Wave 5 Begins

We’re back! It’s 2019 and we are excited to announce it is time to commence another wave of data collection for our Life Course Study at Menzies School of Health Research. It has been 5 years since our research team last visited the participants of the Aboriginal Birth Cohort and Top End Cohort in their homes to perform health checks as part of the largest and longest running cohort study in Australia.

To recap: These longitudinal studies were founded in 1987 by paediatrician, and chief investigator, Dr Sue Sayers and involve 882 cohort members (686 in ABC and 196 in TEC), who were recruited at birth between 1987-1990. The participants are traced periodically throughout their lives and were last seen between 2013-2015 when they were at a mean age of 25 years old. The study is based on the principle that susceptibility to poorer health in adulthood is a dynamic process that begins in utero and occurs over the life course. By following people from birth across their life course, we will help identify early those most at risk of developing chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular, renal and mental ill-health. This information will help develop strategies to contribute to closing the current gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non–Indigenous Australians.

The Chief Investigator- Dr. Gurmeet Singh and Project Manager- Belinda Davison have recruited a new team to join them for the next phase of the study. We are thrilled to introduce the following staff members as our 2019/2020 team:

Emma Chappell- Allied Health Project Officer

Tess Hodgins-Parry- Research Nurse

Isabella Marovich-Tadic- Project Assistant

Jazlin McIntosh-Dunbar- Project Assistant

Dylan Bretherton- Project Assistant

The team have been busy training, starting to trace the participants, and getting prepared to travel to over 40 communities across the top end. This wave we will be including eye health as part of our examination. We are hoping to see as many, if not more, participants in this phase of the study as the last. If you believe you have been part of this study in the past, we would love to hear from you!