University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute, Department of Maternal Child Health, Gillings School of Global Public Health
CB#7445
Chapel Hill
NCUSA
27599-7445
Biographical Sketch: Miriam H Labbok, MD, MPH, MMS, FACPM, FABM, IBCLC
• Professor of the Practice of Public Health, and Director, Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute (CBI): Nurturing our Future: Supporting the Mother/Child Dyad in Breastfeeding and Reproductive Health since January 2006. CBI is housed in the Department of Maternal and Child Health, University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health.
• Previously, the Senior Advisor for Infant and Young Child Feeding and Care, UNICEF HQ; Chief, Maternal Health and Nutrition Division, USAID; Associate Professor at Georgetown University Medical Center and Co-Director, Institute for Reproductive Health; Assistant Prof, Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, and Adjunct Associate Prof. at Tulane.
• Graduate of University of Pennsylvania with General Honors; the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey – Rutgers; Tulane University (where she studied under mentorship of Dr. Cicely Williams); Pediatrics at Georgetown U Medical Center; and Post-doc in epidemiology and Preventive Medicine Residency at Johns Hopkins.
• Nearly 35 years of research and programme work on maternal/child dyad health and nutrition; known for the development of the Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM) for family planning, technical secretariat for the Innocenti Declaration meetings, definitions for breastfeeding, studies of health consequences of breastfeeding for the dyad; and for community health initiatives using operational and translational research approaches.
• Her work has been recognized with honors as varied as Distinguished Alumnus of all institutions of higher learning attended, the first Science and Technology Award from USAID, both student and distinguished Honoree of LLLI, faculty Delta Omega, and many others.
• She has worked in more than 50 countries, and has published more than 300 chapters, published articles, papers, and abstracts, and hundreds of invited lectures and seminars.
• She is pleased and honored to be able to apply her expertise at the home of the TarHeels, and in a school and department that considers and supports the public health needs of every mother and every child worldwide.