Professor Anne-Louise Ponsonby

contact details

Professor Anne-Louise Ponsonby
Environmental & Genetic Epidemiology Research
Royal Children's Hospital
Flemington Road
Parkville
Victoria, 3052

T 0401 678382
F +61 3 9348 1391
E anne-louise.ponsonby@mcri.edu.au

biography

Anne-Louise Ponsonby  is an epidemiologist and public health physician. Her qualifications are B Med Sci, MB BS, PhD, FAFPHM. Professor Ponsonby  is currently Head of the Environmental and Genetic Epidemiology Research Group, genes, environment and Health, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute. She also holds Adjunct Professorial appointments with the Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, the Australian National Medical and the Menzies Research Institute, University of Tasmania.

Past work includes sudden infant death syndrome prevention, infant health and child asthma and immune disorders. The current focus of her work is to improve the understanding of the  environmental and genetic causes of autoimmune disease such as type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis and also allergic disease.

research focus & interest

Our work has the goal of better understanding how environment and genetics act alone and in combination to increase the risk of immune disorders. Working towards generating new information so that we can work towards more optimal environments, particulary in early life to optimise  the child's immune system development and so avoid a range of immune disorders from asthma and food allergy to type 1 diabetes, juvenile idiopathic arthritis and multiple sclerosis.

publications

van der Mei IAF, Ponsonby A-L, Engelsen O, Pasco JA, McGrath JJ, Eyles DW, Blizzard L, Dwyer T, Lucas R, Jones G. The high prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency across Australian populations is only partly explained by season and latitude. Environ Health Perspect. 2007 Aug; 115:1132-9.

Ponsonby A-L, Kemp AS. Investigation of the Hygiene Hypothesis : Current Issues and Future Directions. Allergy. 2008 May; 63(5):506-8.

Ponsonby A-L,  Glasgow  N, Pezic A, Dwyer T,Ciszek  K, Kljakovic M. A temporal decline in asthma but not eczema prevalence from 2000-2005 at school entry in the Australian Capital Territory with further consideration of country of birth. Int J Epidemiol. 2008 Jun; 37:559-69.

Ponsonby A-L, Pezic A, Ellis J, Morley R, Cameron F, Carlin J, Dwyer T. Associations between allelic variants of the vitamin D receptor gene and type 1 diabetes mellitus onset vary by ambient winter ultraviolet radiation levels:  a meta-regression. Am J Epidemiol. 2008 Aug 15;168(4):358-65.

Dwyer T van der Mei I Ponsonby  A- Taylor L   B V Stankovich J  McKay J D   Thomson R J     Polanowski  A  M Dickinson J L  Melanocortin 1 receptor genotype, past environmental sun exposure and risk of multiple sclerosis. Neurology. 2008;71(8):583-9

Vuillermin PJ Ponsonby AL ; Saffery R,; Tang M, Ellis JA,Sly PHolt .  Microbial exposure, INFy gene demethylation in naive T-cells, and the risk of allergic disease. Allergy. 2009;64(3):348-53

Dwyer T, Magnussen Schmidt MD,Ukoumunne OC, Ponsonby A-L, Raitakari O, Zimmet P, Blair S, Thomson R, Cleland V J, Venn A. Decline in physical fitness from childhood to adulthood associated with increased obesity and insulin resistance in adults. Diabetes Care. 2009;32(4):683-7.

Lucas RM, Ponsonby AL, Dear K, Taylor BV, Dwyer T, McMichael AJ, Valery P, van der Mei I, Williams D, Pender MP, Chapman C, Coulthard A, Kilpatrick T.  Associations between silicone skin cast score, cumulative sun exposure, and other factors in the Ausimmune study: a multicenter Australian study. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2009:18:2887-94.

