research

community child health

summary

Common child health problems need practical solutions to avert their massive future burdens and costs.  Rising to this challenge is the Community Child Health group, led by Professor Melissa Wake. This group has two major streams - Population Paediatrics and Translational Research and Policy and Service Development, each supported by a team of around 50 researchers. 


The Population Paediatrics and Translational Research stream (led by Professor Melissa Wake) seeks sustainable clinical solutions that can be delivered within population systems by primary and secondary care clinicians.

The Policy and Service Development stream (led by Ms Mary Sayers) works to support and strengthen community-based professionals and organisations in their work with families, to translate and disseminate the research, and to inform early childhood policy development.

group leader(s)

Melissa WakeProfessor Melissa Wake 
Community Child Health
Murdoch Childrens Research Institute
Royal Children's Hospital
Flemington Road
Parkville Victoria 3052

T +61 3 9345 5761
E melissa.wake@rch.org.au

Group Leader Biography

current research projects

Australian Paediatric Research Network

Launched in 2007, the Australian Paediatric Research Network (APRN) is a network of almost 400 practising paediatricians who are keen to contribute to new research that is relevant to both public and private practice. The network focuses on common paediatric problems and is committed to generating new knowledge, promoting better clinical practice and informing child health care policy and guidelines.

Australian Early Development Index

The AEDI, led by National Director Dr Sharon Goldfeld, aims to provide communities and policy makers with community-level information about the developmental profiles of children at school entry. Communities can use their data to develop and re-orient services and systems to improve the health, wellbeing and early learning of young children.

In 2009, the AEDI was completed nation-wide for the first time. Information was collected on 241,147 children in their first year of school. The next data collection will take place from May to July 2012, with results expected in 2013.

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Live, Eat, Play Study (LEAP 2)

The aim of the Live, Eat and Play (LEAP2) project is to trial a new strategy to reduce the weight of overweight Victorian primary children. It involved training GPs in healthy family lifestyle counselling and offering families in the 'intervention' group consultations to discuss lifestyle changes and supporting resources. The trial started in 2005 and the three year follow-up data collection was completed in 2010. This looked at the longer-term psychosocial, physical activity and nutritional predictors of long-term BMI change. There will be another follow-up data collection in 2012-13.
Memory Maestros

Memory Maestros is a randomised control trial which aims to:
•    improve working memory capacity of school aged children
•    evaluate the costs of feasibility of this school-based program.

Current research has reported that children with poor working memory are at greater risk of learning problems at school, which in turn are linked to increased school failure and poorer child self-esteem. Therefore, improving working memory in young school children may prevent learning problems and subsequent negative outcomes for these children. If successful, this type of intervention will provide a way to improve the learning skills of these high-risk children.

Memory Maestros was piloted in 2010, with the main trial to commence in February 2012.

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Raising Children Network

Raising Children Network (RCN) is an award winning Australian website for parents of newborns to teenagers. It has a growing repository of over 900 science-based and peer-reviewed articles on child health, mental health, behaviour and development. It also has additional information for parents of children with a disability and those with autism spectrum disorders. Its content caters to families from a wide range of backgrounds and abilities with graphic-rich and audiovisual materials such as Parenting in Pictures and videos.

Raising Children Network is a consortium of the Community Child Health group of the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, the Parenting Research Centre and the Smart Population Foundation.

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Sleeping sound with ADHD

Sleeping Sound with ADHD is a randomised trial that aims to treat sleep problems in children with ADHD. The project aims to find out whether a sleep program improves the child's sleep, ADHD symptoms and behaviour, working memory, quality of life, school attendance, parent work attendance and parent mental health.
If the research shows that managing sleep improves child sleep and ADHD symptoms, we will train paediatricians in the assessment and management of sleep problems in children with ADHD.
This project is funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council and is due for completion late 2012.

