Jayne Martin Carli PhD, CLC

Background 

Jayne Martin Carli, PhD, received her degree from Columbia University Medical Center, NY, NY. Her research priorities stem from the fact that postpartum women are often put in challenging situations, related to infant feeding, a task which profoundly affects their infant’s and their own long-term health. These challenges include many social, economic and biological barriers, which have been worsened by recent infant formula shortages. Lactating parents deserve support as they fulfill their incredibly important roles nourishing the next generation. Biological research is a critical component of that support, especially with the tools that are now available for understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying human biology.  

Research + Funding 

In 2022, Dr. Martin Carli began her Ludeman Center-funded research project titled, “Harnessing Cells from Human Milk: Linking Lactation to Body Weight.” Her work aims to identify the molecular mechanisms linking lactation to body weight and to develop a new tool to further investigate them, with the overall aim of developing new therapeutics to improve lactation outcomes in women with obesity. This work was motivated by known research that reveals breastfeeding has been shown to protect mothers and infants from cardiometabolic disease later in life. However, only 27% of American women breastfeed their infants to the extent recommended by the World Health Organization, with poor milk supply being one of the most cited reasons for early cessation of lactation. This can lead to maternal diabetes.  

“The Ludeman Center has built a community of like-minded researchers focused on a critically needed research topic. This community strongly supports its members and enables the launch of independent research careers through formal training, networking and social gatherings. Membership in this community is an invaluable asset in the field of women’s health research,” she shares.  

Transforming Women’s Health 

Currently, Dr. Martin Carli’s research is focused on utilizing the tools of molecular biology using human milk samples to define mechanisms underlying the impaired lactation seen in patients with obesity and diabetes. This work will identify avenues for interventions which may increase milk supply, facilitating improvements in food security and cardiometabolic health across the lifespan for both mother and child.