Child Health Research Unit at Barwon Health (CHeRUB)
It is well recognised that most non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancer, allergy, asthma, autism, ADHD, anxiety and depression have their origins in pregnancy and early childhood; a period described as ‘the crucial first 1,000 days of life’.
At the Child Health Research Unit at Barwon Health (CHeRUB) we study the origins of disease in the first 1,000 days and design strategies to provide our children with a healthy start. Our research brings together community effort and some of our best research minds; combining people-power with cutting-edge science. CHeRUB is leading paediatric research in Australia, if not the world.
Keen to find out more about clinical trials at Barwon Health?
Click here to watch CHeRUB trials in childhood asthma and wheeze: Prof Peter Vuillermin, Director of Research and Research Lead, Child Health Research Unit at Barwon Health (CHeRUB) (4 min)
Research Areas
The Barwon Infant Study (BIS)
The Barwon Infant Study (BIS) is a birth cohort study being led by CHeRUB in collaboration with the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) and Deakin University.
BIS is internationally recognised and truly unique. The study closely follows over 1,000 Geelong mothers and their children, collecting samples and taking measurements all designed to unlock the early life secrets of disease and health.
Throughout the project we have been awarded more than 10 separate NHMRC grants, including three further project grants to undertake the BIS Primary School Review.
The resource that has been built is formidable, with a collection of over 500,000 biological samples which is now arguably the most complete early life ‘biobank’ in the world. Some of the key findings arising from BIS data are:
- Presence of the bacteria Prevotella in the mother gut during pregnancy is strongly associated with protection against allergic disease in the offspring (Vuillermin et al, Nat Comms, 2020).
- children with the bacteria Prevotella in their gut at 12 months of age had a lower prevalence of anxiety-like behaviours, including shyness, sadness and an internal focus, an indicator they may be at higher risk of going on to develop childhood anxiety. (Loughman et al, EBioMed, 2020)
- Lead levels in the blood of pre-school children have dropped overall, but those living in houses 50 years or more old, or those living in proximity to a lead-producing source have higher levels. (Symeonides et al, Med J Aust, 2020)
For more information visit www.barwoninfantstudy.org.au
The Environmental Determinants of Islet Autoimmunity (ENDIA) Study
CHeRUB participates in the ENDIA Study, an NHMRC-funded longitudinal observational study of 1500 babies Australia-wide who have a first degree relative with type 1 diabetes. Participants include:
- Pregnant women with type 1 diabetes
- Men with type 1 diabetes whose partner is pregnant
- Children with type 1 diabetes whose mother is pregnant
- Babies under 6 months of age with a first degree relative (mum, dad, brother or sister) who has type 1 diabetes.
ENDIA researchers are investigating factors that may contribute to the development of islet autoimmunity and type 1 diabetes in children, such as:
- The genes of the participating child and their family member with type 1 diabetes
- The method of delivery (natural birth versus caesarean section)
- The mother’s nutrition during pregnancy and breast feeding
- Exposure to viruses during pregnancy and early life
Identifying the factors that initiate islet autoimmunity in early life could lead to a means of preventing type 1 diabetes before it begins.
For more information visit http://www.endia.org.au/
Assessing the Reduction of Recurrent admissions using OM-85 for the treatment of preschool Wheeze (ARROW)
CHeRUB will be leading a multicentre clinical trial to investigate whether the immune modulator OM85 can prevent hospital admission due to asthma among preschool aged children.
Acute wheezing illnesses present a huge health and economic burden and are the most common reason that preschool aged children are admitted to hospital in Australia. Current strategies to prevent hospital admissions due to preschool wheeze are ineffective, and parents and paediatricians identify developing effective treatments to prevent hospital admission as a research priority.
OM-85 is an orally administered bacterial lysate that stimulates immune responses associated with defence against viral infections and reduces the excessive inflammation of the respiratory mucosa associated with wheezing episodes.