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team members

  • Cathy Archer - RESEARCH AFFILIATE
  • Saga Arthursson - Research Intern (CCH)
  • Lauren Barber - Project Officer
  • Louise Baur - HONORARY FELLOW
  • Jordana Bayer - HONORARY FELLOW
  • Ruth Beatson - Research Officer
  • Kate Beesley - RESEARCH ASSISTANT
  • Lisa Belford - Research Assistant
  • Catherine Bolzonello - Research Assistant
  • Hannah Bryson - Research Assistant
  • Michele Campbell - HONORARY FELLOW
  • Bronwyn Campbell - Research Assistant
  • Amy Campbell - Volunteer
  • Kathleen Chan - Research Intern (CCH)
  • Miree Cho - Honours Student (UoM Paeds)
  • Susan Clifford - Research Officer
  • Hayley Crawford - Research Intern (CCH)
  • Alexandra Cussen - Administrative Assistant
  • Sarah Davies - Research Assistant
  • Natalie De Bono - Project Officer
  • Cindy De Jong - SENIOR PROJECT OFFCIER
  • Daryl Efron - HONORATY FELLOW MANAGER
  • Mark Farrell - Personal Assistant
  • Alexandra Flowers - Research Intern (CCH)
  • Maria Fong - Project Officer
  • Lucianne Foy - RESEARCH AFFILIATE
  • Zoe Fraser - Project Officer/Assistant
  • Rebecca Fry - Coordinator, Service Development
  • Erica Gardner - Project Officer
  • Bibi Gerner - Research Assistant
  • Kay Gibbons - RESEARCH ASSOCIATE
  • Simone Gindidis - Research Intern (CCH)
  • Rachel Giuffre - TEMP
  • Carole Goff - Senior Project Officer
  • Sharon Goldfeld - Research Fellow
  • Ross Green - Project Officer
  • Daisy Grinter - Research Assistant
  • Alisha Gulenc - Project Assistant
  • Dianne Halloran - Senior Project Officer
  • Anne Hampton - Research Assistant
  • Lauren Heery - Senior Project Officer
  • Amelia Hicks - Research Assistant
  • Harriet Hiscock - Senior Research Fellow
  • Simone Hoey - Project Officer
  • Emily Incledon - RESEARCH ASSISTANT
  • Pauline Jansen - Research Officer
  • Renee Jean - RESEARCH AFFILIATE
  • Claire Jennings - Project Officer
  • Tracey Kearins - Project Officer - Training
  • Ellen Kellett - Project Officer
  • Megan Keyes - Senior Project Coordinator
  • Sonia Khano - Research Assistant
  • Kieran Knight - DATA SUPPORT OFFICER
  • Amanda Kvalsvig - SENIOR RESEARCH OFFICER
  • Brie Anna Lagerewskij - VOLUNTEER
  • Bella Laidlaw - Project Officer
  • Lina Lee - Project Assistant
  • Penny Levickis - Research Assistant
  • Jun Lim - Master of Educ Psych (UoM Psych)
  • Cassandra Litleton - Master of Educnl Psych (UoM Educn)
  • Jennifer Lorains - Project Officer
  • Amy Loughman - Research Assistant
