research

A/Professor Peter Anderson

contact details

Peter Anderson Colour  Doctor Peter Anderson
  Victorian Infant Brain Studies (VIBeS)
  Murdoch Childrens Research Institute
  Royal Children's Hospital
  Flemington Road
  Parkville
  Victoria, 3052

  T + 61 3 9345 4830
  F + 61 3 9345 4840
  E peter.anderson@mcri.edu.au

biography

Associate Professor Peter Anderson is a psychologist and Principal Research Fellow at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute and University of Melbourne.  He is Director of the Victorian Infant Brain Studies (VIBeS) team and co-director of the Australian Centre for Child Neuropsychological Studies (AC-CNS), which is the leading centre for paediatric neuropsychological research in Australia. 

Dr Anderson is interested in the cognitive development of children with medical conditions impacting the brain, and has conducted research in type 1 diabetes, bacterial meningitis, hydrocephalus, and phenylketonuria (PKU).  For the past 10 years he has focussed on understanding the mechanisms underlying cognitive and learning problems in children born very preterm.  He is involved in observational outcome studies, longitudinal neuroimaging studies, and numerous randomised controlled trials assessing the long-term benefits and consequences of a range of obstetric, perinatal, and developmental interventions.

achievements

NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship, 2010
Australian Research Council, Future Fellowship, 2010
Erskine Fellowship (Visiting Scholar), The University of Canterbury, New Zealand, 2007
CR Roper Fellowship, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, 2007
Australian Psychological Society (APS) Early Career Research Award, 2006
NHMRC Training Fellowship (Australian Clinical Research Fellowship), 2004

research focus & interest

Approximately 13 million births per year (10%) are delivered preterm (< 37 weeks' gestation), and this number is increasing. In Australia 24,000 babies (8%) were born preterm in 2007, with 5,000 (1.7%) born very preterm (< 32 weeks' gestation). Most preterm babies now survive due to advances in obstetric and neonatal medicine, however these children exhibit higher than expected rates of developmental problems. For example, at least 55% of very preterm children display a significant problem such as an intellectual, educational, movement and social-emotional impairment.   

The objective of Dr Anderson's research is to improve the well-being and quality of life of children born very preterm.  This research has three broad streams.  The first involves prospective longitudinal studies in which the development of very preterm children is monitored closely throughout childhood.  This research helps to improve our understanding of the difficulties faced by very preterm children, and the factors that contribute to, or protect against, these difficulties. 

The second stream focuses on understanding the neurological mechanisms associated with the intellectual, educational, movement, and social-emotional difficulties.  These studies involve detailed analysis of brain scans of infants and children born very preterm taken using structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and functional connectivity MRI (fcMRI).  This research is attempting to identify biomarkers for later impairments, and improve our understanding of brain development following very preterm birth and following early brain injury.

Findings from these longitudinal and neuroimaging studies provide the basis for new intervention strategies aimed at improving the well-being of very preterm children.  The third stream of research comprises a series of randomised controlled trials studying the short- and long-term benefits of obstetric, neonatal and preventative care interventions. Initial findings from all these trials indicate benefits for the babies and children who receive these interventions.

publications

Filan P, Hunt RW, Anderson PJ, Doyle LW, Inder TE. (accepted 1st Sept, 2011). Neurologic  outcomes in very preterm infants undergoing surgery. The Journal of Pediatrics

Spittle A, Cheong J, Doyle LW, Roberts G, Lee KJ, Lim J, Hunt RW, Inder TE, Anderson PJ. (Accepted 30th June, 2011) Neonatal white matter abnormality predicts childhood motor impairments in very preterm children.  Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology

Roberts G, Anderson PJ, Cheong J, Doyle LW, and the Victorian Infant Collaborative Study Group. (accepted 20th April, 2011). Parent-reported health in extremely preterm and extremely low birth weight children at age 8 compared with term controls. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology (in press)

Burnett AC, Anderson PJ, Cheong J, Doyle LW, Davey CG, Wood SJ. (accepted 19th April, 2011). Prevalence of psychiatric diagnoses in preterm and full-term children, adolescents, and young adults: A meta-analysis. Psychological Medicine (in press)

Published:

Barre N, Morgan A, Doyle LW, Anderson PJ. (2011) Language abilities in children who were very preterm and/or very low birth weight: A meta-analysis. The Journal of Pediatrics, 158, 766-74
Nguyen The Tich S, Anderson PJ, Hunt RW, Lee KJ, Doyle LW, Inder TE (2011). Neurodevelopmental and perinatal correlates of simple brain metrics in very preterm infants. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 165(3), 216-222

Thompson DK, Inder TE, Faggian N, Johnston L, Warfield SK, Anderson PJ, Doyle LW, Egan GF. (2011) Characterization of the corpus callosum in very preterm and full-term infants utilizing MRI. Neuroimage, 55, 479-490

Roberts G, Anderson PJ, Davis N, De Luca C, Cheong J, Doyle LW and the Victorian Infant Collaborative Study Group. (2011) Developmental coordination disorder in geographic cohorts of 8-year-old extremely preterm or extremely low birthweight children born in the 1990s.  Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology. 53(1), 55-60.

