The global healthcare company Medela is launching its ambitious 2025 Global Breastfeeding & Lactation Symposium Series, uniting leading researchers and healthcare professionals across three continents to advance maternal and infant health outcomes worldwide.
International Collaboration for Healthier Futures
Scheduled to span China, the United States, and Europe, this seventeenth edition of Medela's renowned symposium series will convene representatives from over 20 research institutions and feature 24 expert lecturers addressing more than 5,000 healthcare professionals. Since its inception in 2006, these global gatherings have served as critical platforms for translating scientific discoveries into clinical practice.
Thomas Golücke, CEO of Medela, emphasized the company's mission to unite science, compassion, and innovation to improve lives. "Across every continent, one truth unites the conversations from Shanghai to Chicago to Lisbon: when science and care come together, lives change," Golücke stated.
Groundbreaking Research Presentations
The symposium series will showcase cutting-edge research in lactation science and neonatal care, featuring presentations on several innovative topics:
- Dr. Leon Mitoulas will explore "The evolving status of human milk: Food, signal, and medicine"
- Prof. Marsha Campbell-Yeo will present on "How parent touch and use of mother's own milk can impact procedural pain in neonates"
- Prof. Sarah Taylor will examine "The point-of-care concentration of mother's own milk – an alternative to adding fortifiers?"
- Dr. Titus Keller will discuss "Intranasal fresh own mother's milk during brain injury"
Bridging Research and Clinical Practice
Professor Donna Geddes, Director of the Geddes Hartmann Human Lactation Research Group at the University of Western Australia, highlighted the importance of collaboration in this specialized field. "Lactation science remains a niche and often overlooked field, and despite its profound impact on human health, we know surprisingly little about a process that is so fundamental to life," Geddes noted.
She emphasized that human milk lays the foundation for a healthy start in life and may hold answers to preventing or treating other illnesses. "When researchers, clinicians, and industry leaders like Medela come together, we strive to accelerate progress from the lab bench to the bedside," Geddes added.
The symposium series commenced in Shanghai, China in May 2025, where more than 3,400 participants gathered both in-person and online under the theme "Improving Lactation Support, Turning Science into Care". Hosted by Professor Zhang Huayan of Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center and Professor Zhang Ting of Shanghai Children's Hospital, the event featured eight distinguished speakers exploring lactation physiology, risk factor management, and clinical best practices.
Key findings from these sessions continue to guide healthcare professionals through subsequent presentations at major academic meetings across China, extending the symposium's educational impact far beyond the initial events.
