Wishing you a safe and happy festive season 

Thank you for being part of the Twins Research Australia research community this year. 2018 has been another year of enormous change for us, with the development and launch of our new database, changes to our team and our biggest year yet with email invitations to members. All the while we have continued to support studies and run additional successful and popular workshops focussing on Twin Statistical Methodology and Analysis. 

We would like to extend our thanks to you for your support throughout the year and our best wishes for a safe, happy festive season.

Twin research in the media

Director of TRA, John Hopper, featured in a recent article published in The Washington Post, titled ‘Scientists see twins as the perfect laboratory to examine the impact of nature vs. nurture’. The article highlighted the high demand for twins in research globally due to their unique ability to allow us as researchers to examine nature vs. nurture effects. See the article here.

Twins steer future direction of research

Twins Research Australia has joined a global collaboration seeking to identify the most pressing multiple-birth health issues needing research. An initial survey sought views from twins, parents, researchers and health-care professionals on what research questions they’d most like answered. A second-wave survey next year will ask them to rank the top 10 research questions identified in the first survey. Learn more about this world-first partnership and its aims here.

Planning for 2019-2020 

If you plan to utilise Twins Research Australia in research activities during 2020 please advise TRA’s Research Liaison and Coordinator, Tessa Cutler, as soon as possible, info@twins.org.au or 03 9035 8708. This is to ensure TRA has the capacity to recruit for your study, as there are already a large number of studies scheduled for recruitment during 2019.

Working with TRA: Grant submissions 

Are you are intending to submit a grant application to any funding organisation for a project that will involve Twins Research Australia? If so, please contact us to obtain a letter of support and an accurate cost estimate for inclusion in your application. 

For those who are submitting an NHMRC grant application, we would like to bring to your attention that it is has been a requirement to name the TRA facilities in your application (refer to section 4.4 B-PBRF: Proposed Budget – Research Facilities). 

Such research facilities include biospecimens and associated data from biobanks or pathology services, and from organisations such as non-human primate colonies, Twins Research Australia, Cell Bank Australia, the Trans-Tasman Radio Oncology Group and from organisations that provide clinical trials services.

Is this application using services provided by a research facility?

If you answer ‘Yes’, provide details of the costs of using services provided by research facilities under B-PB: Proposed Budget – DRC And Equipment as Direct Research Costs (DRCs) and ensure they are fully justified.

An update to this information is yet to be provided for the new NHMRC grant schemes. Please contact Tessa Cutler, TRA’s Research Liaison and Coordinator, to discuss your proposal and to obtain a letter of support and a cost estimate, info@twins.org.au or 03 9035 8708. 

Christmas closure

Please note the TRA office will be closed for the Christmas and New Year period from 21st December 2018 – 7th January 2019 (inclusive).

On behalf of all TRA staff we would like to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season

Best wishes

John Hopper
Director, Twins Research Australia