Melissa Wake

Melissa Wake FRACP FAHMS
Alma mater	University of Melbourne University of Glasgow University of Auckland University of Otago
Scientific career
Fields	Paediatrics, Community child health, epidemiology, longitudinal studies, population health, clinical trials
Institutions	Murdoch Children's Research Institute, University of Melbourne, University of Auckland

Melissa Anne Wake is a New Zealand paediatrician and scientific director of the Generation Victoria initiative, ^[1] which states the aim of creating very large, parallel whole-of-state birth and parent cohorts in Victoria, Australia, for Open Science discovery and interventional research. ^[2] She is group leader of the Murdoch Children's Research Institute's Prevention Innovation Research Group ^[3] and holds professorial positions with the University of Melbourne and the University of Auckland (the Liggins Institute). ^{[4] [5]}

Her "population paediatrics" research spans common childhood conditions and antecedents of diseases of ageing. ^{[6] [7]} She leads the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children's biophysical repository (the Child Health CheckPoint) ^[6] and has led or co-led 20 community-based randomised trials. A major focus is on building large-scale platforms to support faster, better observational and interventional children's research. ^[6]

Early life and education

Melissa Wake was born in Levin, New Zealand, the youngest of five children. After leaving Woodford House School for Girls in 1976, she graduated in medicine from the University of Otago in 1982, and entered clinical paediatrics in England before formal training in Auckland and Melbourne. Following her research doctorate (1999), she was Director of Research at Melbourne's Centre for Community Child Health ^[8] and a consultant paediatrician at Melbourne Royal Children's Hospital. In 2017, she took up the Chair in Child Health Research at the University of Auckland, later returning to Melbourne to lead the foundational stages of Generation Victoria. ^[9]

Awards

• 2008, 2016 NHMRC "Ten of the Best" publication ^[10]
• 2009 Australian Health Minister’s Award for Excellence in Health and Medical Research ^[8]
• 2012 National Health and Medical Research Council – Excellence Award – Highest-ranked Research Fellowship ^[8]

Selected publications

Randomised and quasi-experimental trials

• Hiscock, H.; Wake, M. (2002). "Randomised controlled trial of behavioural infant sleep intervention to improve infant sleep and maternal mood". BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.). 324 (7345): 1062–1065. doi:10.1136/bmj.324.7345.1062. PMC   104332 . PMID   11991909.
• Wake, M.; Baur, L. A.; Gerner, B.; Gibbons, K.; Gold, L.; Gunn, J.; Levickis, P.; McCallum, Z.; Naughton, G.; Sanci, L.; Ukoumunne, O. C. (2009). "Outcomes and costs of primary care surveillance and intervention for overweight or obese children: the LEAP 2 randomised controlled trial". BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.). 339: b3308. doi:10.1136/bmj.b3308. PMC   2737607 . PMID   19729418.
• Wake, M.; Tobin, S.; Girolametto, L.; Ukoumunne, O. C.; Gold, L.; Levickis, P.; Sheehan, J.; Goldfeld, S.; Reilly, S. (2011). "Outcomes of population based language promotion for slow to talk toddlers at ages 2 and 3 years: Let's Learn Language cluster randomised controlled trial". BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.). 343. BMJ: d4741. doi:10.1136/bmj.d4741. PMC   3191855 . PMID   21852344 . Retrieved 8 March 2023.
• Wake, M.; Lycett, K.; Clifford, S. A.; Sabin, M. A.; Gunn, J.; Gibbons, K.; Hutton, C.; McCallum, Z.; Arnup, S. J.; Wittert, G. (2013). "Shared care obesity management in 3-10 year old children: 12 month outcomes of HopSCOTCH randomised trial". BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.). 346. BMJ: f3092. doi:10.1136/bmj.f3092. PMC   3677741 . PMID   23751902 . Retrieved 8 March 2023.
• Sung, V.; Hiscock, H.; Tang, M. L.; Mensah, F. K.; Nation, M. L.; Satzke, C.; Heine, R. G.; Stock, A.; Barr, R. G.; Wake, M. (2014). "Treating infant colic with the probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri: Double blind, placebo controlled randomised trial". BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.). 348. BMJ Open: g2107. doi:10.1136/bmj.g2107. PMC   3972414 . PMID   24690625 . Retrieved 8 March 2023.
• Wake, M.; Ching, T. Y.; Wirth, K.; Poulakis, Z.; Mensah, F. K.; Gold, L.; King, A.; Bryson, H. E.; Reilly, S.; Rickards, F. (2016). "Population Outcomes of Three Approaches to Detection of Congenital Hearing Loss". Pediatrics. 137 (1). doi:10.1542/peds.2015-1722. PMC   4702017 . PMID   26704085.
• Roberts, G.; Quach, J.; Spencer-Smith, M.; Anderson, P. J.; Gathercole, S.; Gold, L.; Sia, K. L.; Mensah, F.; Rickards, F.; Ainley, J.; Wake, M. (2016). "Academic Outcomes 2 Years After Working Memory Training for Children With Low Working Memory: A Randomized Clinical Trial". JAMA Pediatrics. 170 (5): e154568. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2015.4568. hdl: 10536/DRO/DU:30082811 . PMID   26954779 . Retrieved 8 March 2023.

