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Child development research facility to be launched
Published by the Communications and Development Department
2 October 2003
The University of Canterbury Foundation will launch a unique child development research and teaching facility next week with the official opening on Thursday of the Canterbury Child Development Research House on Creyke Road.
The house will be the research base for the Canterbury Child Development Research Group (CCDRG). Researchers in the group are investigating critical child development issues such as the psychological impact on infants of low birth weight, neurological outcomes for infants exposed to methadone during pregnancy, and the risk factors that lead to early motherhood and fatherhood.
Founder of CCDRG, Canterbury University child development lecturer and researcher Dr Lianne Woodward, said the group was a multi-disciplinary collaborative venture involving researchers from Canterbury, Christchurch Women’s Hospital, the Champion Centre, the Christchurch School of Medicine, the University of Melbourne and the University of Auckland.
Areas of expertise within the group included developmental psychology, developmental neuropsychology, paediatrics, neurology, child and adolescent psychiatry, and neonatal nursing, she said. Until the establishment of the Creyke Road facility, the group’s research activities — such as interviewing parents and children — had been carried out at a number of venues.
The location of the Creyke Road house would provide a safe, friendly and easily accessible venue for parents and children to attend research sessions, she said.
“Given the diverse skills within our group, the breadth of our research and our strong community support, we believe there is an exciting opportunity to develop our work further. Opening a facility such as this will help us establish Canterbury as a major centre for paediatric and developmental research in New Zealand.”
The house will also be used as a teaching facility and by post-graduate students.
The cost of equipment and furnishings — amounting to about $15,000 — has been met by funds raised by the University of Canterbury Foundation. The Foundation’s development manager, Shelagh Murray, said the fundraising was the result of hard work by two Foundation Trustees, Adrienne, Lady Stewart, and Michael Petterson.
“This has been a very rewarding project to fundraise for and the support we have received from Christchurch retailers and suppliers in donating equipment and furniture has been wonderful,” Ms Murray said.
The House, at 43 Creyke Road, will be officially opened by the Chairman of the UC Foundation, Dr Susan Wakefield at 5.30pm on Thursday 9 October 2003.
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