Dr. Sahira Long is a board-certified pediatrician and lactation consultant. She is a graduate of the George Washington University School of Medicine, where she is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics. She is the Interim Associate Division Chief of General Pediatrics and Community Health at Children’s National Hospital. She also serves as the Medical Director of the East of the River Lactation Support Center. As president of the DC Breastfeeding Coalition and a member of the DC Lactation Commission since their inception in 2004 and 2016 respectively, she works collaboratively with the DC AAP Chapter Breastfeeding Coordinators.

She currently serves as a member of the AAP Section on Breastfeeding Executive Committee. In this role, she has co-authored two ALF resolutions, and recently assumed the role of policy chair. She is also a member of the Board of Directors for Reaching Our Sisters Everywhere (ROSE) and the conference planning committee of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine.  She represents ROSE on the AAP Physician Engagement and Training Focused on Breastfeeding Project Advisory Committee. Dr. Long participated as a panelist during the US Surgeon General's Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding and is featured as an expert in the US Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women’s Health It’s Only Natural campaign (www.womenshealth.gov/itsonlynatural [womenshealth.gov] [nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com]) to improve breastfeeding rates among African Americans. She served as guest editor for the 2-part Breastfeeding Medicine special issue on Black breastfeeding, has published peer-reviewed articles, book chapters and blogs.