All about BIS
What is BIS?
The Barwon Infant Study is a longitudinal birth cohort study. This means that BIS researchers are actively following our participants over time as they grow and develop—from pregnancy into infancy and childhood. BIS is designed to collect information at key timepoints that are crucial to the health and development of children.
By following our participants development as they grow, as opposed to retrospectively (looking back), BIS researchers can gain a more precise understanding of the connections between early-life exposures and subsequent health and disease outcomes.
The discoveries from BIS will shape clinical practice, parenting choices and policy development, from enhancing the diagnosis and support for individuals with neurodevelopmental conditions, to informing choices related to childbirth and delivery, dietary considerations, breastfeeding practices, and pet ownership.
BIS is one of the largest, longitudinal, population-based birth cohort studies in Australia.
The beginning
The planning for the BIS started in 2008-2009. The idea was to conduct a study that would generate new knowledge on how to give kids the best start to life; and so BIS was born!
We concluded the three year recruitment phase in June 2013, and the last of the babies was born in December 2013, giving us the final cohort of 1074 infants.
Progress so far
- Over 1000 participants
- Asked over 200,000 questions
- Stored over 100,000 biological samples
- Taken over 10,000 measurements
- Published over 50 important scientific papers
For a detailed timeline of data collection please have a look at the MCRI wesbite
Focus areas
Immune
- Evaluate the relationship between pre- and postnatal microbial exposure, the large bowel microbiome and its metabolites, vitamin D status (VDS), early-life immune development and risk of allergic disease, asthma and other non-communicable disease
Respiratory
- To investigate the relationship between postnatal immune development, lower respiratory tract illness, aeroallergen sensitization and deterioration in lung function during the first 3 years of life.
Cardiovascular
- Investigate factors contributing to the development of the inflammatory process of atherosclerosis and of other cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, from early life onwards.
Neurodevelopment
- Investigate whether higher levels of exposure to specific modern chemicals are associated with deficits in validated measures of executive function, memory, behaviour, language and general cognitive development during the first years of life.
Microbiome
- Investigate the relationship between the composition and metabolic products of the maternal and infant gut microbiome, immune development (including epigenetic profiles) and allergic disease, asthma and atherosclerosis
Food Allergy
- Investigating the relationship between low vitamin D status and food allergy
Current research
We have now commenced the BIS Primary School Review.
With help from the Gandel Foundation and Jayco, we have built a mobile laboratory – the BIS Bus. We will be seeking permission from BIS families and local primaries to review the kids at school, which will substantially reduce the participation burden placed on parents.