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Sarah N. Taylor, MD, MSCR

Associate Professor of Pediatrics (Neonatology); Director of Clinical Research, Pediatrics

Contact Information

Sarah N. Taylor, MD, MSCR

Mailing Address

  • Yale School of Medicine

    Dept of Pediatrics, Div of Neonatology, 333 Cedar St.

    New Haven, CT 06520-8064

    United States

Yale Medicine

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Research Summary

Dr. Taylor's research centers on infant nutrition and growth with a special focus on human milk and lactation. She explores the behavioral and biologic influences on maternal milk production including methods to mitigate disparities. She investigates preterm infant gut health and development as related to nutritional exposures.

Extensive Research Description

Dr. Taylor and the Yale NOURISH Team (Yale Neonatal Nutrition Outcomes Research In Sustaining mother and infant Health) studies health outcomes affected by pregnancy and lactation and specifically focuses on the mother/infant lactation experience and infant growth and development especially in the setting of growth restriction or prematurity. A sample of our current research:

Human milk feeding is associated with improved gastrointestinal health for preterm infants. We are investigating how the gut barrier and the gut inflammation is affected by early feeding versus delayed feeding and feeding mother’s milk or donor milk

Human milk, either mother’s own milk or donor human milk, varies in its nutritional composition. We use a mid-infrared human milk analyzer to investigate the energy and protein in human milk and correlate these results with infant health outcomes.

Woman with diabetes during pregnancy are more likely to experience lactation difficulties. We are studying the factors associated with maternal lactation choices and maternal experience to determine which factors serve as impediments to breastfeeding.

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at YNHH is one of the first hospitals in the United States to have couplet care rooms where an infant receiving intensive care and a mother receiving postpartum care share a hospital room. We are investigating how to optimize the couplet care experience to support breastfeeding, bonding, satisfaction and avoid stress.

Infant growth trajectory is affected by exposure to maternal hormones both in fetal development and during lactation. We aim to determine the role of these hormones and how fetal/infant exposures differ due to maternal health.

Coauthors

Research Interests

Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; Milk, Human; Nutritional Requirements; Pediatrics

Selected Publications

Clinical Trials

ConditionsStudy Title
Pregnancy, Childbirth and the PuerperiumThe NICU Antibiotics and Outcomes Trial (NANO)
Diseases in Infants & Newborns; Infectious DiseasesEvaluation of Pharmacokinetics, Safety, and Tolerability of Ceftazidime-avibactam in Neonates and Infants. (NOOR)
Diseases of the Endocrine System; Women's Health; Pregnancy, Childbirth and the PuerperiumThe effect of lactation on insulin sensitivity and lipolysis in women
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