New year, new milestones!
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This newsletter now available in English, Arabic (العربية), Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ), Dari (دری), Punjabi (ਪੰਜਾਬੀ), Simplified Chinese (中文普通话), Vietnamese (Tiếng Việt)! View GenV News on our website.
GenV in Review 2024 - Update on our progress...
Remembering our ‘Why’ - GenV families
Accessing existing information - Linkage
Getting to know your family - GenV & Me
World-leading Biosamples - Samples
Painting a picture of wellness - Collaborators
Stars of GenV - Laura, Participant Support
Message from our Scientific Director
2024 will be a very different year for GenV. The oldest GenV child is now 3 years old. We’re starting to make plans for school, maybe you are too!
Our newborn recruitment stage has ended. Birthing hospitals across the state have helped us to grow to over 119,000 participants.
Every Victorian community has families in GenV. And it's never too late to take part. Our door is always open to children born between October 2021 and October 2023 and their parents, no matter where they were born. Do you have family or friends living in Victoria who might be interested? Help us spread the word!
It’s not just us talking about GenV. Did you know GenV was mentioned in the media 186 times last year? We reached an audience of over 43.5 million people. And we want to hear from you too. Over 1000 GenV parents have joined our Participant Advisory Panel. If you haven’t already, think about joining – you can help shape the future of GenV.
GenV’s milestones are possible thanks to families like yours. There is so much more happening behind the scenes. This ‘GenV in Review’ newsletter gives you an update on our progress – from surveys to samples, research impact and more!
With best wishes for the year ahead,
Professor Melissa Wake - GenV Scientific Director
Remembering our ‘Why’
Meet fellow GenV parents - Patrick and Paige. They signed up to GenV for a better future for their two young girls.
“Any time there is a research study, and you can sign up to help out, get a bigger sample size, and for benefit, that’s why we wanted to sign up.”
Get to know their family and motivation for taking part in GenV here. Patrick also touches on the important topic of privacy. He describes one of the many ways that GenV protects your information, and why he was happy to join.
Accessing existing information
GenV aims to build a complete picture of the health and wellbeing of a whole generation. You are helping make this possible. We want GenV to take very little effort from you and your family. This is why we access standard information and samples already collected by services for you and your child.
You can always see the data and samples that GenV accesses on our website here.
Getting to know your family
Information collected by services only tells part of the story. By now, we hope you are familiar with our online short surveys. GenV and Me is how we stay connected with you. Over time, it collects the information only you know about your family. It also tells you about studies working with GenV that might interest you.
We are grateful to all parents for completing GenV and Me each time. You've done over 64,000 surveys so far!
And it was exciting to send out our last ever 3-month GenV and Me survey in January! We hope to hear from you through future surveys - into the preschool years and beyond.
GenV and Me is available in English, Burmese, Punjabi, Simplified Chinese, and Vietnamese. Download the GenV and Me app now!
World-leading biosamples
Did you know that every human body contains trillions of microbes? And that breastmilk has its own microbes? We are only now learning how this ‘microbiome’ keeps us healthy – and sometimes makes us sick.
In 2023, over 6,500 families gave both breastmilk and baby poo samples - the largest collection in the world.
We are also storing almost 100,000 saliva samples. If you still have a saliva kit at home for you or your child, it’s not too late. We store GenV samples securely in our own Biobank at the Royal Children’s Hospital.
Painting a picture of wellness
If we think of GenV as a canvas, then it’s our research partners who paint the pictures. They add depth and colour to our understanding of health and wellbeing. They offer new solutions for complex issues facing children and adults today and in the future.
Simply by being in GenV, you are already supporting studies working with us. Thanks to those who have volunteered to join extra studies. With your help, we continue to build collaborations, such as with VicCHILD:
“We hope to help children with hearing loss reach their full potential”
A/Prof Valerie Sung, Project Lead for VicCHILD.
16 active research projects
172 researchers from 62 partner organisations
Over 880 GenV participants taking part in other studies
Stars of GenV - Laura
Have you ever reached out to GenV through our website, email, or phone?
If so, you may have met Laura!
She is the first point of contact for over 47,000 GenV families. Laura is one of the friendly faces behind the screen and a dedicated member of our support team.
In fact, Laura recently received an MCRI staff award for going ‘Above and Beyond in Research Support’.
Keep in touch with GenV
Have questions or feedback? Changed your contact details? Please reach out to the GenV team at:
Phone: 1800 GEN VVV (1800 436 888)
Email: genv@mcri.edu.au
Website: genv.org.au
Keep up with GenV via our social media:
GenV is led from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI), supported by The Royal Children’s Hospital and The University of Melbourne, and funded by the Paul Ramsay Foundation, the Victorian Government, The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation, the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Medical Research Future Fund.
