, 2025, 11:00 a.m. | Elizabeth Jonas, M.D., Harvey and Kate Cushing Professor of Internal Medicine (Endocrinology), Yale School of Medicine | Co-Sponsored by the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Center for Neurobiology Research