SCIENTIST JOINS NATIONAL ACADEMY

By John O’Connell

A University of Idaho researcher internationally acclaimed for her work in maternal and infant nutrition is the university’s first inductee into the renowned National Academy of Medicine.

Michelle (Shelley) McGuire, director of the Margaret Ritchie School of Family and Consumer Sciences and a professor in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, was nominated by colleagues from

Yale University and the University of Illinois, who praised her long-term research on human milk. McGuire is the first faculty member inducted into the academy while employed at an Idaho institution, according to the organization’s records. Over several years, McGuire and her colleagues collected human milk samples from nine countries to analyze. She found the composition of human milk varies greatly based on where the mother lives. Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the team found breastmilk supplies infants with antibodies, providing vital guidance for mothers.

As an academy member, McGuire will help inform national health policy and offer guidance on human health research priorities. Her induction will help attract top faculty, postdoctoral researchers and graduate students to U of I, said Christopher Nomura, U of I’s vice president for research and economic development.