Let's hear twins sing

It might be our biggest online twin singing study ever but you don’t need any singing ability to participate! And if both you and your twin complete the study before 15 June, you and your twin will go into a $1000 gift card lucky draw. Open to identical and non-identical same sex twins Australia-wide, aged 15 years and above; complete the study using your computer or mobile device. Read more ...

A huge thank you to all of the twins who participated in the earlier pilot study. Its promising findings helped the research team to secure further funding for this new large study with 1500 twin pairs. The study aims to better understand the genetic and environmental influences on singing, and how we can all maximise our singing potential and enjoy more of singing’s numerous benefits. Twins from the pilot study are welcome to join this new stage.

The fascinating world of twin pregnancy

Did you know that there is a much greater diversity of twin types beyond ‘identical’ and ‘non-identical’? In TRA’s new blog, Deputy Director, Jeff Craig, sheds new light on how twins originate, whether they form by splitting or fusion, and the many and unusual types of twinning. Read about the secret world of twins before they are born and twinning types from chimaeric, mirror-image, and salt-and-pepper twins. Read more ...

Finding a healthy balance in twin relationships and parenting

“I grew up trying to divide and conquer my close-knit older identical twin siblings, but I never could,” says twin psychologist and researcher, Katie Wood. Her struggles as a sibling of twins led Katie to dedicate her professional career to understanding them and their place in the family. In this video (also available as a transcript/blog), she takes a closer look at the twin dynamic; why twins can struggle with their relationship and how to get ‘in balance’; and tips for parenting twins.

Meet the power couple of back pain research

Twin researcher, Paulo Ferriera, has achieved ground-breaking discoveries into back pain, most recently finding that anti-inflammatory drugs don’t work for back pain.

His latest study is investigating what types of physical activities cause low back pain, and whether playing video games can help older people, even in nursing homes, to manage lower back pain. Paulo and his wife, Manuela, are fast gaining recognition as the ‘power couple of back pain research’. Read more ...

Annual appeal supports twin research into mental health

We much appreciate donations received so far for our 2017/18 Appeal to support mental health research and we welcome further help. Almost half of all Australians aged between 16-85, or 10.3 million people, experience mental health-related conditions in their lifetime.

TRA’s current mental health study has the potential to make a significant contribution to the quality of people’s lives. It aims to better understand the impact of parent mental health on child mental health, and genetic and environmental factors at play. If you are able to help as a study participant or with the gift of a donation, we thank you most sincerely. 

And even more studies to join in ...

Our stories above highlight many current studies seeking twins. And there are even more! In fact, the start of 2018 has been one of our busiest with many new studies now open for all ages.

Learn more about our studies for children (e.g. into autism, speech disorders, temperament) and adults (e.g. brain ageing, breast cancer, health and lifestyle, menopause and bone health). Often it is as simple as completing an online questionnaire but this can be invaluable to research. Read more …