Catherine Sullivan

Catherine Sullivan, MPH, RDN, LDN, IBCLC, RLC, FAND, is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute (CGBI) within the Department of Maternal and Child Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Gillings School of Global Public Health. She leads CGBI's initiatives in breastfeeding-friendly healthcare, childcare, communities, and lactation training. Sullivan holds roles as Principal Investigator (PI) and Co-PI on projects like the EMPower Breastfeeding Initiative and ENRICH Carolinas. She coordinates the Mary Rose Tully Training Initiative, a CAAHEP-accredited lactation program. Her service includes roles on the US Breastfeeding Committee and North Carolina Maternity Center review committees.

Education: MPH in Nutrition (UNC-Chapel Hill, 2000), BS in Dietetics (East Carolina University, 1997). Prior experience includes State Breastfeeding Coordinator in NC (2006–2013), WIC Director, and faculty/clinician at East Carolina University's Brody School of Medicine.

Research focuses on breastfeeding practices' impact on healthcare and community systems. Key areas include lactation training, maternity care improvement, and breastfeeding advocacy. Recent work includes evaluating pandemic-adapted breastfeeding education and analyzing breastfeeding support systems in hospitals.

Awards highlight her clinical excellence, teaching, and advocacy, including the 2025 Judith Lauwers Award and 2017 Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Advising & Grants: Sullivan leads initiatives like ENRICH Carolinas and RISE: Lactation Training Model. She collaborates with agencies like the CDC and the Duke Endowment. Her work bridges clinical practice, policy, and community health.

Labs/Teams: Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute (CGBI) is central to her work, focusing on global breastfeeding advocacy and training programs.