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Improving growth and neurodevelopment of very low birth weight infants through precision nutrition: The Optimizing Nutrition and Milk (Opti-NuM) Project.

Award Number: R01HD111018
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CHILD HEALTH AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/22/2022
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 08/31/2026

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Improving growth and neurodevelopment of very low birth weight infants through precision nutrition: The Optimizing Nutrition and Milk (Opti-NuM) Project. - PROJECT SUMMARY Significance: Infants born of very low birth weight (VLBW) account for 50% of all long-term neurological morbidity among North American children; they commonly have sub-optimal growth and life threatening morbidities such as necrotising enterocolitis and sepsis. It is now widely recognized that human milk (HM) feeding is the best strategy to prevent serious morbidity in VLBW infants, yet growth and neurodevelopment often remain sub-optimal with current one-size-fits-all feeding regimes. There is increasing interest in “precision nutrition” approaches, but it is unclear which HM components require personalized titration. Previous efforts have focused on macronutrients, but HM also contains essential micronutrients as well as non- nutrient bioactive components that shape the gut microbiome. Further, it is unclear if or how parental factors (e.g. stress, body mass index, diet) and infant factors (e.g. genetics, gut microbiota, sex, acuity) influence relationships between early nutrition and growth, neurodevelopment and morbidity. Understanding these complex relationships is paramount to developing effective personalized HM feeding strategies for VLBW infants. This is the overarching goal of the proposed Optimizing Nutrition and Milk (Opti-NuM) Project. Approach: We will leverage two established research platforms led by PIs of this grant: 1) the Maximizing Mother’s Milk (MaxiMoM) Program with its neonatal feeding trial network and 2) the International Milk Composition (IMiC) Consortium. This partnership unites the comprehensive nutrition and clinical data (daily feed volumes and composition) and pristinely collected biospecimens from MaxiMoM (n=1105) with the systems biology and machine learning pipelines from IMiC Consortium. We aim to define optimal nutrient intake ranges (Aim 1) and microbially-relevant non-nutrient intake profiles (Aim 2) associated with optimal growth and neurodevelopment and low risk of serious morbidity in different clinical sub-populations of HM-fed VLBW infants. Additionally, we will explore the role of infant gut microbiota, infant genetics and parent stress in associations between early nutrition and growth, neurodevelopment and morbidity (Aim 3). Innovation: The MaxiMoM platform is unique in the world in terms of size, scope of nutritional data, biobanked samples and longitudinal follow up data. The IMiC Consortium approach to studying HM as a biological system using sophisticated modelling and machine learning approaches is pushing the boundaries of HM research. Combined, these platforms offer an unparalleled opportunity to decipher how HM supports the growth and development of VLBW infants, and to accelerate the development of novel precision nutrition approaches for this vulnerable population.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $477,421 )
2025	2025	HOSPITAL FOR SICK CHILDREN, THE	555 UNIVERSITY AVE	TORONTO	ON			CAN	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	001	4	9/1/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$477,421
2025	2024	HOSPITAL FOR SICK CHILDREN, THE	555 UNIVERSITY AVE	TORONTO	ON			CAN	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	3	1/7/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $477,421

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $480,861 )
2024	2024	HOSPITAL FOR SICK CHILDREN, THE	555 UNIVERSITY AVE	TORONTO	ON			CAN	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	3	9/4/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$480,861
														Subtotal = $480,861

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $454,812 )
2023	2023	HOSPITAL FOR SICK CHILDREN, THE	555 UNIVERSITY AVE	TORONTO	ON			CAN	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	2	8/15/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$454,812
														Subtotal = $454,812

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $465,256 )
2022	2022	HOSPITAL FOR SICK CHILDREN, THE	555 UNIVERSITY AVE	TORONTO	ON			CAN	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	1	9/22/2022	NEW	$465,256
														Subtotal = $465,256

Grand Total All Awards = $1,878,350

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Improving growth and neurodevelopment of very low birth weight infants through precision nutrition: The Optimizing Nutrition and Milk (Opti-NuM) Project.

Award Number: R01HD111018

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CHILD HEALTH AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/22/2022

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 08/31/2026

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