Shirley Tsunoda | Pharmacomicrobiomics, Human Milk & Maternal-Infant Health | MPRINT 2026 | Day 4

Feeding the Future: Pharmacomicrobiomics and Human Milk in Maternal-Infant Health Presented by Shirley Tsunoda, PharmD, FCCP Professor of Clinical Pharmacy Associate Dean for Pharmacy Education University of California San Diego Recorded 4/16/2026 at the 2026 MPRINT Annual Meeting. In this presentation, Dr. Shirley Tsunoda explores the emerging field of pharmacomicrobiomics and its application to maternal-infant health. While studies of medication use during lactation have traditionally focused on drug concentrations in breast milk and estimates of infant exposure, Dr. Tsunoda presents a broader framework that considers how medications may alter the biological composition of human milk and subsequently influence infant development. Dr. Tsunoda describes human milk as a complex biological interface that contains nutrients, microbes, metabolites, environmental exposures, and drug-related compounds. She discusses how maternal medications may influence the milk microbiome and metabolome, potentially affecting infant immune development, microbial colonization, and long-term health outcomes. The presentation highlights ongoing research within the MPRINT Human Milk Research Biorepository examining maternal antibiotic exposure during lactation. Using paired analyses of milk samples, infant stool samples, microbiome sequencing, and metabolomics, investigators evaluated how antibiotic treatment influences microbial communities and metabolite production in both mothers and infants. Dr. Tsunoda presents findings demonstrating measurable shifts in microbial composition and metabolite profiles associated with maternal antibiotic use. The work illustrates how pharmacomicrobiomics can provide new insights into maternal-infant drug exposure beyond traditional pharmacokinetic measures and supports future efforts to better understand how medications may influence infant development through changes in human milk biology. About MPRINT: The Indiana CTSI Pharmacometric Modeling and Simulation Program and Maternal Pediatric Precision in Therapeutics Hub (MPRINT Hub) supports collaboration, education, and research in pharmacometrics, model-informed drug development, translational science, and clinical pharmacology. Conference details: Event: MPRINT Annual Meeting 2026 Day: 4 Date: April 16, 2026 Location: Hine Hall, Indianapolis, IN Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 00:06 Medications and milk overview 00:31 Human milk as a biological interface 01:12 Beyond relative infant dose 01:45 Milk microbiome and metabolome concepts 02:44 Introduction to pharmacomicrobiomics 03:32 Maternal-infant microbiome interactions 04:42 Human Milk Research Biorepository studies 05:47 Maternal antibiotic exposure study design 07:18 Milk and infant stool sample collection 08:42 Microbiome sequencing approach 10:03 Changes in infant gut microbiota 12:04 Metabolomics analyses 14:12 Microbial metabolite identification 16:06 Antibiotic-associated metabolic shifts 18:35 Microbiome-mediated metabolite findings 19:09 Infant outcome observations 19:24 Key conclusions 20:21 Acknowledgments Accessibility: Captions/subtitles are available for this video. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this presentation are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect those of the University of California San Diego, Indiana University, Purdue University, the Indiana CTSI, or affiliated organizations.