Would you be interested in helping with a research project involving twins?
Twinsonline is often asked for twins of all ages to come forward to help with research. Often this involves answering questions or possibly being interviewed on the telephone or in person.
Researchers if you have any research opportunities please e-mail them giving details of
- what age group you are wanting to research,
- what sex twins you would like to research (or if it is unimportant please specify this)
- When you will be expecting to do your research
- What people will be expected to do in the study (answer a questionnaire, be interviewed on the telephone, be interviewed or observed in person etc
- Where you will be doing your research (which country)
- Contact numbers, e-mail address etc
- Closing date for entries
- What you can offer the participants if applicable (such as expenses, accommodation, a mention in your publication, a gift or remuneration for their help)
Please note that the research is conducted by external (non-Twinsonline) companies and individuals. Any research you undertake you do so at your own risk Twinsonline cannot be held responsible.
Other (external) contacts:-
St. Thomas’ Hospital in London have the Twins Research and Epidemiology unit dedicated to Twin research in the UK.
The Twin Research Unit (TRU) at St Thomas’ Hospital London was established in 1992 and is now part of King’s College London. Research focuses on determining the environmental and genetic factors that cause common conditions such as osteoarthritis and osteoporosis, obesity, stroke, migraine, cataracts, glaucoma and back pain. With over 60 publications in the last 2 years alone, the TRU - with the help of over 10,000 twins - has made a significant contribution to science and our understanding of what causes common diseases. We hope our discoveries will further aid the development of future potential therapies for such diseases. Our achievements have gained considerable press coverage and we have featured a number of times on BBC1’s CityHospital. The TRU is supported by The Wellcome Trust, Arthritis Research Campaign, British Heart Foundation, Chronic Disease Research Foundation, The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, and the European Commission.
In order to participate in our ongoing research, we ask same-sexed twins (identical and non-identical twins, male or female, age 16 and older) to participate in a research visit at St. Thomas’ Hospital London, Monday to Friday. The visit involves completing questionnaires and taking measurements such as height, weight, blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels. We also carry out a bone mineral density scan and an eye test and other tests depending on our research areas at the time. We are able to forward the clinical results to you and your GP (if agreed) – a great health check our twins tell us! All data collected and used as part of the study is, of course, anonymous.
Twins who are interested in contributing to research but are unable to come to St Thomas,’ are still invited to receive our newsletter and complete our questionnaire which is posted out annually. However, for us to be able to use the information both twins in a twin pair must agree to participate in the research. Our newsletter summarises our research and findings and also features a ‘Twins in the News’ section and new publications about twins. We hope you enjoy it. For further information, please feel free to contact us. We look forward to hearing from you!
- Twin Research & Genetic Epidemiology Unit
- King’s College London
- St Thomas’ Campus,
- Lambeth Palace Road,
- London
- SE1 7EH
TEL: 0207 188 5555
Email: twinrecruitment@gstt.nhs.uk
Website: http://www.twinsuk.ac.uk/
New Research being carried out on Social Effects of Twinship in Adolescence by Mary E Rosambeau
“I did research on twins social development for a book published in 1987 called How Twins Grow Up. It is still available but out of date. I did not for example cover adolescent problems ,drugs, sexual orientation ,sexual experience, bereavement, self harm and, as you can see .all the dark side of emotional development!!!!
As a mother born in 1940 with adolescent twins growing up in the '70and 80s I hadn't a clue. Drugs were not available and contraceptive pill not invented so I had no personal experience from my own adolescence of what they were facing 'out there' .From their comments, neither did any of their teachers.
I had a strong feeling that they supported each other during this time and My research is into this area of twin experience . From my findings I feel there may be evidence to support the idea of setting up effective peer support groups for teenagers generally ......but lets wait to see what the research brings up.
has set up a website www.howtwinsgrowup.com The home page explains the above. In the menu you will find the word Questionnaire.
From this page *double* click on "click here to download the questionnaire"
You will find 20 questions. These can be answered on the screen and e-mailed as an attachment to prosam@talktalk.net NOT the contact e-mail on the site (it does not take attachments.) If people would rather be anonymous print out the q'aire and post to me at *10 Tolpuddle Way Yateley GU46 6BH *
I am not at the moment putting any deadline date on returning the q's as I don't yet know what response there will be.
I expect to either re issue the current book with up dates or depending on the material I receive, write a new book. Anyone answering a questionnaire who would like me to acknowledge their contribution in the final book should give their name as the q,s are all anonymous The last time I did this I had 600 responses and lots of letters saying that the opportunity to look back and review their own development had been a life affirming exercise. I hope people may feel that this time too.”
