Dr Laura Galante

Lecturer – Physiology and Year 3 and 4 GEM deputy academic lead

Medical School

laura.galante@swansea.ac.uk

Available For Postgraduate Supervision

Research Links

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6190-7955

ResearchGate

Google Scholar

ResearcherID

About

Dr Laura Galante is a lecturer in infant and child public health at the School of Health and Social Care at Swansea University. She graduated in 2020 with a PhD in biomedical science from the Liggins Institute, University of Auckland, where she studied how maternal and infant characteristics, specifically infant sex, contribute to defining specific hormonal ‘fingerprints’ in maternal milk.

Between 2020 and 2022 she completed a postdoc in evolutionary biology at the Department of Biology at the University of Turku in Finland, where she expanded her research interest by applying her knowledge to the study of Asian elephants.

Dr Galante’s research interest revolves around the eco-evolutionary meaning of sex-specific maternal investment, particularly lactation, in relation to the availability of maternal resources and quality of the living environment.

Since her PhD, Dr Galante has been a very active member of the Society for Research in Human Milk and Lactation (ISRHML) and has established extensive collaborations across the world on several projects that entail the study of both human and elephant mothers and babies.

Areas Of Expertise

Early life nutrition
Maternal and infant health
Endocrinology
Breastfeeding
Reproductive health
Milk composition
Evolutionary biology
Data Analysis

Career Highlights

Teaching Interests

Dr Galante teaches on the BSc Health and Social Care programme and the MSc/PGDip in Public Health and health promotion.

Research Award Highlights Collaborations

Publications

Research Highlights

Lahdenperä, M., Galante, L., Gonzales-Inca, C., Vahtera, J., Pentti, J., Rautava, S., Käyhkö, N., Yonemitsu, C., Gupta, J., Bode, L., & Lagström, H. (2023). Residential green environments are associated with human milk oligosaccharide diversity and composition. Scientific Reports, 13(1)
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-27317-1, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa68010
Galante, L., Santos, D., Mikkonen, E., Horak, J., Stijepic, Z., Demmelmair, H., Vielhauer, A., Koletzko, B., Zaw, H., Htut, W., Lummaa, V., & Lahdenperä, M. (2024). Milk metabolite composition of a semi-captive population of Asian elephants. Royal Society Open Science, 11(10)
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.240930, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa67910
Muelbert, M., Alexander, T., Vickers, M., Harding, J., Galante, L., Bloomfield, F., & group), . (2022). Glucocorticoids in preterm human milk. Frontiers in Nutrition, 9
https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2022.965654, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa68011

All Research

Journal Articles

Galante, L., Santos, D., Mikkonen, E., Horak, J., Stijepic, Z., Demmelmair, H., Vielhauer, A., Koletzko, B., Zaw, H., Htut, W., Lummaa, V., & Lahdenperä, M. (2024). Milk metabolite composition of a semi-captive population of Asian elephants. Royal Society Open Science, 11(10)
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.240930, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa67910
Lahdenperä, M., Galante, L., Gonzales-Inca, C., Vahtera, J., Pentti, J., Rautava, S., Käyhkö, N., Yonemitsu, C., Gupta, J., Bode, L., & Lagström, H. (2023). Residential green environments are associated with human milk oligosaccharide diversity and composition. Scientific Reports, 13(1)
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-27317-1, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa68010
Muelbert, M., Alexander, T., Vickers, M., Harding, J., Galante, L., Bloomfield, F., & group), . (2022). Glucocorticoids in preterm human milk. Frontiers in Nutrition, 9
https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2022.965654, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa68011
Galante, L., Lahdenperä, M., Rautava, S., Pentti, J., Ollila, H., Tarro, S., Vahtera, J., Gonzales-Inca, C., Kivimäki, M., Lummaa, V., & Lagström, H. (2022). Neighborhood Disadvantage, Greenness, and Population Density as Predictors of Breastfeeding Practices: A Population Cohort Study from Finland. The Journal of Nutrition, 152(7), 1721-1728.
https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/nxac069, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa68012
Muelbert, M., Galante, L., Alexander, T., Harding, J., Pook, C., & Bloomfield, F. (2022). Odor-active volatile compounds in preterm breastmilk. Pediatric Research, 91(6), 1493-1504.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-021-01556-w, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa68013
Galante, L., Reynolds, C., Milan, A., Alexander, T., Bloomfield, F., Jiang, Y., Asadi, S., Muelbert, M., Cameron-Smith, D., Pundir, S., Vickers, M., & team), . (2021). Metabolic Hormone Profiles in Breast Milk From Mothers of Moderate-Late Preterm Infants Are Associated With Growth From Birth to 4 Months in a Sex-Specific Manner. Frontiers in Nutrition, 8
https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2021.641227, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa68014
Galante, L., Reynolds, C., Milan, A., Alexander, T., Bloomfield, F., Cameron-Smith, D., Pundir, S., Vickers, M., group), ., Harding, J., Meyer, M., Alsweiler, J., Jiang, Y., Wall, C., O’Sullivan, J., Mitic, S., & Boom, J. (2021). Preterm human milk: associations between perinatal factors and hormone concentrations throughout lactation. Pediatric Research, 89(6), 1461-1469.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-020-1069-1, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa68016
Galante, L., Pundir, S., Lagström, H., Rautava, S., Reynolds, C., Milan, A., Cameron-Smith, D., & Vickers, M. (2020). Growth Factor Concentrations in Human Milk Are Associated With Infant Weight and BMI From Birth to 5 Years. Frontiers in Nutrition, 7
https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2020.00110, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa68015
Galante, L., Lagström, H., Vickers, M., Reynolds, C., Rautava, S., Milan, A., Cameron-Smith, D., & Pundir, S. (2020). Sexually Dimorphic Associations between Maternal Factors and Human Milk Hormonal Concentrations. Nutrients, 12(1), 152
https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12010152, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa68017
Galante, L., Vickers, M., Milan, A., Reynolds, C., Alexander, T., Bloomfield, F., & Pundir, S. (2019). Feasibility of Standardized Human Milk Collection in Neonatal Care Units. Scientific Reports, 9(1)
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-50560-y, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa68018
Galante, L., Milan, A., Reynolds, C., Cameron-Smith, D., Vickers, M., & Pundir, S. (2018). Sex-Specific Human Milk Composition: The Role of Infant Sex in Determining Early Life Nutrition. Nutrients, 10(9), 1194
https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10091194, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa68019
Bloomfield, F., Harding, J., Meyer, M., Alsweiler, J., Jiang, Y., Wall, C., Alexander, T., Galante, L., & Group), . (2018). The DIAMOND trial – DIfferent Approaches to MOderate & late preterm Nutrition: Determinants of feed tolerance, body composition and development: protocol of a randomised trial. BMC Pediatrics, 18(1)
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12887-018-1195-7, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa68020

Taught Modules

PM-344 Capstone Project

The aim of this module is to provide a capstone experience to students¿ learning, through participating in their own enquiry-based research project, with guidance from an academic supervisor. The project may be laboratory or non-laboratory based, but it will always involve a research question that is drawn from the literature, and focused on a topic relevant to the life sciences. It will ask a research question and involve the critical analysis of research findings. Students will refine their oral and written communication skills to a graduate level through an oral presentation and dissertation on their research findings and conclusions.