Blog
MaxiMoM
Our team
MaxiMoM
Meet the team behind MaxiMoM
Combining their research, clinical, milk banking, and discipline-specific strengths, principal investigators, Drs. O’Connor and Unger, have become international leaders in optimizing human milk for very low birth weight infants. This research could not be done without the dedication and enthusiasm of our large team of staff, trainees, collaborators, and family advisors!
Principal investigators

Deborah O'Connor PhD RD
Dr. O’Connor is the Chair of the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto and a Senior Associate Scientist at the SickKids Research Institute. Dr. O’Connor is a recognized authority in neonatal nutrition and is frequently asked for her expert opinion in preparing national and international maternal and neonatal nutrition guidelines. Dr. O'Connor is also interested in understanding the factors that affect the folate and one-carbon (e.g. vitamin B12) nutrient status of women, infants, and young children. In particular, her work investigates the role folic acid fortification, vitamin and mineral supplementation and colonic bacterial folate biosynthesis play on the folate status of women of reproductive age. Folate and other one-carbon nutrients are critically involved in the prevention of birth defects and emerging evidence suggests these nutrients also play important roles in epigenetic programming of adult disease.
Sharon Unger MD
Dr. Unger is a neonatologist at Sinai Health, a scientist at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, a professor in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto (U of T) and a mother to three teenage daughters. She comes from New Brunswick and attended Dalhousie University Medical School. Following pediatrics residency on the East Coast, Dr. Unger completed fellowship training in neonatal-perinatal medicine at U of T. Along with Dr. O'Connor she was a primary investigator for the Donor Milk for Improved Neurodevelopmental Outcomes (DoMINO) trial which is the largest blinded randomized controlled trial in donor milk use as a supplement to mother's milk. This trial provided the evidence required to launch the Rogers Hixon Ontario Human Milk Bank for which Dr. Unger is the medical director. Drs. Unger and O'Connor have had continuous funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research for more than the past decade and together serve as the primary investigators for the MaxiMoM: Maximizing Mothers' Milk Program of Research.

Staff
_edited.jpg)
Annette Chrzaniecki, MPH RD
Clinical Research Dietitian


Adrienne Agueci, BSc
Dietary Technician


Alexia Lambis MEd
Research assistant & Psychometrist
Collaborators
Collaboration is at the heart of our work. The consortium of neonatal intensive care units and organizations are an integral part of the MaxiMoM program. Through these collaborators, we reach many of the infants born very low birth weight in Canada each year. This level of integration and collaboration makes the MaxiMoM program a unique network not found anywhere else in the world. Established research contracts, electronic data collection, a biobank, and support from the Rogers Hixon Ontario Human Milk Bank place MaxiMoM in an ideal position to rapidly and effectively answer research questions and implement practice change.
Humber River Hospital
Lakeridge Health
Mackenzie Health
Markham Stouffville Hospital
Toronto East Health Network
North York General Hospital
Rogers Hixon Ontario Human Milk Bank
Scarborough Health Network
Southlake Regional Health Centre
Sinai Health System
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
The Hospital for Sick Children
Unity Health Toronto
Universite Laval
University of Alberta
University of Ottawa
University of Toronto
Trillium Health Partners
William Osler Health System

The MaxiMoM Family is a group of parents who have participated in our studies and who provide feedback for our study initiatives. We are thankful for the support and contributions of the MaxiMoM Family to ensure that our research is accessible, relevant and meaningful to the families we aim to support. Click the link below if you are interested in learning more about joining our advisory group!


The
MaxiMoM Family
Trainees

Megan Beggs PhD RD
Research fellow
Optimizing trace element nutrition for infants born preterm

Jo-Anna Baxter PhD
Exploring associations between maternal micronutrient supplementation, diet and body mass index with breastmilk composition and infant growth

Nicole Bando MSc
PhD student
Examining the relationship between early-life nutrition and neural processing speed capacities in infants born very preterm

Adrianna Greco MSc RD
MSc student
Validation of a new methodology to assess vitamin B12 in human milk and concentrations in Canadian human donor milk
Research fellow

Michelle Asbury MSc
PhD student
Impact of the mother’s milk microbiota on the gastrointestinal colonization of hospitalized infants born <1250 grams

Michael Pitino MSc
PhD student
Optimizing the pasteurization of human donor milk using high hydrostatic pressure processing

Sara Shama MSc RD
PhD student
Impact of pre- and probiotic properties of mother’s milk on the microbial colonization of very low birth weight infants

Victoria Colaluca BSc
MSc student
The effect of probiotics on human colonic folate concentration
Former Trainees
Former Undergraduate Students
-
Akash Kothari BSc
Current Position: MSc Student, University of Toronto
-
Rachel Wong BSc
Current Position: MSc Student, University of Toronto
Former Masters Students
-
Samantha Ismail MSc, BSc
Current Position: Medical Student, University of Toronto
-
Colleen Farrell MSc RD
Current Position: Clinical Research Dietitian, The Hospital for Sick Children
-
Dawn Ng MSc
-
Eleanor Reid MSc
Current Position: Project Manager, Funding Analytics & Operations Support, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
-
Joan Brennan-Donnan MSc RD
Current Position: Registered Dietitian, Siani Health System
-
Sara DiLauro MSc RD
Current Position: Registered Dietitian, The Hospital for Sick Children
-
Siya Khanna MSc
Current Position: Medical Student, Nova Southeastern University
-
Susan Trang MSc
Current Position: Nutrition Research Analyst, Nutrition Regulations Standards Division, Health Canada
-
Yunnie Luk MSc RD
Current Position: Registered Dietitian, The Hospital for Sick Children
Former Doctoral Students
-
Jane Francis PhD RD
Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Acadia University
-
Julie Sato (PhD project course, co-supervised)
Current Position: PhD Student, University of Toronto (Dr. Margot Taylor Lab)
-
Lauren LeMay-Nedjelski PhD
Current Position: Medical Writer, EVERSANA
-
Meghan McGee PhD
Current Position: Project Coordinator, Bridgepoint Research Collaboratory
Former Clinical & Research Fellows
-
Abu Ismail MD
-
Amelia Xu PhD
Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Sinai Health System
-
Amir El Makkawi MD
-
Julia Panczuk MD
-
Kathryn Hopperton PhD
Current Position: Scientific Evaluator, Health Canada
-
Marina Castro MD
Current Position: Staff Paediatrician and Neonatologist at Credit Valley Hospital and Mississauga Hospital
-
Phoebe Kigozi MD
Current Position: Neonatologist, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
-
Telford Yeung MD PhD
Current Position: Staff Neonatologist, Windsor Reginal Hospital
-
Kathryn Walton PhD RD
Current Position: Assistant Professor, University of Guelph
Team Pictures

Photo of MaxiMoM celebrating thanksgiving

Photo of Adrianna Greco, Dr. Debbie O'Connor, Jo-Anna Baxter and Aneta Plaga at Adrianna's MSc Thesis Defense

Photo of Michael Pitino and his presentation at the IMGC






SickKids Research Institute
Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning
686 Bay Street
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M5G 0A4
Department of Nutritional Sciences
University of Toronto
1 King's College Circle
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M5S 1A8
© 2021 MaxiMoM Research