If you would like to be contacted next time there is a Research request please add yourself to the list below
work with Professor RDG Leslie here at the Barts and The London Hospital studying Twins in whom one has diabetes and the other does not as well as healthy twins who do not have diabetes. We are looking for such twins who may want to participate in the research programme. I can send you appropriate literature if required. If some one could get back to me I would appreciate it.
Many Thanks
Mohammed
M.I.Hawa
Centre for Diabetes and Metabolic Medicine (DMM)
Institute of Cell and Molecular Science
Barts and The London Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry
Queen Mary University of London
4 Newark Street,
Whitechapel,
LONDON E1 2AT
m.i.hawa@qmul.ac.uk
Tel: +44(0)207882 2365
Fax: +44 (0)207882 2186
Listing date 19.05.08
Adult Twins Needed for Research into Mental Health Disorders.
Are you a twin?You could help us investigate the causes of mental health problems such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
We are researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry, London and have been running our twin study for 50 years. This is a UK national study and is part of a wider EU project. We are investigating the causes of these disorders. As part of the study you will be invited to do a
- Brain scan (PET),
- Neuropsychology test, which consist of answering questions, solving problems or completing simple tasks on the computer
- ERP test, which is a recording of brain electrical activity.Even if you are interested in completing only some of the tests we would like to hear from you.
We are looking for:
1. Twins who have schizophrenia or bipolar disorder or schizoaffective disorder, where one or both of the pair are ill.
2. AND for twins who don’t have the illness to participate in the ongoing project
Costs and Payment:
The research team will arrange and pay for travel to the IoP and any accommodation costs, and make a small payment to thank you for your time: this is liable to income tax. Even if you can’t travel to London, you could still contribute and the team would like to hear from you.
If you are interested in taking part please contact Sheena Owens 020 78480702 or by email: sheena.owens@iop.kcl.ac.uk. Or Madiha Shaikh, 020 7848 0541, madiha.shaikh@iop.kcl.ac.uk;
Listing date 11.1.08
Parents of twins age 18-24 (+/-2mnth)wanted to help with study into mirror self-recognition.
I am an undergraduate Psychology student from Coventry University. For my research I am looking for identical twins to participate in a study designed to explore the development of mirror self-recognition within the infant identical twin population of the UK.
• Age group: 18-24 months old (+/- 2 months).
• Sex: male or female identical twins, the differences are unimportant for this study.
• I am expecting to do my research data collection in December and January 2007-2008. With the write up occurring in February and March.
• Deadline for data collection is January 25th 2008.
• This study is very easy to do and should only take a few minutes to complete! While in the comfort of your own home you will be asked to follow a short set of instructions, in which you will be required to complete a very short task with your twins, one child at a time.
• For more information contact me, Helen Curbison:
o e-mail address; curbisoh@coventry.ac.uk
o I will need your name and a postal address in order to send you the information you need.
• Rewards for taking part: for your twins, there will be a little treat sent in the participant information pack e.g. balloon, stickers, or similar.
• I will endeavor to make the study as cost free as possible to those participating, by providing self-stamped-addressed envelopes that will have already have been paid for (at the appropriate Royal Mail requirements) for you to send information back to me.
• Any information I receive from you will be stored securely and respected. Confidentiality shall be maintained for the entire study, and information safely destroyed after use.
• Research base is Coventry University Psychology Department, UK.
Thank you very much, I hope to hear from you soon!
Listing date 06.12.07
Non-ID twins age 6-19 yrs wanted for Twins Study in London
Please find below an advert for a Twins Study at the Institute of Child Health London. We are looking for 30 or so non-identical same sex twins aged between 6-19 years old to finish a research project investigating vascular health.
The study is held, Monday to Friday and morning or afternoon appointments are available. Participants can be from anywhere in the UK and all travel expenses and hotel accommodation (if necessary) are paid for.
The children will receive an ultrasound picture of their arteries and a £10 WHSmith’s voucher for participating. All measurements are easy to do and harmless. I have also attached an information sheet for your information
Institute of Child Health and Great Ormond St Hospital NHS Trust, London
Please pass this information to anyone you think would be interested
We are looking for same sex non identical twins aged 6-19 years old to help us with our study.
It is a non-invasive study looking at Vascular Health.
All measurements are easy to do and harmless.
All travel costs will be paid and meals provided.
