Queensland Family Cohort Study
The Queensland Family Cohort Study is a landmark research project that will look at the health of 10 000 families across Queensland. Founded at Mater Mothers' Hospitals, the project is currently in its pilot phase. The pilot study will involve 500 families and will help to refine the protocol before the larger study roles out in 2022.
The study will assess the health of mothers, partners and babies antenatally, following birth and into young adulthood. It will be the nation's first major cohort study to investigate causes of disease and long term outcomes by using biological data and health information to establish risk factors and health outcomes.
The Queensland Family Cohort Study will underpin research that aims to:
- Understand how parental health impacts on babies; and
- To determine how a baby’s health and exposures in early life influences disease development later on.
What's involved for the Pilot Study?
For the pilot study, families birthing at Mater will be recruited in early pregnancy. All different types of families will be invited to participate.
Families will visit the Queensland Family Cohort research team during pregnancy to provide biological samples, complete questionnaires and have an ultrasound. The team will also follow you at birth and shortly after birth and hope to collect a few biological samples at this point as well. Then, at six weeks after the birth of your baby, the team will catch up with you again for similar biological samples and questionnaires. We will then ask if the family would like to continue with us until their child is 5 years of age where information will be gathered again through a questionnaire.
What's involved for the Full Study in 2022?
The larger Queensland Family Cohort Study will follow the same structure as the pilot study, and will be a two stage approach. Families from across Queensland will be invited to participate by enrolling in an online version of the study where they will complete questionnaires and surveys during pregnancy and until their child reaches 5 years of age - but with no collection of biological samples donated. In a later stage, families will be asked to donate biological samples if they wish.
Want to know more?
Please contact the Queensland Family Cohort team on:
Email: qldfamilycohort@mater.uq.edu.au or visit the
Website: https://www.qldfamilycohort.org/
Team members:
- Professor Vicki Clifton - Principal investigator
- Associate Professor Kym Rae - Indigenous Health Principal investigator
- Professor Sailesh Kumar Surendran - Clinical investigator
- Danielle Borg - Project coordinator
Collaborations
Partnerships and collaborations are an essential part of the Queensland Family Cohort Study.
Research partners
Australian Catholic University
Centre for Children's Health Research
Griffith University
James Cook University
Queensland University of Technology
The University of Queensland
Industry partners
Qiagen
Microba
Soil for Science
Please contact us at qldfamilycohort@mater.uq.edu.au to discuss how we can work together to achieve outcomes for the Queensland population.
Group Leaders