Meghan Azad

Dr. Meghan Azad is a Professor of Pediatrics and Child Health at the University of Manitoba, where she holds a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Early Nutrition and the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease.

She co-directs the Manitoba Interdisciplinary Lactation Centre (MILC) and serves as Deputy Director of the CHILD Cohort Study, a national birth cohort following 3,500 children to understand how early-life experiences shape lifelong health.

Dr. Azad's research focuses on the role of infant nutrition and the microbiome in child growth, development, and resilience. Her work has significantly advanced the understanding of how breastfeeding and human milk composition influence health outcomes, including the development of allergies, asthma, obesity, and diabetes.

She has received numerous accolades for her contributions to maternal and child health research, including the International Society for Research in Human Milk and Lactation Erlich-Koldovsky Early Career Investigator Award (2018) and the International Human Milk Genomics Mid-Career Investigator Award (2020). In 2020, Dr. Azad was named among Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women and Canada's Top 40 Under 40 in 2021. She is also a recipient of the prestigious Steacie Prize for Research in the Natural Sciences (2023) and the Canada Gairdner Momentum Award (2024).

Beyond her research, Dr. Azad is committed to knowledge translation and public engagement, aiming to inform policy and practice to improve maternal and child health outcomes globally.