CPSHE & CON Researchers Win NAPNAP Research Poster Award

On March 18-21 in Philadelphia, PA, the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP) hosted its 47th National Conference on Pediatric Health Care. In attendance from the Center of Population Sciences for Health Empowerment were Dr. Casey Xavier Hall, Assistant Director, Dr. Jairo Pena, Postdoctoral Scholar, and Crim Sabuncu, 4th Year Doctoral Candidate. Along with Dr. Jessica Bahorski, Associate Professor in the College of Nursing, the four presented a poster and oral podium, "Infant Feeding Practices of LGBTQ+ Families", which earned them the 2026 NAPNAP Research Poster Award. 

The novel study led by Drs. Bahorski and Xavier Hall compared the infant feeding practices of LGBTQ+ parents and heterosexual parents. They conducted a secondary data analysis of the Household Pulse Survey (April-July 2024), including parents with infants under 12 months. A total of 1,598 parents participated in the study and no significant differences were found in infant feeding practices between the 2 populations. To read more about the study design and findings, please refer to this article. 

"Human milk has been considered the optimal food for newborns through 6 months of age," Dr. Bahorski told The Clinical Advisor. "To better support families, nurse practitioners need to know what parents are feeding their infants and how they make feeding decisions," she said. "Understanding what these parents are feeding is the first step in how we can best support them in meeting their goals and needs."