  • Kate Lycett - Research Assistant
  • Amanda Maguire - Research Manager
  • Yael Marhaim - Research Intern (CCH)
  • Nathalie Martinek - Project Officer
  • Anne Mason - Project Officer
  • Megan Mathers - Research Assistant
  • Talya Mathews - Project Officer
  • Myfanwy Mcdonald - Senior Project Officer
  • June Mcloughlin - HONORARY RESEARCH FELLOW
  • Laura Mcmillan - Research Assistant
  • Eliza Metcalfe - Project Officer
  • Abigail Miller - Junior Administration Assistant
  • Penny Miller - OBSERVER
  • Louise Modica - Project Officer
  • Tim Moore - Senior Research Fellow
  • Kara Morcom - Administrative Assistant
  • Rebecca Nadalin - Research Assistant
  • Geraldine Naughton - HONORARY FELLOW
  • Mary Nitto - Project Assistant
  • Frank Oberklaid - HONORATY FELLOW MANAGER
  • Martin O'Byrne - Senior Project Officer
  • Meredith O'Connor - Research Assistant
  • Elizabeth Oh - RESEARCH PSYCHOLOGIST
  • Alexandra Perry - Research Assistant
  • Rachel Podbury - Project Officer
  • Zeffie Poulakis - Research Officer
  • Paul Prichard - Senior Project Officer
  • Suzanne Purdon - Senior Project Officer
  • Marcella Purnama - Research Intern (CCH)
  • Jon Quach - Research Officer
  • Naomi Ralph - Senior Project Officer
  • Joanne Riley - Administrative Assistant
  • Gehan Roberts - Senior Research Officer
  • Rachel Robinson - Senior Project Officer
  • Sujitha Sanjeevan - Research Assistant
  • Ann Sanson - HONORARY FELLOW
  • Mary Sayers - Senior Manager (Programs)
  • Carmen Schroder - Project Officer
  • Emma Sciberras - Postdoctoral Fellow
  • Deb Sestak - Project Officer
  • Jillian Sewell - HONORARY FELLOW - MANAGER
  • Jane Sheehan - Research Assistant
  • Afrouz Shoghi - Senior Project Officer
  • Libby Smith - RESEARCH ASSISTANT
  • Daniela Stefani - Research Intern (CCH)
  • Aaron Stork - RESEARCH AFFLIATE
  • Valerie Sung - PhD Student (UoM Paeds)
  • Leonie Symes - Training & Dev / Platform Strategy Mgr
  • Jessica Synot - Volunteer
  • Giulia Teti - Master of Educ Psych (UoM Psych)
  • Sherryn Tobin - Research Assistant
  • Elizabeth Varelias - Research Assistant
  • Liz Varley - Research Assistant
  • Sue West - Manager Service Systems Innovation
  • Kym Westbury - PROJECT OFFICER
  • Lauren Williams - Postdoctoral Research Fellow
  • Debra Williams - Administrative Assistant
  • Karen Wirth - Research Officer
  • Paula Wood - Project Officer
  • Pallavi Yagnik - Project Officer
  • Elissa York - Research Assistant
  • Naomi Zens - Research Officer

