
GOLD10 offers a list of speakers and topics with a true international flavour. You will have the opportunity to listen to and ask questions of the most respected human lactation researchers and clinicians in the world -all from the comfort of your own desktop.

James AkreJames Akre has both academic and practical experience in sociology, pu...

James Akre has both academic and practical experience in sociology, public and international affairs, and public health, with an early focus on economic and social development and the welfare of populations in low-income rural environments. His community development and international public health nutrition career spans four decades, including over 30 years working in agencies of the United Nations system dealing with labour and social affairs, and public health. He serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners (IBLCE), the Editorial Board of the open-access International Breastfeeding Journal and the Scientific Committee of La Leche League France. James Akre will deliver a free online pre-conference presentation at GOLD on May 1st 2010.

Catherine Watson-GennaCatherine Watson Genna has been an IBCLC in private practice in NYC si...

Catherine Watson Genna has been an IBCLC in private practice in NYC since 1992. She has a special interest in the anatomical, genetic and neurological influences on infant sucking skills, and writes and speaks on these topics. She is co-researcher in a study utilizing ultrasound to examine tongue movements during breastfeeding in infants with ankyloglossia and other sucking problems. Her clinical photographs are widely published. She is the author of Selecting and Using Breastfeeding Tools: Improving Care and Outcomes (Hale 2009) and Supporting Sucking Skills in Breastfeeding Infants (Jones and Bartlett Publishers 2008)

Prof. Helen BallHelen Ball is Professor of Anthropology at Durham University (UK) and ...

Helen Ball is Professor of Anthropology at Durham University (UK) and directs the Parent-Infant Sleep laboratories there. She has been teaching and conducting research about night-time infant care and breastfeeding for 14 years and supervises a team of 11 PhD and postdoctoral researchers. Together they conduct research in the sleep laboratories, local hospitals and the community. Helen contributes to national and international guidelines on bed-sharing, infant sleep and SIDS and advises hospitals on bed-sharing policies.

Lisa MarascoLisa Marasco has been working with breastfeeding mothers and babies fo...

Lisa Marasco has been working with breastfeeding mothers and babies for over 20 years as a La Leche League Leader, a private practice consultant, and most recently as a Lactation Consultant for the WIC (Women, Infants & Children) program. She holds a Master’s degree in Human Development with Specialization in Lactation (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and its possible relationship to milk production problems,) She specialises in milk production and recently co-authored The Breastfeeding Mother’s Guide to Making More Milk with Diana West. Lisa lives in Santa Maria, California, where she continues to work, research, teach and write.

Prof. Laurie Nommsen-RiversLaurie Nommsen-Rivers is a research assistant professor at Cincinnati ...

Laurie Nommsen-Rivers is a research assistant professor at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in the Division of Neonatology. Laurie has studied and evaluated lay-childbirth support program (doula care)and has tested and confirmed the hypothesis that mother-friendly childbirth practices will decrease the risk of delayed lactogenesis and thereby decrease the risk of weaning prior to 6 weeks postpartum.Through her research, her goal is to contribute to closing the gap between new mothers' breastfeeding goals and the many barriers that stand in the way of meeting those goals.

Dr. Jane MortonDr Jane Morton is Professor of Paediatrics at Stanford University and ...

Dr Jane Morton is Professor of Paediatrics at Stanford University and an executive board member of the American Academy Paediatrics. She is Fellow of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine and Past Director of the Breastfeeding Medicine Program at Stanford University. Dr Morton practices full time paediatrics in California and has completed considerable research on breastfeeding, especially with the pre term infant and milk supply for breastfeeding mothers and she has produced multiple publications and education tools.

Prof. Ruth LawrenceDr Lawrence is a professor of Pediatrics and Obstetrics and Gynecology...

Dr Lawrence is a professor of Pediatrics and Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and a member of the Division of Neonatology where she has been since completing her fellowship at Yale. She is the Medical Director of the Breastfeeding and Human Lactation Study Center and the Finger Lakes Regional Poison and Drug Information Center. She is the author of Breastfeeding: A Guide for the Medical Profession and many original articles, chapters and reviews. Ruth is a founding member of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, past president and Editor-in-Chief of the new journal, Breastfeeding Medicine, and is now the Chair of the Executive Committee of the Section for Breastfeeding of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Jarold (Tom) JohnstonTom Johnston is a midwife, lactation consultant, a career soldier, and...
Tom Johnston is a midwife, lactation consultant, a career soldier, and a father of seven breastfed children. He has spent his career advocating for the rights of fathers in the perinatal arena and has spoken at the Association of Womens' Health and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) and the International Lactation Consultant's Association (ILCA). In his written work he has advocated for better science in the field of bedsharing and has authored a chapter on the role of the father in breastfeeding for "Breastfeeding in Combat Boots: A survival guide to breastfeeding in the military".

Dr. Lida LhotskaLida Lhotska studied biology and has Ph.D. in physical anthropology wi...

