Lucas Calais Ferreira

Supervisors names: Prof John Hopper, A/Prof Jeff Craig, and Dr Louisa Flander

Involving twins as participants in health research leads to innovative study designs in the investigation of genetic and environmental factors related to human traits and diseases. With the increased adoption of genomics, twin studies have been playing an even more crucial role in a variety of scientific domains.

Global collaboration in twin research can significantly impact the quantity and quality of research outputs through the sharing of resources and analytical expertise. It can also stimulate the utilisation of findings in an evidence-based approach to public health. Twin registries are behind this new era in twin research.

My project applies qualitative methods to identify best practices in twin registries and to understand the theoretical and structural drivers for global collaboration in twin research. Through the International Network of Twin Registries (INTR), we have established a group of early-career researchers aiming to build Worldwide Twins - a web platform which will feature an online searchable database of globally available resources for new twin studies.

I will discuss implications of the results and the potential applications of Worldwide Twins to the Brazilian Twin Registry in the context of its ongoing partnership with Twins Research Australia.

PhD scholarship and funding body: CAPES Foundation, Ministry of Education, Brazil