Compelling evidence from animal, laboratory and clinical studies supports the hypothesis that OM-85 has the potential to reduce the risk of hospital admission due to preschool wheeze.
Over 30 hospitals in the Children’s Inpatient Research Collaboration of Australia and New Zealand (CIRCAN) are participating in this multi-centre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. The study was awarded $1.6 million by the National Health and Medical Research Council in 2019 (only 1 in every 20 applications were successful).
For more information visit https://circan.org/om-85
The Pregnancy Research and Translation Ecosystem (PRT-E)
The Barwon Health Child Health Research Unit, in collaboration with Ballarat Health Services, East Grampians Health Service, Colac Area Health, Western District Health Service, Deakin University, Gen V (Murdoch Children’s Research Institute) and Federation University, leads the Pregnancy Research and Translation Ecosystem (PTR-E). PRT-E aims to generate and implement best evidence to improve maternal and infant health.
To achieve this, PRT-E will collect data on pregnancy care and collaborate with the GenV initiative, which aims to recruit and follow 80% of all infants born in Victoria over the coming 2 years. This data will create a world-leading and unique resource for future research.
In parallel, PRT-E will establish a Pregnancy Stakeholder Working Group of consumers and health professionals that will be trained and supported by the established systems of Deakin University’s Institute of Health Transformation. The Working Group will then co-design and co-produce the research program.
A starting priority is to design a clinical trial and translation plan with the aim of safely reducing the caesarean section rate in the region, which has risen to around 40%. It is a complex problem requiring design of a multifaceted intervention.
PRT-E will create a research, co-design and translation ecosystem that will drive continual improvements in mother and baby care. The program will be an exercise in people power meets cutting edge research methodology. We can’t wait to get the PRT-E started!
To find out more or get involved, visit the PRT-E website or email [email protected]
Collaborating Organisations
Research Team
Research Staff
- Professor Peter Vuillermin, Director
- Nicola Cooley, Executive Assistant
- Nakita Clements, Project Coordinator
- Dr Martin O'Hely, Bioinformatician
- Dr Luba Sominsky, Paediatric Research Fellow
- Dr Yuan Gao, Research Fellow, Epidemiology
- Mikayla Hoffman, BIS Operations co-manager
- Carlie Butterworth, Research Assistant
- Jasmin Foster, BIS Operations co-manager
- Jacinta MaMahon, Research Assistant
- Aneeshya Nidhin, Research Assistant
- Thao Tran, laboratory Assistant
- Callum Hollis, Research Officer
- Malia Lardelli, Research Assistant
- Todd Wallace, Research Assistant
- Jordan Levinter, Research Assistant
Research Students
- Viet Nguyen, PhD
- Chloe Love, PhD
- Jess Costa-Pinto, PhD
- Rachel Morgan, PhD
Research News
Barwon Infant Study researchers: is perinatal depression caused by inflammation?
Findings from the Barwon Infant Study, published in Brain, Behaviour and Immunity journal, provide evidence that chronic activation of the body’s immune system, also known as inflammation, plays a role in the risk to develop perinatal depression.
The team, led by paediatrician and Barwon Health Director of Research Professor Peter Vuillermin, collected blood samples from nearly 1000 pregnant women and also collected information regarding the women’s mental health.
Barwon Health and Deakin University School of Medicine senior scientist Dr Luba Sominsky (pictured) then led the analysis of inflammatory markers in the blood samples. The team then also analysed if differences in the levels of these inflammatory markers related to perinatal depression risk.
Dr Sominsky said the study showed pregnant women with high concentration of inflammatory markers in their blood were more likely to experience depression and stress symptoms during pregnancy.
Read more here.
Sisters, brothers and bugs: how siblings protect babies from allergies
Findings from the Barwon Infant Study, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, provide strong evidence that older siblings speed up the rate at which babies develop their gut microbiome and that this protects them from allergic disease.
