Funding from Channel 7 Telethon Trust will enable the Raine Study to begin recruiting kids of original babies, make it the first 3-generation pregnancy cohort in the world
Raine Study participant William Aitken, wife Rose and their two young sons, with a picture of William as a baby with his parents Amanda and Michael, who joined the Raine Study when Amanda was 18 weeks pregnant with William
24 March 2023: The Raine Study is delighted to announce that it is one of the Channel 7 Telethon Trust’s Beneficiaries for 2023.
Grant funding of $122.892.70 has been awarded to the Raine Study’s Scientific Director, The University of Western Australia Associate Professor Rebecca Glauert.
Thanks to Telethon’s generosity, the Raine Study can commence recruiting all current and future children born to the original Raine Study babies.
Raine Study participants excited for the future
A/Prof Rebecca Glauert with lifelong Raine Study participant William Aitken
The current participants of the Raine Study are excited about the future benefits the involvement of a third generation in the study can deliver. They say they would like to know if their fertility will impact their children’s future health and fertility, whether mental health problems transmit between generations, and the long-term impact of COVID-19 and climate change on their children’s health. This new grant will lay the foundations for researchers to be able to answer those questions.
William Aitken, 32, has taken part in the Raine Study’s data collection since before he was born. His mother Amanda was recruited to the study at 18 weeks pregnant, and both she and William along with William’s father Michael have continued to volunteer for the Raine Study’s regular follow-up studies throughout his childhood, adolescence, and now fatherhood.
William has seen the impact of the Raine Study’s multigenerational data collection and the research it enables on child health outcomes in WA – from confirming the safety and setting the standard schedule for foetal ultrasound, to identifying the genes responsible for some of the most common childhood illnesses such as asthma. Since becoming a father 3 years ago and with his second child just born, he has wanted his own children to be able to take part in the Raine Study’s data collection. This Telethon grant will enable that to happen.
William says: “The Raine Study has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. The questionnaires, the blood tests, the list goes on. I am very proud to say I’m a Raine Study participant, knowing that my small contribution has helped drive so many amazing health discoveries and improve the lives of kids across WA and around the world. Now that funding has been secured to include my children’s participation in the Raine Study I can’t wait for them to have the same opportunity to be part of something that has the potential to make a difference not just in their lifetime but the lives of their own kids 30 years from now.”
Media contact: Kate Rowlands, Communications Manager, The Raine Study, kate.rowlands@uwa.edu.au, 0437 005 173