Derek and Patrice Jelliffe
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Derrick B. Jelliffe (d 1992) and his wife E. F. Patrice Jelliffe (d March 16 2007) - known as Dick and Pat Jelliffe - were experts in tropical paediatrics and infant nutrition. They are most known for their seminal book, Human Milk in the Modern World, published by Oxford University Press in 1989, and for editing the mult-volume Advances in International Maternal and Child Health. The Jelliffes also wrote over 500 scholarly papers, often together. They lived and worked in England, Africa, India, the Caribbean and settled in Los Angeles where he held the Chair in Public Health and Paediatrics at the University of California from 1972 to 1990.
The Jelliffes' field observations triggered the so-called Baby Killers scandal and the Nestlé boycott. Professor Jelliffe subsequently testified to a subcommittee of the US Senate organized by Teddy Kennedy in 1978. He coined the phrase commerciogenic malnutrition to refer to infant starvation caused by inappropriate promotion and use of infant formula or bottlefeeding in areas with low income and poor water supplies. He is associated with the protection, support and promotion of breastfeeding.
Other areas associated with their research include the changing composition and properties of human milk, the contraceptive effects of breastfeeding, and the use of breastfeeding for rehydration and other issues for infant refugees.
