Liver-Gut-Microbiome Axis and Fatty Acid Absorption in Preterm Infants
Miami Neonatology 2025—49th Annual International Conference

This education is about:

• Caloric content of human milk and variability in composition
• Fatty acid requirements in preterm infants
• Effects of liver-gut-microbiome axis on fatty acid absorption
• Gut microbiome composition and preterm infant growth

Why it matters:
Despite optimized human milk–based diets, many preterm infants experience postnatal growth failure. This activity highlights emerging research into novel mechanisms that may explain persistent growth deficits, including fatty acid absorption, pancreatic immaturity, and microbiome–liver interactions.

What you will learn:
This activity explores how immaturity of the liver, gut, pancreas, and microbiome contributes to impaired fatty acid absorption in preterm infants. Using translational and clinical research, the presentation connects human milk composition, digestive organ development, and microbial function to growth outcomes. Dr. Hair examines how milk source, fortification, and targeted dietary intervention with human milk cream can influence preterm infant metabolism and microbial pathways. The session frames current knowledge gaps and ongoing research efforts aimed at translating microbiome and fat absorption science into practical strategies to support growth in vulnerable neonatal populations.

Faculty

• Profile

  Amy Hair, MD

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  Dr. Amy Hair is currently an Associate Professor and Neonatologist in the Section of Neonatology and Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital. She is the Program Director of the Neonatal Nutrition Program, Medical Director of the Texas Children's Hospital Milk Banks, and Associate Director of the NICU Intestinal Rehabilitation Program. She is the Director of the Dr. Diane Anderson Neonatal Nutrition Conference held yearly in March that is well known for providing updates in neonatal nutrition.

  Dr. Hair received her undergraduate degree in Biology at the University of Georgia and her MD from the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. Her postgraduate training included a pediatrics residency at the University of Virginia, followed by postdoctoral fellowships in neonatal-perinatal medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine and in nutrition at the USDA/Agricultural Research Service Children’s Nutrition Research Center in Houston.

  Dr. Hair’s research focuses on neonatal nutrition, specifically growth and the use of human milk in very low birth weight infants. Dr. Hair is the principal investigator for multiple ongoing research studies including a R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health to study fatty acid absorption and the liver-gut-microbiome axis in preterm infants. Dr. Hair is recognized internationally as an expert in human milk and neonatal nutrition.

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  Amy Hair, MD

  Associate Professor of Pediatrics
  Program Director of Neonatal Nutrition
  Medical Director of TCH Milk Banks
  Associate Director of NICU Intestinal Rehabilitation Team
  Division of Neonatology
  Department of Pediatrics
  Baylor College of Medicine
  Texas Children’s Hospital
  Houston, Texas