Professor
Max Rady College of Medicine
Pediatrics and Child Health
Room 501G - 715 McDermot Avenue
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3E 3P4
Meghan Azad, PhD
Cross-appointments
- Professor, Community Health Sciences
- Associate professor, Immunology
- Adjunct professor, Food and Human Nutritional Sciences
Accepting graduate students
- Master’s - Yes
- PhD - Yes
Research themes
- breastfeeding
- developmental origins of health and disease
- human milk composition
- microbiome
- nutrition
- preterm birth
Keywords
- allergies
- asthma
- breastfeeding
- developmental origins of health and disease
- diabetes
- human milk composition
- infant microbiome
- maternal nutrition
- obesity
- preterm birth
Research affiliations
- Research scientist, Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba (CHRIM)
- Co-director, Manitoba Interdisciplinary Lactation Centre (MILC)
- Principal investigator, International Milk Composition (IMiC) Consortium
- Deputy director, CHILD Cohort Study
- Manitoba representative, DOHaD Canada
- Fellow, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) Humans & Microbiome Program
- Associate member, University of Chicago Health Inequality Network, Human Capital & Economics Opportunity Working Group
Research summary
Dr. Azad’s research team (www.azadlab.ca) studies how experiences in utero and during infancy shape lifelong health, focusing on infant growth and resilience in low and middle-income settings, and chronic conditions affecting children worldwide – including asthma, allergies, obesity and diabetes.
Her research program incorporates administrative database studies, human birth cohorts, and collaboration with basic scientists to establish animal models and explore biological mechanisms.
Her current projects focus on maternal nutrition, breastfeeding, human milk composition and the infant microbiome.
Dr. Azad’s ultimate goal is to prevent chronic disease and promote healthy growth through evidence-informed interventions during critical periods of early development.
Biography
Dr. Meghan Azad is a professor of pediatrics and child health at the University of Manitoba.
She holds a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Developmental Origins of Chronic Disease and co-directs the new Manitoba Interdisciplinary Lactation Centre (MILC).
Her research program is focused on the role of infant nutrition and the microbiome in child growth, development and resilience.
Dr. Azad is the deputy director of the CHILD Cohort Study, a national pregnancy cohort following 3500 children to understand how early life experiences shape lifelong health.
She is leading a clinical trial to improve matching procedures for preterm neonates receiving donor human milk, and directing the new International Milk Composition (IMiC) Consortium.
Her research is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Dr. Azad serves on the International Society for Research in Human Milk and Lactation Executive Council and the joint US/Canada Human Milk Composition Initiative.
She was named among Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women in 2020, and received the 2018 International Society for Research in Human Milk and Lactation Erlich-Koldovsky New Investigator Award.
Education
- Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship, Pediatrics, University of Alberta
- PhD, Biochemistry and Medical Genetics, University of Manitoba
- Master of science (MSc), epidemiology, London School of Hygiene
- Bachelor of science (hons.), biochemistry, University of Winnipeg
Awards
- WXN Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award Winner (2020)
- Ken Hughes Young Investigator Award in Medical Research (2020)
- Canadian Society for Clinical Investigation Joe Doupe Young Investigator Award (2020)
- International Milk Genomics Consortium Outstanding Mid-Career Investigator Award (2020)
- Terry G. Falconer Memorial Rh Institute Foundation Emerging Research Award (2019)
- AllerGen NCE Michelle Harkness Mentorship Award for Mentoring Excellence (2019)
- International Society for Research in Human Milk and Lactation (ISRHML) Ehrlich-Koldovsky Award (2018)
- University of London 150th Anniversary Prize 2016 CBC Manitoba Future 40 Award recognizing outstanding professional and service contributions (2017)
- CIHR Lindau Prize-One, of three Canadians nominated to attend the 64th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting (2014)
- Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship, ranked 2nd nationally in the health research stream, (2013-2015)
ORCID profile
Visit Meghan Azad's ORCID profile for a complete listing or view her Google Scholar page.
Contact us
Pediatrics and Child Health
CE-208 Children's Hospital, Health Sciences Centre
840 Sherbrook Street
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, MB R3A 1S1 Canada
204-787-8020
204-787-4807