publications

  • Anderson PJ., De Luca CR., Hutchinson E., Spencer-Smith MM., Roberts G., Doyle LW. Attention Problems in a Representative Sample of Extremely Preterm/Extremely Low Birth Weight Children. DEVELOPMENTAL NEUROPSYCHOLOGY 36 (1) : 57 - 73(2011) PubMed
  • Bayer JK., Rapee RM., Hiscock H., Ukoumunne OC., Mihalopoulos C., Clifford S., Wake M. The Cool Little Kids randomised controlled trial: Population-level early prevention for anxiety disorders. BMC PUBLIC HEALTH 11 (2011) PubMed
  • Bayer JK., Ukoumunne OC., Lucas N., Wake M., Scalzo K., Nicholson JM. Risk factors for childhood mental health symptoms: National longitudinal study of Australian children. PEDIATRICS 128 (2011) PubMed
  • Efron D., Hazell P., Anderson V. Update on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. JOURNAL OF PAEDIATRICS AND CHILD HEALTH 47 (10) : 682 - 689(2011)
  • Goldfeld S., Napiza N., Quach J., Reilly S., Ukoumunne OC., Wake M. Outcomes of a universal shared reading intervention by 2 years of age: the Let's Read trial. PEDIATRICS 127 (3) : 445 - 453(2011) PubMed
  • Hill MK., Pawsey M., Cutler A., Holt JL., Goldfeld SR. Consensus standards for the care of children and adolescents in Australian health services. MEDICAL JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIA 194 (2) : 78 (2011) PubMed
  • Hiscock H., Roberts G., Efron D., Sewell JR., Bryson HE., Price AMH., Oberklaid F., South M., Wake MA. Children Attending Paediatricians Study: a national prospective audit of outpatient practice from the Australian Paediatric Research Network. MEDICAL JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIA 194 : 392 - 397(2011) PubMed
  • Hiscock H., Scalzo K., Canterford L., Wake M. Sleep duration and body mass index in 0-7-year olds. ARCHIVES OF DISEASE IN CHILDHOOD 96 (735) : 739 (2011) PubMed
  • Howard K., Roberts G., Lim J., Lee KJ., Barre N., Treyvaud K., Cheong J., Hunt RW., Inder TE., Doyle LW., Anderson PJ. Biological and Environmental Factors as Predictors of Language Skills in Very Preterm Children at 5 Years of Age. JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL PEDIATRICS 32 (3) : 239 - 249(2011) PubMed
  • Hutchinson E., Bavin EL., Efron D., Sciberras E. Comparison of working memory profiles of school-aged children with Specific Language Impairment, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, co-morbid SLI and ADHD and Typically Developing Peers. Child Neuropsychology (2011) PubMed
  • Incledon E., Wake M., Hay M. Psychological predictors of adiposity: Systematic review of longitudinal studies. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PEDIATRIC OBESITY 6 (40576) (2011) PubMed
  • Mindell JA., Owens J., Alves R., Bruni O., Goh DYT., Hiscock H., Kohyama J., Sadeh A. Give children and adolescents the gift of a good night's sleep: A call to action. SLEEP MEDICINE 12 (3) : 203 - 204(2011) PubMed
  • O'Connor M., Hawkins MT., Toumbourou JW., Sanson A., Letcher P., Olsson CA. The relationship between social capital and depression during the transition to adulthood. AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY 63 (1) : 26 - 35(2011)
  • Osborne NJ., Koplin JJ., Martin PE., Gurrin LC., Lowe AJ., Matheson MC., Ponsonby AL., Wake M., Tang MLK., Dharmage SC., Allen KJ. Prevalence of challenge-proven IgE-mediated food allergy using population-based sampling and predetermined challenge criteria in infants. JOURNAL OF ALLERGY AND CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY 127 (3) : 668 (2011) PubMed
  • Quach J., Hiscock H., Ukoumunne OC., Wake M. A brief sleep intervention improves outcomes in the school entry year: A randomized controlled trial. PEDIATRICS 128 (4) : 692 - 701(2011) PubMed
  • Roberts G., Anderson PJ., Cheong J., Doyle LW., On behalf of the Victorian Infant Collaborative Study Group. Parent-reported health in extremely preterm and extremely low-birthweight children at age 8 years compared with comparison children born at term. DEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE AND CHILD NEUROLOGY 53 (10) : 927 - 932(2011) PubMed
  • Roberts G., Efron D., Price A., Hiscock H., Wake M. The Time and Practice Challenges of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics: An Australian National Study. JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL PEDIATRICS 32 : 368 - 374(2011) PubMed
  • Roberts G., Quach J., Gold L., Anderson P., Rickards F., Mensah F., Ainley J., Gathercole S., Wake M. Can improving working memory prevent academic difficulties? a school based randomised controlled trial. BMC PEDIATRICS 11 (57) (2011) PubMed
