ORIGINS Director Desiree Silva with range of participants.
The ORIGINS Project has been named as a key beneficiary of the Stan Perron Charitable Foundation Research People & Platform round for 2023.
Released this week, the news means that ORIGINS will receive over $1 million in funding for the growth of the project’s research from early life (one to five years old) to early childhood (six to eight years old) in 2024.
As it stands, The ORIGINS Project is the largest study of its kind in Australia, which has historically followed 10,000 children, from their time in the womb, for five years to improve child and adult health.
The funding means ORIGINS now has support to expand their research into early childhood, increasing the opportunity for wider subprojects in this space.
In addition to this expansion, the funding will also support ORIGINS in:
- The continuation of Kids Checks with the inclusion of an additional generation (grandparents)
- Commence participant data linkage with other government, health and education outcomes.
- Commence analysis of key samples to explore the microbiome and biomarkers of inflammation in early life.
The Stan Perron Charitable Foundation provides funding grants for research aimed at improving the health and well-being of young people in Western Australia.
Chair of The Stan Perron Charitable Foundation, Elizabeth Perron, said they were privileged to receive an extraordinary number of applications, from talented researchers, in their research funding rounds.
“We acknowledge the importance of ORIGINS’ work in enhancing the current platform from early life to early childhood, and the potential impact that advances in this area could have on the health of children, adolescents and young adults living in Western Australia.”
Funding has been awarded to ORIGINS for 2024, with the potential for further support in coming years.
First published Wednesday 31 January 2024.