Ponsonby A-L, Williamson E, Smith K, Bridge D, Jacobs A, Burrill J, Ollington N, Keefe J, Dwyer T. Children with low literacy and poor stereoacuity: an evaluation of complex interventions in a community-based randomised trial. Opthalmic Epidemiology 2009 Sep-Oct;16(5):311-21

Lewis S, Lucas R, Halliday J, Ponsonby A-L. Vitamin D deficiency and pregnancy: possible effects on mother and baby. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2010 Aug;54(8):1092-102

Simon K.C.,van der Mei I.A.F,  Munger K.L., Ponsonby AL, Dickinson J, Dwyer T, Sundström P, Ascherio A.  Combined effects of smoking, anti-EBNA antibodies and HLA-DRB1*1501 on multiple sclerosis risk.  Neurology 2010;74:1365-71.

van der Mei  IAF, Ponsonby AL, Taylor BV, Stankovich J, Dickinson JL, Foote S, Kemp A, Dwyer T.  . Human leukocyte antigen-DR15, low infant sibling exposure and multiple sclerosis: gene-environment interaction. Ann Neurol. 2010 Feb;67::261-5

Staples J, Ponsonby A-L, Lim L. Prenatal ultraviolet radiation exposure, month of birth and subsequent risk of multiple sclerosis: a longitudinal analysis. BMJ 2010;340:c1640

Simpson S Jr, Taylor B, Blizzard L, Ponsonby AL, Pittas F, Tremlett H, Dwyer T, Gies P, van der Mei I.  Higher levels of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 are associated with a reduced risk of relapse in multiple sclerosis.  Ann Neurol. 2010 Aug;68(2):193-203

Simpson S, Pittas F, van der Mei I, Blizzard L, Ponsonby AL, Taylor B.  Trends in the epidemiology of multiple sclerosis in Greater Hobart, Tasmania: 1951 to 2009.J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2011 Feb;82(2):180-7.

Ponsonby Al, Pezic A, Cochrane J, Cameron F, Pascoe M, Kemp A, Dwyer T. Anthropometry, early life infection and subsequent risk of type 1 diabetes mellitus: a prospective birth cohort study . BMJ. 2011 Jan 13

Koplin JJ, Osborne NJ, Wake M,  Martin PE, Gurrin LC, Robinson MN, Slaa M, Thiele L, Miles L, Anderson D, Tan T, Dang T, Hill DJ, Lowe AJ, Matheson MC, Ponsonby AL, Tang MLK, Dharmage SC, Allen KJ. Can early introduction of egg prevent egg allergy in infants? -  a population-based study.  J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2010 Oct;126(4):807-13.

Dwyer T, Ponsonby A-L, Ukoumunne OC, Pezic A, Venn A, Shaw J, Dunstan D, Barr E, Blair SN, Cochrane J, Zimmet P. Association between change in daily steps over five years and subsequent adiposity and insulin sensitivity in the AusDiab cohort.  BMJ. 2011 Jan 13;342:c7249.

Lucas RM, Ponsonby AL, Dear K, Valery PC, Pender MP, Taylor BV, Kilpatrick TJ, Dwyer T, Coulthard A, Chapman C, van der Mei I, Williams D, McMichael AJ Sun exposure and vitamin D are independent risk factors for CNS demyelination..Neurology. 2011 Feb 8;76:540-8.

Osborne NJ, Koplin JJ, Martin PE, Gurrin LC, Lowe AJ, Matheson MC, Posnonby AL, Wake M, Tang M, Dharmage SC, Allen KJ. Prevalence of challenge-proven IgE-mediated food allergy using population-based sampling and predetermined challenge criteria in infants. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2011 Mar;127(3):668-76.

Ponsonby A-L , Sun C Ukoumunne O C Pezic  Venn A Shaw JE David W Dunstan D W  Barr EL Blair SN Cochrane J Zimmet PZ Dwyer T . Objectively Measured Physical Activity and the Subsequent Risk of Incident Dysglycemia: the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study. Diabetes Care. 2011 May 11.

Lucas, R. M., Ponsonby, A. L., Dear, K., Pender, M. P., Chapman, C., Coulthard, A.  Infectious mononucleosis, Epstein -Barr virus-specific antibodies and DNA load in relation to risk of a first clinical diagnosis of central demelinatine event. Neurology 2011 (In press, accepted March 2011)

Lucas RM, Hughes AM, Lay M-L, Ponsonby A-L, Dwyer T, Taylor B, Pender M.  Epstein-Barr virus and multiple sclerosis: a review .  Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry - Decision on Manuscript ID (jnnp -2011-300174.R2) (accepted July 9th)

Koplin J, Allen KJ, Ponsonby A-L.  Predetermined challenge eligibility and cessation criteria for oral food challenges in the HealthNuts population-based study of infants.  Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 2011 in press (accepted 220911)