Barwon Heads scientist Fiona Collier hopes her research could one day cure her son’s peanut allergy and her grandson’s “terrible” allergy to dairy.
“I’m very happy that I could possibly make their lives better,” she said, after winning recognition during Barwon Health’s Research Week Awards.
But Dr Collier played down her role as head of a team of research scientists who have been collecting data for the Barwon Infant Study.
“I’m a basic scientist – there are a lot senior paediatricians and researchers involved,” she said.
“My desire is to provide excellent tools for them to do the best research possible.”
The study aims to find causes for conditions like cardiovascular disease, Eczema, asthma and allergies in early childhood through sampling mothers and babies from birth to preschool.
“I hope that some of the things we discover will improve lives of children with allergies and I would be extremely proud if that was the case,” she said.
The scientists had identified immune cells that were hyper-responsive to stimuli in children with allergies, Dr Collier said.
“We believe that the microbial profile of the mother influences the immune profile of the baby,” she said.
Dr Collier won an award for a poster explaining her work and was among eight researchers to win recognition on Wednesday during Barwon Health’s and Deakin University’s Research Week.
The other winners were Keshav Faye-Chauhan, Patrick Preece, Trisha Dunning, Tania Elderkin, Anthony Chamings, Monica Tembo and Oliver Cronin.
Dr Collier enjoys yoga, gardening, travel and spending time with her five “beautiful” grandsons.
