The headquarters of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study. Photo: RNZ / Ian Telfer
Two long-running Otago University birth cohort studies - which have produced more than 2000 reports over more than half a century - have had their own longevity assured with a government grant.
The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study and the Christchurch Health and Development Study have been granted $2 million a year over seven years by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's Strategic Science Investment Fund.
The Dunedin Study, which has followed the lives of 1037 people since their births in Dunedin between 1 April 1972 and 31 March 1973, was considered the world's most detailed study of human health and development.
The Christchurch study followed the health, education and life progress of 1265 babies born in the Christchurch urban region in mid-1977.
Both programmes have now been bought under the Otago Lifecourse Study Programme, a set of processes and systems designed to protect the valuable data collected over decades.
Christchurch study director Associate Professor James Foulds said the funding was an acknowledgement of the importance of the studies' world-class scientific contribution.
"The study members, their families and our local communities have committed their time, trust and data to these studies for decades. This funding is a recognition of that contribution and will allow us to make the most of the information that has been gifted to us.
"It will bring the two studies closer and will ensure they remain seen as leaders in life-course research internationally."
Dunedin study director Research Professor Moana Theodore. Photo: Supplied
Dunedin study director Research Professor Moana Theodore said critical long-term infrastructure was needed to protect these studies into the future.
"The information that our studies provide is important for national and international policy and practice. Findings can then be used to inform a lifecourse approach to social investment that improves the lives of people in Aotearoa. Importantly, we are now focused on gathering data on a national and global priority, the ageing population."
The members of the studies were the "true heroes", she said.
"Without them and their invaluable, decades-long contribution none of our research would be possible."
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