Nivedithaa Divakara
PhD Student
nivedithaa.divakara@thekids.org.au
Nivedithaa is currently a doctoral candidate at The Kids and UWA's LRF-Centre for Immunology and Breastfeeding. Her research aims to elucidate the complex mechanisms underlying various health challenges prevalent in infants, including allergies, infections, and nutritional deficiencies.
With a particular interest in fundamental science, she hopes to use her knowledge to prevent and treat high-risk infants using colostrum-inspired bioactive derivatives.
Proficient in a range of wet-lab techniques, she specialises in the quantitative analysis of immune bioactive components found in breast milk. Her current research focuses on the importance of early-life diet (colostrum) and its role in skin development.
Among other contributions, she has been involved in the SYMBA Randomised Control Trial, investigating the effects of prebiotic supplementation in pregnant and lactating mothers on childhood allergy outcomes. Within this initiative, her responsibilities included analysing the influence of prebiotics on the composition of breast milk. Additionally, she is skilled in using data analytics tools such as R and R-Studio for comprehensive data analysis.
Published research
Maternal diet during breastfeeding: Could it influence food allergy risk in children?
Human milk is rich in immuno-modulatory factors that have the potential to shape immune development and influence allergy risk in children. In this article, we describe how breast milk may contribute to making the infant less prone to developing allergies.