The team, led by Professor Peter Vuillermin, a paediatrician and Director of Research at Barwon Health collected poo samples over the course of infancy among over 1000 infants and then tested whether the children were allergic to five different foods at one year of age. The babies had a skin prick allergy test, and if this was positive, a food challenge at the University Hospital Geelong. The most common forms of food allergy were egg and peanut. The team examined DNA from the poo samples to measure the baby’s gut bacteria. They analysed whether having siblings and owning dogs impacted how fast the baby’s gut microbiome matured; and then whether a more mature microbiome impacted the risk of developing food allergy.
Read more here.
Gut bacteria linked to anxiety-like behaviours in children
The Barwon Infant Study (BIS) – a collaboration between the Barwon Health Child Health Research Unit, Deakin University and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute – is the first to show that children with a lower amount of Prevotella at age one are more likely to have anxiety-like behaviours at two.
The research team examined data from 201 children, analysing faecal samples at one, six and 12 months of age, then measuring behavioural outcomes at two years.
They found children with a lower abundance of the bacteria Prevotella in their poo at 12 months of age had a higher prevalence of anxiety-like behaviours, including shyness, sadness and an internal focus, an indicator they may be at higher risk of going on to develop childhood anxiety.
Dr Amy Loughman said the study also added to the growing evidence supporting the role of the infant gut microbiota for neurodevelopment and mental health in later life. In previous cross-sectional studies Prevotella abundance has been associated with both autism and Parkinson’s disease.
The research team now hope to build further evidence to consider Prevotella as a gut bacteria key to both identifying health risk, and potentially, as an intervention to improve health outcomes.
The full publication can be read here.
Barwon Health and Deakin University leading the fight against asthma
The Barwon Health and Deakin Partnership has won a $1.6 million NHMRC grant to lead a new multicentre trial of a bacterial lysate (OM-85) for prevention of hospital admissions.
Acute wheezing illnesses pose a large health and economic burden and are the most common reason that pre-school aged children are admitted to hospital in Australia. There is a recognised need for novel approaches. Emerging evidence suggests OM-85 may also be effective in preventing wheeze episodes in young children, but larger studies are urgently required to replicate this important finding and evaluate whether OM-85 reduces wheeze-related hospital admissions.
To undertake this study, a highly experienced transdisciplinary research team has been assembled that leverages the newly established Children’s Inpatient Research Collaborative of Australia and New Zealand (CIRCAN). This novel and feasible strategy aims to address a gap in current knowledge of critical significance and generate health and economic findings that are clearly implementable.
The BIS Bus hits the road
A welcome new addition to the Barwon Infant Study (BIS) is the “BIS Bus”, a mobile laboratory funded by the Gandel Foundation and supported by Jayco, which enables BIS Researchers to visit participants at school, which is much more convenient for the participants and their families.
Research Grants
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NHMRC - Prevention of wheeze-associated hospitalisation in preschoolers with the immunomodulator OM85: a multi-centre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial: 2021-2025
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NHMRC - A longitudinal population-based study of the development of Cardiovascular risk in early childhood: 2019-2024
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Western Alliance – Pregnancy Research Translation Ecosystem: 2021-2022
Featured Publications
Gao Y, Stokholm J, O’Hely M, Ponsonby A-L, Tang MLK, Ranganathan S, Saffery R, Harrison LC, Collier F, Gray L, Burgner D, Molloy J, Sly PD, Brix S, Frøkiær H and Vuillermin P (2023) 'Gut microbiota maturity mediates the protective effect of siblings on food allergy', Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaci.2023.02.034 |
