Tay Gavin Erickson Lecture Series—Dr. Rafael Pérez-Escamilla is Professor of Epidemiology & Public Health and Director of the Global Health Concentration and Office of Public Health Practice at the Yale School of Public Health. His research has led to improvements in breastfeeding protection, promotion and support worldwide through health facility and community-based initiatives including breastfeeding peer counseling. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Food and Nutrition Board and chaired the IOM workshop on “Updating the USDA National Breastfeeding Campaign.”  He is the recipient of the 2015 Patricia Martens Award for Excellence in Breastfeeding Research.

This lecture is sponsored by the Center for Research on Families’ Tay Gavin Erickson Lecture Series. The Center for Research on Families (CRF) is an endowed interdisciplinary research center in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and College of Natural Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The Tay Gavin Erickson Lecture  Series brings internationally recognized speakers with expertise in family research to campus each year. The lecture series began in 1999 through an endowment established in memory of Tay Gavin Erickson. ​