  • Sawyer MG., Harchak T., Wake M., Lynch J. Four-year prospective study of BMI and mental health problems in young children. PEDIATRICS 128 (4) : 677 - 684(2011) PubMed
  • Sciberras E., Efron D., Iser A. The Child's Experience of ADHD. JOURNAL OF ATTENTION DISORDERS 15 (4) : 321 - 327(2011) PubMed
  • Sciberras E., Fulton M., Efron D., Oberklaid F., Hiscock H. Managing sleep problems in school aged children with ADHD: A pilot randomised controlled trial. SLEEP MEDICINE 12 (9) : 932 - 935(2011) PubMed
  • Sciberras E., Ohan J., Anderson V. Bullying and peer victimisation in adolescent girls with ADHD. Child Psychiatry & Human Development (2011) PubMed
  • Sciberras E., Ukoumunne OC., Efron D. Predictors of Parent-Reported Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Children Aged 6-7 years: A National Longitudinal Study. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 39 (7) : 1025 - 1034(2011) PubMed
  • Skeat J., Gold L., Wake M., Ukoumunne OC., Reilly S. The cost of preschool communication problems: Population study. The Medical Journal of Australia 195 (6) : 322 - 323(2011) PubMed
  • Spittle AJ., Cheong J., Doyle LW., Roberts G., Lee KJ., Lim J., Hunt RW., Inder TE., Anderson PJ. Neonatal white matter abnormality predicts childhood motor impairment in very preterm children. DEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE AND CHILD NEUROLOGY 53 (11) : 1000 - 1006(2011) PubMed
  • Sung V., Beebe DW., VanDyke R., Fenchel MC., Crimmins NA., Kirk S., Hiscock H., Amin R., Wake M. Does Sleep Duration Predict Metabolic Risk in Obese Adolescents Attending Tertiary Services? A Cross-Sectional Study. SLEEP 34 (891) : 898 (2011) PubMed
  • Treyvaud K., Doyle LW., Lee KJ., Roberts G., Cheong JLY., Inder TE., Anderson PJ. Family functioning, burden and parenting stress 2 years after very preterm birth. EARLY HUMAN DEVELOPMENT 87 (6) : 427 - 431(2011) PubMed
  • Tsang TW., Kohn MR., Hermens DF., Clarke SD., Clark CR., Efron D., Cranswick N., Lamb C., Williams LM. A randomized controlled trial investigation of a non-stimulant in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ACTION): Rationale and design. TRIALS 12 (2011) PubMed
  • Ukoumunne OC., Wake M., Carlin J., Bavin EL., Lum J., Skeat J., Williams J., Conway L., Cini E., Reilly S. Profiles of language development in pre-school children: a longitudinal latent class analysis of data from the Early Language in Victoria Study. CHILD CARE HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT (2011) PubMed
  • Wake M., Canterford L., Hardy P., Ukoumunne OC. At what BMI are parents of pre-schoolers concerned? National cross-sectional study. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PEDIATRIC OBESITY 6 (499) : 501 (2011) PubMed
  • Wake M., Davies SA., Hiscock H., Chaney GM. E-health in Australia: time to plunge into the 21st century. MEDICAL JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIA 194 : 211 - 212(2011) PubMed
  • Wake M., Price A., Clifford S., Ukoumunne OC., Hiscock H. Does an intervention that improves infant sleep also improve overweight at age 6? Follow-up of a randomised trial. ARCHIVES OF DISEASE IN CHILDHOOD 96 (526) (2011) PubMed
  • Wake M., Tobin S., Girolametto L., Ukoumunne OC., Gold L., Levickis P., Sheehan J., Goldfeld S., Reilly S. Outcomes of population based language promotion for slow to talk toddlers at ages 2 and 3 years: Let's Learn Language cluster randomised controlled trial. BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL 343 (2011) PubMed
  • Williams JW., Canterford L., Hesketh KD., Hardy P., Waters EB., Patton GC., Wake M. Changes in body mass index and health related quality of life from childhood to adolescence. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PEDIATRIC OBESITY 6 (40576) (2011) PubMed

competitive funding

National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
Australian Research Council (ARC)
Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR)
Victorian Government Department of Early Childhood, Education and Care (DEECD)
Australian Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA)
The Benevolent Society
The R.E. Ross Trust
The Helen Macpherson Smith Trust

collaborations & affiliations

The R.E. Ross Trust
University of Melbourne
Telethon Institute for Child Health Research
Parenting Research Centre
Deakin University
Australian Bureau of Statistics