Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute

Catherine Sullivan has made it her mission to advocate for families. For the past decade at the Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute, she has focused on supporting breastfeeding-friendly health care, child care, communities and training the next generation of lactation practitioners, applying principles of inclusive excellence throughout her work. 

Leading a team of more than 15 faculty and staff today, Catherine serves as principal investigator for The Duke Endowment’s ENRICH Carolinas project, co-principal investigator on the leadership team of CDC’s EMPower Best Practices initiative, and as principal investigator for the RISE: Lactation Training Model project, funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. In addition, she teaches future IBCLCs in the Mary Rose Tully Training Initiative, a CAAHEP-accredited Pathway 2 lactation training program.

CGBI founder Dr. Miriam Labbok (1949-2016) dedicated her career to promoting the benefits of breastfeeding for children, their mothers and the world. A scholar and expert on breastfeeding and maternal child health, Dr. Labbok founded and served as the first director of CGBI in 2006. She also held positions at UNICEF and USAID and cofounded the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine. Throughout her career, Dr. Labbok received several academic and professional recognitions.