Luba Sominsky, Martin O'Hely, Katherine Drummond, Sifan Cao, Fiona Collier, Poshmaal Dhar, Amy Loughman, Samantha Dawson, Mimi LK. Tang, Toby Mansell, Richard Saffery, David Burgner, Anne-Louise Ponsonby, Peter Vuillermin. Pre-pregnancy obesity is associated with greater systemic inflammation and increased risk of antenatal depression. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, Volume 113, 2023, Pages 189-202 ISSN 0889-1591, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2023.07.005. |
Dawson SL, O'Hely M, Jacka FN, Ponsonby AL, Symeonides C, Loughman A, Collier F, Moreno-Betancur M, Sly P, Burgner D, Tang MLK, Saffery R, Ranganathan S, Conlon MA, Harrison LC, Brix S, Kristiansen K, Vuillermin P and the BISIG (2021) 'Maternal prenatal gut microbiota composition predicts child behaviour', EBioMedicine, 68, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2021.103400 |
Maternal carriage of prevotella during pregnancy associates with protection against food allergy in the offspring. Vuillermin PJ, O’Hely M, Collier F, Allen KJ, Tang MLK, Harrison LC, Carlin JB, Saffery R, Ranganathan S, Sly PD, et al. Nature Communications. 2020;11: 1452. |
Vitamin D insufficiency in the first 6 months of infancy and challenge-proven IgE-mediated food allergy at 1 year of age: A case-cohort study. Molloy J, Koplin JJ, Allen KJ, Tang MLK, Collier F, Carlin JB, Saffery R, Burgner D, Ranganathan S, Dwyer T, et al. Allergy. 2017;72: 1222-1231. |
Cord blood monocyte–derived inflammatory cytokines suppress IL-2 and induce nonclassic “T H 2-type” immunity associated with development of food allergy. Zhang Y, Collier F, Naselli G, Saffery R, Tang ML, Allen KJ, Ponsonby A, Harrison LC, Vuillermin P. Science Translational Medicine. 2016;8: 321. |
Perinatal microbial exposure may influence aortic intima-media thickness in early infancy. McCloskey K, Vuillermin P, Carlin JB, Cheung M, Skilton MR, Tang ML, Allen K, Gilbert GL, Ranganathan S, Collier F, et al. Int J Epidemiol. 2016;46: 209-218. |
The association between higher maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index and increased birth weight, adiposity and inflammation in the newborn. McCloskey K, Ponsonby A, Collier F, Allen K, Tang MLK, Carlin JB, Saffery R, Skilton MR, Cheung M, Ranganathan S, et al. Pediatric Obesity. 2016;13: 46-53. |
Cohort profile: The Barwon Infant Study. Vuillermin P, Saffery R, Allen KJ, Carlin JB, Tang ML, Ranganathan S, Burgner D, Dwyer T, Collier F, Jachno K, et al. Int J Epidemiol. 2015;44: 1148-1160. |
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To find out about clinical trials currently underway at Barwon Health, click here.
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Clinical trials require ongoing investment and there are several ways to support this amazing work.
You can make a donation today and contribute to an item on our research wish list, consider a bequest in your will, or establish a lasting legacy fund in your name. No matter what size, your philanthropic support with deliver an immediate impact.
To donate now or for more information and further discuss your support, please contact the Barwon Health Foundation.
Wish List
- $15,000 would fund of the Vivid –IQ a portable ultrasound machine to use on the BIS bus to assess cardiac function.
- $36,000 would fund the spirometry equipment and consumables to complete the lung function assessment in the primary school review.
- Funding for PhD student and early-career researchers is urgently required. The productivity of the BIS team is dependent on recruiting the highest quality research students and early-career researchers. Young researchers form the ‘engine room’ of any large-scale project, and represent a highly cost-effective investment not only in BIS, but in Australian research more broadly. Funding a PhD student and early career researcher for three years costs approximately $500,000. Given the quality of the data and biological samples assembled in BIS, with this level of investment the team will be able recruit and develop the best emerging research talent in the country.
Last Modified: Thursday, 21 September 2023
Research Lead
Professor Peter Vuillermin MBBS BMedSci FRACP PhD
NHMRC Career Development Fellow
Chair in Medicine | Director of Research
Deakin University | Barwon Health
Level 2, Health Education & Research Building (HERB), Barwon Health
Rear, Kitchener House, 299 Ryrie St, Geelong 3220
Contact Details
Nicola Cooley, Research Officer ([email protected]) 03 4215 3389