Oxford University research centre receives £9m donation

The gift from the Family Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation will support the centre which is investigating the role of hormones in human milk production.

Human milk provides crucial nutritional and health benefits for babies, but current knowledge on how hormones govern its production and influence maternal-infant bonding is limited.

The Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation Oxford Centre for the Endocrinology of Human Lactation is the only UK research centre focused on this subject.

(L-R) Reto Larsson, Dr Katharina Lichtner, from the foundation, professor Irene Tracey, the university's vice-chancellor, professor Krina Zondervan, head of Nuffield Department of Women's and Reproductive Health, and Michael Larsson, from the foundation (Image: Oxford University/Cyrus Mower)

Led by Professor Fadil Hannan and situated within the Nuffield Department of Women's and Reproductive Health, the centre aims to address hormone-related breastfeeding challenges and improve the health of mothers and children worldwide.

Professor Hannan said: "Understanding the full range of hormones that influence lactation is crucial to helping mothers who are struggling to breastfeed."

The department's head, professor Krina Zondervan, added: "Our vision is to fill knowledge gaps that can improve lactation and breastfeeding outcomes.

"Thanks to this endowment, we have a unique opportunity to establish a line of research that’s been underappreciated for too long."

The centre was established in 2018 thanks to a donation of £2.9 million from the foundation. The latest gift ensures the centre's long-term sustainability.

It has done this by endowing a chair in the endocrinology of human lactation, as well as an associated research and collaboration fund.

The fund will be used to support new projects within the field, with a particular focus on generating pilot data from innovative ideas.

The hope is to attract further research grants and philanthropic support, allowing the centre to conduct significant research over a sustained period.

Dr Marco Steiner, president of the Family Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation's board, said: "We are delighted to be supporting mothers and children’s health with this endowment.

"It enables the world-renowned University of Oxford to target a neglected research topic – the physiology of breastfeeding.

"Because this work is taking place in the John Radcliffe Hospital, the team is in a wonderful position to support breastfeeding mothers, making practical, meaningful differences in the lives of families every day."

The Family Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation is an independent philanthropic organisation founded in Switzerland in 2013.

It promotes breastfeeding and supports research into human milk and lactation, and has endowed four other independent research centres in this field.

Two of these are at the University of Zurich, one is at the University of Western Australia and the other is at the University of California.

As a group, they form the Global Human Milk Research Consortium. This network focuses on complementary research topics and cooperates on projects capable of bridging traditional divides between disciplines.