معرفی
Dr. Natalie Shenker is an Advanced Research Fellow at the Department of Surgery & Cancer, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London. She co-founded the Hearts Milk Bank (UK’s largest community-based milk bank) and the Human Milk Foundation, earning an MBE in 2022. Her work spans epigenetics, human milk banking, and public health, with a focus on cancer risk prediction and maternal/infant health.
- Academic Rank: Research Fellow
- Education: BSc in Physiological Sciences, BM BCh in Clinical Medicine, MSc in Reproductive and Developmental Biology, PhD in Epigenetics (Imperial College London)
- Certifications: MRCS (Royal College of Surgeons of England)
Her research explores DNA methylation signatures for cancer risk, epigenetic implications of environmental exposures, and community-based lactation support. She leads the Breastmilk Epigenetic Cohort Study (BECS), analyzing epithelial cells from breast milk for cancer risk prediction.
She has supervised over 30 PhD, MSc, and MBBS students, focusing on mutational analysis, public health messaging, microbiological screening, and operational modeling of milk banks. Her collaborations extend across the UK and globally through the Global Alliance for Milk Banks and Associations.
She has contributed to scientific awards and policy frameworks for equitable donor milk provision. Key themes in her work include health equity, sustainability, and advocacy against commercialization of human milk.
