Alaska Breastfeeding Coalition

This year the ABC Conference celebrates our 20th Anninversary with two exciting national presenters.  Please plan to attend and hear Dr. Alison Hazelbaker on Monday, April 30.  On Tuesday, May 1 our presenter is Jennifer Banuelos with the UC Davis Human Lactation Center.  

Also, we have heard your comments and we are bringing to you a talk from a local allergy clinician Dr. Melinda Rathkopf with the Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Center of Alaska.  Dr. Rathkopf will be presenting the morning of Tuesday, May 1.  

Please read the bios of all three presenters below.

Alison Hazelbaker, PhD, IBCLC, CST, RCST has been a therapist for nearly 27 years. She specializes in cross-disciplinary treatment and to that end has taken training in several modalities to best assist her clients. She is a certified Craniosacral Therapist, a Lymph Drainage Therapy practitioner, and an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant.

She earned her undergraduate degree from New York University, her master’s Degree from Pacific Oaks College (Human Development specializing in Human Lactation) and her doctorate from The Union Institute and University (Psychology, specializing in Energetic and Transformational Healing.)

Her original research on tongue-tie, done in 1993, has changed clinical practice both in the USA and abroad. (www.tongue-tie.org) She authored the Assessment Tool for Lingual Frenulum Function (ATLFF) during her Master’s Degree program. The ATLFF remains the only research-based tongue-tie screening process for infants under 6 months. People recognize her as an expert on infant sucking issues and the treatment of same. As an innovator, she invented the Hazelbaker™ FingerFeeder to address these sucking problems.

She recently revised her Master’s thesis on tongue-tie into a comprehensive book on the condition: Tongue-tie: Morphogenesis, Impact, Assessment and Treatment available through Aidan and Eva Press. Her doctoral dissertation “Toward a Unified Theory of Healing: a Grounded Theory Study” was nominated for the Marvin B. Sussman Award for Academic Excellence. She is currently revising it into a book. She co-authored Coming Back from the Border: Adult Children Reclaim their Authentic Selves from The Borderline Personality Disorder Dynamic with Dr. Laura Hausman.

Jennifer Bañuelos, MAS received a Master’s degree in Maternal and Child Nutrition from UC Davis in 2008. She has been part of the research and administrative team at the UC Davis Human Lactation Center since 2005 and served as an editorial assistant for the Journal of Human Lactation until 2011. She has extensive experience in both quantitative and qualitative research methods and is part of the team that developed and implemented the FitWIC Baby Behavior Study. This study became the basis of the California WIC Baby Behavior campaign and Jennifer served as a primary trainer in the UC Davis team that developed and implemented statewide training for more than 4000 WIC staff members. She has coauthored several key policy reports including the breastfeeding report from the California Department of Public Health titled “Breastfeeding: Investing in California’s Future,” a strategic needs assessment of nutrition and physical activity in childcare settings titled “Keeping Children Healthy in California’s Child Care Environments”, and 5 annual reports ranking California hospitals based on breastfeeding rates. Jennifer is co-author of The Secrets of Baby Behavior blog and was lead author on a paper that was honored with the 2011 Best Great Educational Material (GEM) award from the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior. 

Melinda M. Rathkopf, MD, FAAAAI, FACAAI, FAAP works at the Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Center of Alaska and is board certified in allergy / immunology and pediatrics. She has been practicing in Anchorage since July 2006. Dr. Rathkopf has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed medical journals, and is a nationally recognized speaker. She is current President of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, Alaska Chapter. She is an active member of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology and the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.  Dr. Rathkopf earned her medical degree at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, before joining the military. She spent nine years in the United States Air Force, completing her pediatric residency training at Keesler AFB (Biloxi) in Mississippi and her allergy / immunology fellowship at Wilford Hall Medical Center at Lackland AFB (San Antonio), Texas.