Lisa H. Amir

Lisa Helen Amir , is Principal Research Fellow at La Trobe University, a medical researcher with expertise on breastfeeding and maternal health, who was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2025 King's Birthday Honours.

Education and early life Amir received a PhD from La Trobe University in 2005, as well as MMBS from the University of Melbourne in 2000, and a MMed of Women's Health, in 1981 from Monash University, Australia.

Amir's early interest in breastfeeding started as a young mother, in the 1980s. As part of a mothers' group, she heard frequent accounts of poor advice given to women on issues like mastitis. These conversations prompted her to draw on her background as a GP to support women with better breastfeeding care. "I was always interested in women's health, particularly in the birth and postpartum space, as it seemed like it had been undervalued."

Amir's field of research involves multiple aspects of breastfeeding, including rates and influencing factors, nipple and breast pain, as well as general practitioners' knowledge and attitudes around the use of medications by breastfeeding women.

Amir is founder and Editor-in-Chief of International Breastfeeding Journal, found at www.internationalbreastfeedingjournal.com, an online breast-feeding journal. around various topics around breastfeeding, medications which impact breastfeeding, different amount of milk that various women produce, and the psychological implications of this and factors which influence the amount of milk, as well as various ways to make breastfeeding easier.

Publications

Amir is the author of over 160 peer-reviewed publications, with an H index of 52. Select publications include the following:

Awards

2017 – Victorian Public Healthcare Award