The six ingredients of a 20 year international research collaboration John Newnham School of Women’s and Infants’ Health
Dec 16, 2015
The six ingredients of a20 year international
research collaboration
John NewnhamSchool of Women’s and Infants’ Health
Rule Number 1
Have a good idea,
or two
Aim:
To develop a large cohort of Western Australian children studied from 18 weeks’ gestation to ascertain the relative contributions of familial risk factors, fetal growth, placental development and environmental insults to outcome in infancy and to the precursors of adult morbidity
The Raine Study 1989 – 2010
• 2868 children• External funding >$15.3million• 121 C1 publications• 67 investigators in 18 research groups• >72,000 phenotypic data• 2.5million SNPs; 100,000 copy number variants• 30,000 biological samples
Publications
The Raine Study team, 2008
Original Aim:
To apply the 200 year knowledge of sheep handlingin Australia to medical research, using minimally invasive ultrasound guidedprocedures to replace/or complementtraditional surgical approaches
The SWIH International PerinatalSheep Research Collaboration
1990-2010 ongoing
The SWIH International Perinatal Sheep Collaboration
• 20 years continuous funding from NIH (plus NHMRC and others)• External funding >$7 million• 80+ C1 publications• >300 conference presentations• Extensive knowledge transfer• Collaborators from USA, Canada, UK, Japan, Germany, Netherlands,
China, Malaysia, New Zealand and Eastern Australia
The international sheep research group, 2008
Rule Number 2
Successful research teamsare based on mutual benefit
and friendship
Rule Number 3
We are all different.
Not everyone is suitedto be in longstanding team
Rule Number 4
Each member/group in the collaborationneeds their own sovereignty
Rule Number 5
If in doubt:
Achieve the objective,Maintain the group,Care for personal needs
Rule Number 6
The research group that celebrates together,produces together
Celebrations:
• Annual scientific days and dinners• Logos• Annual T-shirts/stubbie holders/hats• Inclusive of family members