Synopsis:

This presentation focuses on the earliest stages of child development: the period from conception to the end of the child’s second year – known as the first 1000 days. A growing body of evidence shows that experiences during this period can have life-long consequences for health and wellbeing. The presentation is based on research for the “Strong Foundations” project and an evidence paper “Getting it right in the first 1000 days”.  Strong Foundations is a partnership created to develop a robust evidential foundation to support strong and targeted investments in the health and wellbeing of Australia’s children. This Grand Round examines what is now known about the nature of development during the first 1000 days, and the experiences and exposures that impact on all aspects of development and functioning, including health and wellbeing, mental health, social functioning, and cognitive development. The evidence is derived from a wide range of disciplines: genetics, epigenetics, microbiology, epidemiology and sociology. During this Grand Rounds, Dr Moore will share the findings and some of the implications of this research.

Speaker:

Dr Tim Moore is Senior Research Fellow, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute; Manager, Research and Policy Team, Centre for Community Child Health; Senior Fellow, Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne.  Tim heads a Research and Policy team at MCRI, with responsibility for monitoring, reviewing and synthesising research on a wide range of topics relating to child development, family functioning and service systems. A psychologist by training, he has been the principal writer on numerous Centre for Community Child Health reviews, reports and policy briefs, many of which have had a significant impact on policy and practice, nationally and internationally. Tim has also taken a leading national role in the development of policy and training in the early childhood intervention field.