New Deakin University mental health research projects focused on families have received a funding boost in the latest round of Medical Research Future Fund grant announcements.
The two new projects from Deakin’s Faculty of Health – led by Associate Professor Jacqui Macdonald and Dr Samantha Dawson – received more than $1.8 million to support the mental health of new fathers and children as part of the MRFF’s Million Minds Mental Health Research Mission.
Deakin received two of just ten successful grants in the fifth round of Million Minds Mental Health Research funding.
Preventing mental health problems in new dads
The ‘1 in 10 men’ project will be led by Associate Professor Jacqui Macdonald from Deakin’s Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development (SEED) and aims to prevent mental health problems in new fathers.
‘One in 10 fathers struggle with mental health problems,’ Associate Professor Macdonald says.
‘In this work, we are partnering with Movember and Healthy Male. Our aim is to transform paternal mental health prevention and healthcare through new evidence that informs healthcare supports that will ultimately reduce rates of paternal mental illness.’
‘We want to promote good mental health from boys to men to fathers. By preventing paternal mental health problems in new fathers, we will see flow on benefits for mothers and children, supporting them to have the best start to new family life.’
The program will be supported by $890,000 in MRFF funding.
Associate Professor Jacqui Macdonald’s MRFF-backed research aims to transform paternal mental health prevention and healthcare.
New dietary app for pregnancy to support child development and behaviour
Dr Dawson, from Deakin’s Food & Mood Centre, has led a team to develop the ‘Bugs & Bumps’ app which aims to support diet and gut health in pregnancy, to ultimately help child mental health.
‘We are testing whether the app improves diet during pregnancy, and if it changes the gut bugs in pregnancy and infancy,’ Dr Dawson says.
‘This grant allows us to go a step further and evaluate the impact of diet in pregnancy on child emotional behaviour at 18 months and investigate the protective biological pathways supporting child mental health and quality of life.’
The randomised control trial received $930,000 in MRFF funds.
Dr Samantha Dawson will evaluate the impact of the ‘Bugs & Bumps’ app on child development and behaviour
The Million Minds Mental Health Research Mission is investing $125 million over 10 years in innovative mental health research, supporting research to improve mental health by translating evidence into practice.
More than 3.8 million Australians aged between 16 and 85 experience a mental illness each year.
Assistant Minister McBride says the ten successful projects will unearth a strong evidence base and trial new approaches to achieve better mental health and suicide prevention.
‘With two in five adults experiencing a mental illness during their lifetime, we need high-quality research to help us better understand what causes or contributes to mental ill-health, psychological distress and suicide, and how we can better prevent, detect, diagnose and importantly care for Australians,’ Assistant Minister McBride says.
About Associate Professor Jacqui Macdonald:
Associate Professor Macdonald leads the Lifecourse Sciences Theme in Deakin’s Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development (SEED).
- Leads a body of research on paternal perinatal mental health and wellbeing.
- Is National Convenor of the Australian Fatherhood Research Consortium.
- Is principal investigator of the Men and Parenting Pathways (MAPP) longitudinal study of men.
- Is an investigator on the Australian Temperament Project Generation 3 Study co-located at Deakin University and the Royal Children’s Hospital.
- Is an Honorary Research Fellow with the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.
About Dr Samantha Dawson:
Dr Samantha Dawson is an Alfred Deakin Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Food & Mood Centre.
- Leads a body of research on how prenatal nutrition influences the gut microbiome and mental health outcomes in pregnancy and infancy.
- Designed the Bugs & Bumps prenatal dietary intervention.
- Leads a diet-focused topic of research within the Pregnancy Research and Translation Ecosystem, which is a platform for co-design with pregnancy care stakeholders.
- Principal investigator on the ‘Healthy Parents, Healthy Kids’ randomised control trial of a gut-focused prenatal dietary intervention.
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