Doyle LW, Cheong J, Hunt RW, Lee KJ, Thompson DK, Davis PG, Rees S, Anderson PJ, Inder TE. (2010). Caffeine and brain development in very preterm infants, Annals of Neurology, 68, 734-742.

Doyle LW, Anderson PJ. (2010). Adult outcome of extremely preterm infants. Pediatrics, 126(2), 342-351.

Williams J, Lee KJ, & Anderson PJ. (2010) A systematic review of the prevalence of motor skill impairment in preterm children who do not develop Cerebral Palsy. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology. 52, 232-237.

Spittle A, Anderson P, Lee K, Ferretti C, Eeles A, Orton J, Boyd R, Inder T, Doyle L. (2010).  Preventative care at home for very preterm infants improves infant and caregiver outcomes at 2 years. Pediatrics. 126, e171-e178

Anderson V, Spencer-Smith M, Coleman L, Anderson P, Williams J, Greenham M, Leventer R, Jacobs R. (2010) Children's executive functions: Are they poorer after very early brain insult. Neuropsychologia. 48 (7) 2041-2050

Anderson PJ, de Luca C, Hutchinson E, Roberts G, Doyle LW, and the Victorian Infant Collaborative Group. (2010). Underestimation of Developmental Delay by the New Bayley-III Scale. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. 164 (4) 352-356

Doyle LW, Roberts G, Anderson PJ, and the Victorian Infant Collaborative Study Group.  (2010). Outcome at 2 years of age of infants <28 weeks' gestational age born in Victoria in 2005. The Journal of Pediatrics. 156 (1) 49-53.e1.

Orton J, Spittle A, Doyle L, Anderson P, Boyd R. (2009). Do Early Intervention Programs Improve Cognitive and Motor Outcomes for Preterm Infants Post-discharge?  A Systematic Review.  Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 51, 851-859.

Spittle AJ, Treyvaud K, Doyle LW, Roberts G, Lee K, Inder TE, Cheong JLY, Hunt RW, Newnham CA, Anderson PJ (2009). Early emergence of behavior and social-emotional problems in very preterm infants.  Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 48(9), 909-918.

Brown, N, Inder TE, Bear MJ, Hunt RW, Anderson PJ, Doyle LW (2009). Neurobehavior at term and white and gray matter abnormalities in very preterm infants. The Journal of Pediatrics, 155(1), 32-38.

Roberts G, Anderson PJ, Doyle LW, and the Victorian Infant Collaborative Study Group (2009) Neurosensory disabilities at school age in geographic cohorts of extremely low birth weight children born between the 1970s and the 1990s. The Journal of Pediatrics, 154(6), 829-834.

Anderson V, Spencer-Smith M, Leventer R, Coleman L, Anderson P, Williams J, Jacobs R. (2009). Childhood brain insult: Can age at insult help us predict outcome. Brain, 132(1), 45-56.

Treyvaud K, Anderson V, Howard K, Bear M, Hunt RW, Doyle LW, Inder TE, Woodward L, Anderson PJ. (2009) Parenting Behavior is Associated with the Early Neurobehavioral Development of Very Preterm Children. Pediatrics, 123(2), 555-561.

Beauchamp M, Thompson DK, Howard K, Doyle LW, Egan GF, Inder TE, Anderson PJ. (2008). Preterm infant hippocampal volumes correlate with later working memory deficits. Brain, 131(11), 2986-2994.

Shah D, Doyle, LW, Anderson PJ, Bear M, Daley AJ, Hunt R, Inder TE. (2008) Adverse neurodevelopment in preterm infants with postnatal sepsis or necrotizing enterocolitis is mediated by white matter abnormalities on magnetic resonance imaging at term.  The Journal of Pediatrics, 153(2), 170-175

Cheong JLY, Hunt RW, Anderson PJ, Howard K, Thompson DK, Wang HX, Bear J, Inder TE, Doyle LW. (2008). Head growth in preterm infants: Correlation with magnetic resonance imaging and neurodevelopmental outcome. Pediatrics, 121(6), e1534-e1540.

Thompson DK, Wood SJ, Doyle LW, Egan GF, Warfield SK, Lodygensky GA, Anderson PJ, Inder TE. (2008) Neonatal Hippocampal Volumes: Prematurity, Perinatal Predictors & 2-year Outcome. Annals of Neurology, 63(5), 642-651.

Davis NM, Ford GW, Anderson PJ, Doyle LW, & the Victorian Infant Collaborative Study Group. (2007). Developmental Coordination Disorder at 8 Years of Age in a Regional Cohort of ELBW/Very Preterm Infants. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 49, 325-330.

Woodward LJ, Anderson PJ, Austin N, Howard K, & Inder TE. (2006). Neonatal MRI to predict neurodevelopmental outcomes in preterm infants. New England Journal of Medicine, 355, 685-694.