The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study and the Christchurch Health and Development Study are more closely linked under a new infrastructure platform.

World-renowned research spans more than half a century, producing nearly 2,000 reports that have informed policy around the world, including early childhood education, poverty reduction and injury prevention.

The University of Otago’s new Life Course Study, which brings research under one roof, recently received around $2 million a year for the next seven years from the Department of Business, Innovation and Employment’s Strategic Research Investment Fund to help both organizations continue their research. .

The funding recognizes the work of both studies, which have brought long-term health, economic and social benefits to New Zealand.

Dunedin Study director Professor Moana Theodore said this meant research no longer had to worry as much about finding funding to continue research and had more time to focus on the research itself.

“We are very grateful to MBIE for this because it sends a message that these long-term studies are important.”

She said continually seeking funding for research was time-consuming and hassle-free, and there was always a risk that one or both studies could fold.

“We will definitely collapse without funding from the New Zealand system. We need funding to survive.

“This funding ensures the long-term stability of research – it keeps us safe.

“This allows us to engage in world-leading science in a number of areas.”

Professor Theodore said the funding will allow the two studies to continue to operate independently but also work together.

“We are already working together. We have written a number of research reports and have previously conducted collaborative research in a number of areas and this is also our intention moving forward.

“This may allow us to scientifically combine data in areas where we both have similar data, but each study also has its own strengths.

“We want to maintain the strength of both studies, but we want to work more collaboratively where possible.”

The Dunedin Study is New Zealand’s longest longitudinal study and is considered the world’s most detailed study of human health and development.

It follows the lives of 1,037 babies born in Dunedin between 1 April 1972 and 31 March 1973.

The Christchurch Study tracks the health, education and lives of 1,265 babies born in the Christchurch metropolitan area in mid-1977.

The Otago Course of Life training program is a set of processes and systems designed to protect the valuable data collected through decades of research, like a national park filled with rich and varied treasures that will be cherished for future generations.

Christchurch Study director Associate Professor James Foulds said study participants, their families and communities had contributed their time, trust and data to this research for decades.

“This funding is recognition of that contribution and will enable us to make the most of the information gifted to us.

“This will bring the two studies closer together and ensure they remain leaders in life cycle research internationally.”

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