Amy Gates PhD, RDN, LD

Amy Gates PhD, RDN, CSP, LD is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Scientist focused preterm infant nutrition, human milk composition, human milk fortification for preterm infants, and safe breastmilk handling and storage, and developmental outcomes for human milk fed preterm infants.

Dr. Gates is a Board Certified Pediatric Nutrition Specialist with more than twenty-two years of experience in neonatal and pediatric nutrition.

She earned her BS in nutrition from the Jacksonville University in Alabama; her dietetic internship at the Augusta Area Dietetic Internship in Georgia, and her Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Health Science from Augusta University in Augusta, Georgia. She is a Board-Certified Pediatric Nutrition Specialist and holds certifications in pediatric and adult weight management. Dr. Gates has served as a dietetic preceptor and has trained countless dietetic interns, pediatric residents, medical students, and neonatal fellows in neonatal and pediatric nutrition.

Dr. Gates developed the first Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Human Milk Lab at The Children’s Hospital of Georgia. She implemented breastmilk bar-code scanning and NICU mother support programs that increased the rates of breastmilk feedings by 90%, and decreased milk-errors by 87%. Her feeding protocols were instrumental in the reduction of rates of necrotizing enterocolitis from 18% to 2%. She is the author of the first comprehensive nutrient analysis of breastmilk from a primarily African-American population of preterm mothers. She is long-time member of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN), and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Her research interests include preterm human milk nutrient composition, human milk fortification, and long-term outcomes of the human milk fed preterm infant. Dr. Gates maintains a faculty position at Augusta University where she continues her research. She continues to mentor neonatology fellows in their neonatal nutrition research efforts.