If you are interested please contact Sarah Low on 020 7905 2805 or email s.low@ich.ucl.ac.uk
Listing date 28.10.07
Parents of twins age 0-2 wanted to help with study into childhood obesity
Hello, I am a research assistant working for University College London. I work as part of a Health Behaviour Unit and our role is to study public health issues including understanding and preventing childhood obesity.
We are currently beginning a large twin study called Gemini which will allow us to explore the genetic and environmental influences on a child's growth and development. As part of the early stages of this study we are looking for parents of twins, ( both identical and non identical, of any sex) who are between 0-2 years old, who may be willing to complete one or more postal questionnaires or web based questionnaires over the next few months.
These questionnaires will primarily be based on feeding practises ( breast/ bottle feeding), infant activity and parents'
attitudes towards health. They will help us build a picture of early childhood experiences and how they relate to child growth. Any feedback we get will also help us refine the questionnaire for use in the later stages of the study.
If interested please contact me via my email address at
r.marlow@ucl.ac.uk
Any contact details I do receive will be kept strictly confidential, and any questionnaires that parents do fill in will be anonymous.
Thank you very much for your help
Kind regards
Rebecca
Listing date 14.08.07
Twin Research into Autism/ Aspergers
You could help us unravel the mysteries of autism.
We are researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry, trying to answer various questions, including:
Which parts of the brain are responsible for the different symptoms of autism?
How big a part to genes play in causing autism, and how much is the environment?
We are looking for:
healthy male, female or mixed-sex twin pairs aged 8 – 18, or twin pairs of any age affected by autism.
Both twins willing to have a brain scan (MRI) and complete some tests and questionnaires
We’d be very grateful for your help, and will pay travel costs and compensation to take part, and give you a picture of your brain!
Please contact:
Dr Tom Lavender
Institute of Psychiatry, London
Tel:020 7848 0939
Tom.Lavender@iop.kcl.ac.uk
listing date 12.03.08
Twin’s Secret Language Study
(Idioglossia)
I am an English Language & Literature BA (Hons) undergraduate student (and identical twin) at University of Central Lancashire. I am appealing for parents (from any area of the UK) with identical twins of any sex, to help me with my research on the 'secret language' (idioglossia) of twins. I am researching for my 3rd and final year dissertation. The 'secret language' consists of a random set of undistinguishable noises which seem only comprehendible between the twins themselves.
Twins should be between 18-36 months old. I would like parents to contact me if they have a recording of their twins speaking in their secret language. This may be already accidentally recorded by use of a dictaphone or video/digital camcorder. I would be extremely grateful for this. In addition, I would be interested to know if there is an older sibling of the twins who understands or remembers understanding the twins' language from hearing it and therefore, would be able to transcribe it for me.
My research will be conducted from July 2007-February 2008. I will pay for any postage of a copy of a recording that could be sent to me. Parents/participants can be from anywhere in the UK.
If you would like to find out more or think you have what I need, please contact me. I will answer any queries. Mob: 07791252178. Email:
emilyainsworth86@hotmail.com .
Non-Identical Female Twins wanted!
I am a doctorate student at the University of Kent at Canterbury. I am looking for non- identical female twins, 18 and over (no upper age limit), who would be interested in talking to me about their experiences of being a twin. Ideally both you and your co-twin would be willing to participate.
I will be carrying out interviews in person, from September 2007 to February 2008. The interviews will be arranged at your convenience, and any expenses incurred will be reimbursed.
If you would be interested in participating and would like to know more please feel free to contact me by email or telephone : -
Email : kim.carter@btinternet.com
Telephone : 01737 370977
I am a PhD student at the Institiute of Psychiatry, Kings College London. For our research we are looking for twins to participate in a study designed to explore the causes of psychotic illness by looking at the genetic and social aspects of mental health.
- Age group we want: 16 - 60
- Research is ongoing a the moment and will continue for 2 years
- You will be asked to participate in a series of tests which can include neuropsychological tests(questionnaires and IQ testing), MRI scan, EEG test, and we ask to take a blood sample or a mouth swab for zygosity testing.
- Research is taking place at the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London.
If anyone is interested in participating or would like more information, they can email me at madiha.shaikh@iop.kcl.ac.uk or call 0207 848 0541;
There is no closing date for recruiting twins.
All participants will be reimbursed for their time and all travel and lunch expenses will be paid for.
Ethics reference No: MREC 01/01/06
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Page Last Updated
June 16, 2008
Disclaimer:- Twinsonline is here as a guide only - anything you do you do at your own risk
If you have a health concern please go see the relevant member of your health team (GP, Health Visitor, Midwife, Obstetrician)
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