Born in the midst of a pandemic, six-week-old Matilda Farquhar's early years may be unlike those of several generations before her.
The Ballarat infant is one of 150,000 Victorians whose wellbeing will be tracked as part of a large-scale study called Generation Victoria, or GenV.
The research aims to create a broad picture of health and wellbeing issues across the state, to help reduce the burden of illnesses.
Rachael Cooper, the study's area manager for the Grampians region, said families of all backgrounds in Victoria would be offered the chance to participate.
"The data we're collecting can be used on a whole range of different research, anything to do with health and wellbeing," she said.
"One of the really important things about GenV is we also include other parents, so fathers, who are often not included in research like this."
Pandemic makes the study a world first
Newborn children born over the next two years and their parents are being invited to join.
But the study has taken on extra international significance because it has coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic.
"What was never conceived when the project first came about was that this would be the COVID generation," Minister for Innovation and Medical Research, Jaala Pulford said.
"Researchers around the world will be very interested to know we have an entire generational study – the only one of its kind – that just happened to be ready to go at the time this COVID generation of babies was born."
Regions an important part of the picture
The project began in Melbourne in mid-2021 but has expanded to include more than 25 hospitals in regional areas, from large centres like Ballarat and Geelong, to smaller towns like Echuca and Bairnsdale.
More than 5,000 newborns have already become involved, a fifth of whom were born in the regions.
It's hoped the involvement of regional families will help doctors and researchers identify health issues particular to certain places.
"As a first-time parent and also someone who works in healthcare, my husband and I understand the importance of research in health," Matilda's mother Caitlin Farquhar, a podiatrist, said.
The state government has invested $30 million into GenV, which is led by Murdoch Children's Research Institute alongside the Royal Children's Hospital, the University of Melbourne and the Paul Ramsay Foundation.
