The IAEA is launching a new coordinated research project to advance global maternal and child health by optimizing the dose-to-mother deuterium oxide method—a stable (non-radioactive) isotope technique used to measure breast milk intake in infants. This project will generate critical data on maternal predictors of breastfeeding success, expand the IAEA’s global human milk intake database and refine the method for higher accuracy. The IAEA’s new coordinated research project will build on the IAEA  database on human milk intake, which includes a global collection of around 4000 DTM datapoints from 27 countries. Specific research objectives include: optimizing the DTM method, generating new data for the database that will help bridge regional and age-related data gaps, and identifying key maternal factors affecting breastfeeding success.

Eligibility

The CRP is open to all Member States. Participating institutions should have:

• Experience in stable isotope techniques for nutrition research.
• Fieldwork capabilities and access to healthcare institutions for participant recruitment.
• Preferred: Experience in longitudinal studies and interventions addressing maternal stressors.

Research institutions interested in joining the CRP must submit their Proposal for Research Contract or Agreement via email, no later than 15 June 2025, to the IAEA’s Research Contracts Administration Section, using the appropriate template on the CRA web portal.