Press Releases
Oct. 11, 2016 – Prolacta Bioscience, the leading provider of human milk-‐based neonatal nutritional products to hospital neonatal intensive care units (NICU), announced today that Melinda J. Elliott, MD, FAAP has joined the company as Senior Director, Clinical Education and Professional Development. Dr. Elliott will provide clinical education for hospitals, medical professionals and Prolacta staff on a range of procedural, operational and training initiatives.
An accomplished neonatologist and researcher, Dr. Elliott joins Prolacta after holding professional and clinical positions at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Franklin Square Hospital Center, The Herman and Walter Samuelson Children’s Hospital at Sinai in Baltimore, and most recently for the Pediatrix Medical Group.
“Dr. Elliott’s exceptional career in neonatology and her clinical focus on human milk demonstrates her dedicated commitment to advancing the science of preemie care and nutrition,” said Scott Elster, President and CEO of Prolacta Bioscience. “We are incredibly fortunate to have such a highly respected physician join our team to help further the work we do to pioneer human milk-‐based neonatal nutrition."
Throughout her multiple-‐decade career, Dr. Elliott’s passion for working in the neonatal environment led her to research the effects of an exclusive human milk diet in the NICU and her clinical research is widely published in academic journals. In her clinical work, she saw the benefits of an exclusive human milk-‐based diet first-‐hand, specifically for extremely low birth weight preemies. She has also investigated breastfeeding practices among moms of very low birthweight infants, including micro preemies.
Dr. Elliott received her undergraduate degree in biology at Bethany College in West Virginia, and her medical doctorate at WVU School of Medicine. She then trained as a pediatric intern and resident at the University of Florida in Gainesville, where she was a pediatric chief resident and instructor before completing her fellowship in neonatal/perinatal medicine.
Prolacta Bioscience, Inc. is a privately held life sciences company dedicated to Advancing the Science of Human Milk®. The company pioneered the development of human milk-‐based neonatal nutritional products to meet the needs of critically ill, premature infants in the NICU. Prolacta leads the industry in the quality and safety of nutritional products made from donor breast milk and operates the first and only pharmaceutical-‐grade manufacturing facility for the processing of human milk. For more information please visit www.prolacta.com.