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Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC) is a serious condition that occurs in approximately 3 to 10% of very low birth weight infants. Devastatingly, there is a 50% case-fatality rate among those diagnosed with NEC2. The additional cost of hospital charges directly related to medical and surgical treatment of NEC in the very low birth weight infant is $6.5 million a year, or $216,666 per survivor. Human milk (HM), both maternal and donor, provides protective benefits against many morbidities, particularly NEC. Mother’s breastmilk (MBM) is the gold standard for enteral feedings because it is most protective. In the absence of MBM, the AAP supports the use of pasteurized, fortified donor human milk (DBM) as a second choice. The US Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding declares that HM, including MBM and DBM, should be utilized more frequently. Formula is considered the third best choice –the last option. The aim of this study is to determine if pasteurized DBM is protective against necrotizing enterocolitis in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants even when fortified with bovine-derived human milk fortifier (HMF).

Effective oral therapies for hepatitis B and C have recently been developed, while there are no approved pharmacological therapies for alcoholic and non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases (ALD and NAFLD). We hypothesise that fewer advances in fatty liver diseases could be related to disparities in research attention.