The Charles Perkins Centre's Twins Research Node.
Twins can help researchers disentangle the roles of genes from those of the environment on human traits, health, and diseases. To realize this potential, the Australian Twin Registry (ATR), University of Melbourne, and the Charles Perkins Centre (CPC), University of Sydney, established a collaboration to form the Twins Research Node, a highly interconnected research facility dedicated specifically to research involving twins. This collaboration aims to foster the adoption of twin designs as important tools for research in a range of health-related domains. The CPC hosted their Twins Research Node's launch seminar entitled 'Double the power of your research with twin studies', in which experienced twin researchers described how twin studies are supporting scientific discoveries and careers. The launch also featured twin pairs who have actively participated in research through the ATR. Researchers at the CPC were surveyed before the event to gauge their level of understanding and interest in utilizing twin research. This article describes the new Twins Research Node, discusses the survey's main results and reports on the launch seminar.
Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics,Melbourne School of Population and Global Health,University of Melbourne,Melbourne,Victoria,Australia.
Lucas C
LC
Ferreira
Murdoch Children's Research Institute,Melbourne,Victoria,Australia.
Jeffrey M
JM
Craig
Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics,Melbourne School of Population and Global Health,University of Melbourne,Melbourne,Victoria,Australia.
John L
JL
Hopper
The Charles Perkins Centre's Twin Research Node,The University of Sydney,Sydney,New South Wales,Australia.
Susan E
SE
Carrick
D001315:Australia; D001416:Back Pain / Q000235:genetics; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000458:organization & administration; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D006801:Humans; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D018433:Twin Studies as Topic; D014427:Twins
collaboration; epidemiology; epigenetics; twin research; twins