Research overview
One of WIRF’s key research contributions is through investment in the Raine Study.
Established in 1989, the Raine Study is one of the world’s oldest and longest-running pre-birth longitudinal cohort health studies.
It has followed the same group of 2,900 pregnant women (Generation 1, recruited to the study at 18 weeks pregnant between 1989 and 1991) and their 2,868 babies (Generation 2) since before they were born. It has grown to include a sub-cohort of 107 grandmothers of the original Raine Study children (Generation 0) and will also include the offspring of the original babies (Generation 3, 800+ and counting).
The original babies born into the study (Generation 2) have now taken part in 18 follow-up studies over the last 34 years. With the addition of the Generation 3 cohort, existing data can be applied in new ways to enable intergenerational research never before possible.
Headquartered in Perth, the Raine Study is a joint venture between the five Western Australian universities, The Kids Research Institute Australia and the Women & Infants Research Foundation.
Raine Study data is utilised by researchers nationally and around the world to explore topics ranging from the safety of ultrasound to child health, asthma and allergies, mental health, fertility, cardiometabolic health, vision, hearing, sleep and much more.
The Raine Study’s 18th follow-up study, known as the Generations Follow-Up, commenced in early 2023. For the first time ever, the Raine Study will collect consistent measures from both the original children born into the Raine Study and the parents who were recruited when 18 weeks pregnant. It will also collect age-appropriate measures from all current and future offspring of the original Raine Study babies as part of this same follow-up study.
This will enable researchers to expand their study of the early life determinants of health and wellbeing to include long-term health factors across multiple generations of the same families. They will have access to a complete lifetime of health data for a generation of parents which can be used to conduct health research that has never been possible.
The Raine Study is owned by an Unincorporated Joint Venture (UJV), a collaborative partnership between The University of Western Australia (the centre agent), Curtin University, Edith Cowan University, Murdoch University, the University of Notre Dame, The Kids Research Institute Australia and the Women and Infants Research Foundation.
Women and Infants Research Foundation Chief Executive Officer Deb Portughes serves on the Raine Study UJV.
Find out more by visiting the Raine Study website.
