I-Corps: Translation Potential of Multi-component Bioactives for Breastmilk Preservation

I-Corps项目的更广泛影响是开发了一种经济实惠、易于使用的方法，以延长母乳的保质期，并在冷冻储存和解冻期间保持母乳的营养完整性。这项技术将使母乳喂养得以继续，并改善婴儿营养。在商业上，该解决方案将提供第一个家庭母乳保存解决方案，解决母亲和护理人员未满足的需求。促进持续母乳喂养可通过降低与低母乳喂养率相关的疾病风险和医疗费用来支持公共卫生。近一半的新妈妈在分娩后离开全职工作，而新爸爸的比例不到四分之一。虽然女性放弃职业的总体决定是多方面的，但提供母乳喂养孩子的不平等负担可能是一个原因。该技术的成功开发将为食品科学、营养学、孕产妇、围产期和产后健康开辟新的研究方向。这个I-Corps项目利用体验式学习和对行业生态系统的第一手调查来评估该技术的翻译潜力。该解决方案是基于母乳保存配方的发展，配方由安全的食品衍生化合物组成，通过一种新的高通量筛选方法鉴定。这些配方抑制脂肪分解，恢复营养成分，并保持冷冻母乳的结构完整性。母乳是婴儿营养的黄金标准，但其复杂的结构在冷冻储存过程中会变质，导致脂肪减少、酸败和婴儿排斥母乳。婴儿对母乳的排斥导致许多哺乳父母转向商业婴儿配方奶粉，尽管它们并不是母乳的完美替代品。该配方已被证明可以抑制脂肪分解，并在超过六个月的冷冻储存中保持其他关键营养指标，这项技术可能是第一个负担得起的家庭解决方案，可以延长母乳的保质期。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact of this I-Corps project is the development of an affordable, easy-to-use method for extending the shelf life and preserving the nutritional integrity of human breast milk during freezer storage and thawing. This technology will enable continued breastfeeding and improved infant nutrition. Commercially, the solution will provide the first at-home solution for breast milk preservation, addressing an unmet need for mothers and caregivers. Facilitating continued breastfeeding supports public health by reducing risks of disease and medical costs associated with low breastfeeding rates. Nearly half of new mothers leave full-time careers after childbirth versus less than a quarter of new fathers. While the overall decision for women to leave their careers is multi-faceted, the unequal burden of providing breast milk to feed a child can play a role. Successful development of this technology can open up new research directions in food science, nutrition, and maternal, perinatal, and postnatal health.This I-Corps project utilizes experiential learning coupled with a first-hand investigation of the industry ecosystem to assess the translation potential of the technology. The solution is based on the development of breast milk-preserving formulations composed of safe, food-derived compounds identified through a novel high-throughput screening approach. These formulations inhibit fat breakdown, restore nutritional content, and preserve the structural integrity of frozen breast milk. Human breast milk is the gold standard for infant nutrition, but its complex structure deteriorates during freezer storage, resulting in fat loss, rancidity, and infant rejection of the milk. Infant rejection of breast milk leads many lactating parents to switch to commercial infant formulas even though they are imperfect substitutes for human milk. With a formulation that has been shown to inhibit fat breakdown and preserve other key nutritional indicators for over six months of freezer storage, this technology may be the first affordable, at-home solution to extend breast milk's shelf-life.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.