Data resources and cohort research

• Wake, M.; Hesketh, K.; Lucas, J. (2000). "Teething and tooth eruption in infants: A cohort study". Pediatrics. 106 (6): 1374–1379. doi:10.1542/peds.106.6.1374. PMID   11099591 . Retrieved 8 March 2023.
• Williams, J.; Wake, M.; Hesketh, K.; Maher, E.; Waters, E. (2005). "Health-related quality of life of overweight and obese children". JAMA. 293 (1): 70–76. doi:10.1001/jama.293.1.70. hdl: 10536/DRO/DU:30006497 . PMID   15632338. S2CID   11614187 . Retrieved 8 March 2023.
• Clifford, S. A.; Davies, S.; Wake, M.; Child Health Checkpoint, Team (2019). "Child Health CheckPoint: Cohort summary of a physical health and biospecimen module for the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children". BMJ Open. 9 (Suppl 3): 3–22. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2017-020261. PMC   6624028 . PMID   31273012 . Retrieved 8 March 2023.
• Hu, Yanhong Jessika; Wake, Melissa; Saffery, Richard (2021). "Clarifying the Sweeping Consequences of COVID-19 in Pregnant Women, Newborns, and Children with Existing Cohorts" . JAMA Pediatrics. 175 (2): 117–118. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2020.2395. PMID   32797150. S2CID   221132808 . Retrieved 8 March 2023.
• Wake, M.; Goldfeld, S.; Davidson, A. (2022). "Embedding Life Course Interventions in Longitudinal Cohort Studies: Australia's GenV Opportunity". Pediatrics. 149 (Suppl 5). doi:10.1542/peds.2021-053509R. PMC   9847412 . PMID   35503324.

References

1. "Our Team". GenV. Generation Victoria. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
2. "For Researchers". GenV. Generation Victoria. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
3. "Prevention Innovation". MCRI. Murdoch Children's Research Institute. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
4. "Melissa Wake Profile". The University of Auckland. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
5. "Prof Melissa Wake". Find An Expert - UniMelb. The University of Melbourne. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
6. "Child Health CheckPoint". MCRI. Murdoch Children's Research Institute. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
7. "Professor Melissa Wake". AAHMS. Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
8. "Centre for Community Child Health". The Royal Children's Hospital. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
9. "Our team". Generation Victoria. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
10. "10 of the Best NHMRC research projects 2016" (PDF). NHMRC. Australian Government National Health and Medical Research Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 8 March 2023.

External links

• Official website