Lida Lhotska studied biology and has Ph.D. in physical anthropology with dissertation thesis on Motherhood in Adolescence". She worked for many years at the National Institute for Public Health in Prague, Czech Republic. There she was co-responsible for conducting the nation-wide anthropological surveys of children and adolescents and she coordinated a field team of professionals responsible for the community-based component of a USAID-funded Project on Reduction of Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Diseases in the Czech Republic. Simultaneously she also taught infant feeding, anthropometric methods and clinical anthropology at the 3rd Medical school in Prague. In 1990, she co-founded the first Czech IBFAN group in her country. In 1994, she joined the nutrition team at UNICEF HQ and worked for 7 years as a senior advisor responsible for policy development, direct support to country programmes and coordination with government counterparts, donors and NGOs in the area of infant feeding and care. Since 2001, she works as Regional Coordinator for Europe of the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN), and is also responsible for policy guidance and technical support on HIV/Infant feeding and on infant feeding in emergencies, and liaison with international organizations and NGOs. In both her UN and NGO capacity she travelled extensively to both developing and industrialised countries. Her particular interest is in human rights approach to policies and programme implementation.

Bridget IngleBridget spent her early mothering years involved in the Australian Bre...

Bridget spent her early mothering years involved in the Australian Breastfeeding Association. She qualified as an IBCLC in 1992 and worked full time in her private practice prior to joining Health e-Learning. Bridget specialises in complex breastfeeding situations such as cleft lip/palate, persistent thrush and babies who fail to attach. Bridget is the speaker's co ordinator for GOLD10.

Dr. Megan Elliott-RudderDr Megan Elliott-Rudder is a rural Australian general/family practitio...

Dr Megan Elliott-Rudder is a rural Australian general/family practitioner focusing on obstetric and pregnancy care, a mother and a volunteer breastfeeding counsellor. She is undertaking her PhD with UNSW, "Support for ongoing breastfeeding" which aims to increase exclusivity and duration. Her research uses an intervention to improve conversations about breastfeeding between practice/office nurses and mothers, providing support with a motivational interviewing approach.

Prof. Barbara MorrisonDr. Barbara Morrison is a nurse midwife, family nurse practitioner, an...

Dr. Barbara Morrison is a nurse midwife, family nurse practitioner, and assistant professor of nursing. She has been working with and for parents and their newborns for 28 years, assisting with their births and early parenting. Her research interests’ focus on breastfeeding, kangaroo (skin-to-skin) care for full-term infants, and developing a hospital environment that promotes, protects and supports breastfeeding. Dr. Morrison has a special interest in the neuro-endocrine and neuro-biological effects of kangaroo care that lead to strong social attachments and exclusive breastfeeding. Dr. Morrison has been a frequent speaker at local, regional, national and international conferences and meetings. She has spoken on such topics as midwives provision of prenatal care, interruptions to the breastfeeding dyad on the first postpartum day, kangaroo care for full-term infants, family centered maternity care, language of the newborn, and nursing theory. Currently, Dr. Morrison is providing workshops on the evidence for and implementation of kangaroo care with fullterm infants.

Robin GrilleRobin Grille is a father, a psychologist in private practice with twen...

Robin Grille is a father, a psychologist in private practice with twenty years' experience, and a parenting educator. His articles on parenting and child development have been widely published in Australia and overseas, translated into several languages. Robin's first book: 'Parenting for a Peaceful World' has received international acclaim and led to speaking engagements around Australia, USA and New Zealand. 'Heart to Heart Parenting' is Robin's second book. A passionate speaker and social change activist, Robin's extensive research has led him to feel that improved attention to children's emotional needs is the most powerful way to move societies toward sustainability and peace.

Vanessa SakalidisVanessa Sakalidis successfully completed a Bachelor of Health Science ...

Vanessa Sakalidis successfully completed a Bachelor of Health Science with first class honours in Public Health, investigating the sucking dynamics of infants in early lactation. She is currently studying for her PhD at The University of Western Australia under the supervision of Dr Donna Geddes and Professor Peter Hartmann. Her research focuses on infant suck, swallow, breathe coordination during the establishment of lactation in both successfully breastfed infants and infants of mothers experiencing nipple pain. In addition she is using ultrasound imaging to study the influence of birth mode on sucking patterns of breastfed infants.

Ann SinnottAnn has a background in health journalism. As a freelance, she wrote f...

Ann has a background in health journalism. As a freelance, she wrote features for many UK national newspapers and magazines and combined this with mothering. Ann then spent more than 2 years researching long-term breastfeeding, sparked by personal experience when her own daughter chose to breastfeed for six and a half years. In her book, Breastfeeding Older Children, she asks – Is the urge to sustain breastfeeding into middle childhood, and sometimes beyond, linked to the maturation of the immune system? What could we learn from differences in breastfed and non-breastfed toddler behaviour? How do the reported effects of long-term breastfeeding square up with Attachment Theory and the findings of neuroscience? Ann also explores the familial and social pressures on long-term breastfeeding mothers and the impact the practice can have on fathers and the couple relationship.

Pamela MorrisonPamela has been speaking and writing on behalf of breastfeeding in the...

