Largest Queensland cohort study launched

10 August 2018

A study aiming to follow 10,000 Queensland families over three decades will commence with a pilot study involving University of Queensland researchers.

The pilot study for Queensland Family Cohort Study will involve 200 families at the Mather Mother’s Hospital.

Lead Researcher Professor Vicki Clifton said this would be the first step in a powerful longitudinal study to identify immediate and future health requirements of the Queensland population.

“Cohort studies help us understand what we are like now in terms of health, and what that means for future health services,” Professor Clifton said.

“We will follow families from 20 weeks’ gestation, monitoring their maternal health during pregnancy, assessing their partners’ health, and examining perinatal outcomes.

“We’re interested in seeing how environmental exposures and pollution data may affect our health.

“We hope to discover new biomarkers and interventions that improve the health of all Queenslanders.”

Professor Clifton said the pilot study would provide a blueprint for developing the much larger Queensland Family Cohort Study, while also supporting a wide range of research.

“More than 200 researchers will be accessing the information captured as part of the trial for research into allergies, obesity and melanoma in pregnancy, to name a few,” she said.

“At the end of the pilot, we’ll also be talking to families, researchers and scientists to find out if the process worked for them and how can we perfect this for the Queensland Family Cohort Study.”

The pilot project is currently funded by Mater Research Institute-University of Queensland (MRI- UQ), Mater Foundation, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Griffith University and Brisbane Diamantina Health Partners (BDHP).

Anyone interested in participating in the trial who is currently 12-20 weeks pregnant should contact qldfamilycohort@mater.uq.edu.au.

Media: Faculty of Medicine media; med.media@uq.edu.au, +61 7 3365 5118. 

 

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