Pamela has been speaking and writing on behalf of breastfeeding in the context of HIV since 1995. Having certified as the first IBCLC in Zimbabwe in 1990, she worked in private practice and served as a member of the Zimbabwe National Multi-sectoral Breastfeeding Committee, as a BFHI trainer and assessor, and assisted with development of national Code legislation and HIV policy. She emigrated to Australia in 2003 and subsequently to England in 2005. She served as Co-Coordinator of the WABA Task Force on Human Rights from 2001 to 2002 and as Co-ordinator of the WABA Breastfeeding and HIV from 2005 to 2009. She currently serves on the ILCA Ethics and Code Committee.

Anne Hagen-GrøvslienAnne was involved in the process starting a milk bank in 1995 at Riksh...

Anne was involved in the process starting a milk bank in 1995 at Rikshospitalet University Hospital (now called Oslo University Hospital). Norwegian milk banks have a long history of using raw milk. Since then she has run the milk bank and has been involved in writing a guideline administrated by the Norwegian Directorate of Health. Anne is a National qualified lactation consultant and she works with mothers at the NICU to give unpasteurized breastmilk to the babies. She is involved in the voluntary humanitarian organization ”Ammehjelpen”. It is a network of women who are working for a breastfeeding friendly society through mother-to-mother support for breastfeeding. Since 2002 she has been the leader of the Norwegian Milk Bank Organization.

Dr. Trevor SmithTrevor is a specialist breast surgeon. He graduated with a medical deg...

Trevor is a specialist breast surgeon. He graduated with a medical degree from University of Cape Town in 1982 and then attained General Surgeon Fellowship in 1992. For the past 13 years, Trevor has been in private practice in Auckland, New Zealand where he lives with his family. He has extensive experience in all areas of breast surgery and has a special interest in the role of ultrasound in improving breast assessment and has attended and run training courses on the use of ultrasound by surgeons. Trevor is passionate about promoting the important role of nutrition and lifestyle factors both in improving treatment outcomes, and as a modifiable cause of cancer and other disease. He is also deeply concerned by the pace of environmental degradation and contamination of our delicate ecosystem and the total disregard shown generally by governments and industry for the importance of sustainable and healthy industrial, commercial fishing and farming policies.

Musa Asibi OnyiosaAsibi qualified in Nigeria as a Nurse Midwife in 1990 and started prac...

Asibi qualified in Nigeria as a Nurse Midwife in 1990 and started practicing immediately. In 2006, she was appointed as a Nigerian Volunteer to Rwanda on a medical mission by the technical Aids Corps, an arm of the Ministry of Foreign affairs, Nigeria. In the process of carrying out her professional job in Rwanda at the maternity section of King Faisal Hospital, a colleague informed her about International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLC) The awareness she received motivated her to register with the group of candidates in Rwanda who were also preparing for IBLCE exam. Asibi was partnered by Lactation Consultants of Great Britain (LCGB) as an ILCA member in 2007 until now and she passed the IBLCE examination in 2008. In 2009, after the expiration of the volunteer work in Rwanda, Asibi returned home to the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria to become the only Nigerian IBCLC to date to be practicing in Nigeria. She is now working at the Abuja Clinics (a private hospital), Maitama. She is presently impacting knowledge about breastfeeding to staff and mothers and creating awareness about IBCLC in Nigeria.

Dr. Jennifer JamesJennifer is a senior lecturer and and course co ordinator in Midwifery...

Jennifer is a senior lecturer and and course co ordinator in Midwifery and Breastfeeding & Human Lactation , and program leader for the Graduate Certificate in Professional Lactation Consultancy at RMIT University. She is currently both Vice President of Australian Lactation Consultants' Association (ALCA)and interim board member of the newly formed Lactation Consultant of Australia and New Zealand (LCANZ). Jennifer has a private practice in Melbourne.

Elise ChapinElise Chapin is an IBCLC in private practice in Florence, Italy, who w...

Elise Chapin is an IBCLC in private practice in Florence, Italy, who was born and raised in the United States. She has a background in education and coordinates the Health eLearning courses in Italian. She has been active in various NGOs supporting, promoting and protecting breastfeeding and is currently the coordinator for MAMI - Movimento Allattamento Materno Italiano (the Italian Breastfeeding Movement), the WABA national focal point for Italy and a member of the Italian National Breastfeeding Committee.

GOLD is brought to you by Health e-Learning. We are pleased to state that there are no advertisers or sponsors for this event. It's all about the education here.
GOLD baby photo on the front page by simmbarb, used with permission.

By not having to travel to attend a world-class conference, you not only save time and money on travel, but you also save the environment! Flying across countries and continents has a serious effect on the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Click here to find out more, and to use our quick calculator to see how much CO2 you would save by attending an online conference.

GOLD09 was a finalist in the 2009 Australian Event Awards in two categories: Best Conference and Best Technical Production for the GOLD09 Online Conference, going up against competitors such as Microsoft.
GOLD10 is set to be bigger and better than GOLD09! Watch out Australian Event Awards 2010!