Co-Director, The ORIGINS Project
MBBS, FRACP, MPH, PhD
Professor Desiree Silva is co-director for the ORIGINS Project and a professor of paediatrics at the University of Western Australia and Joondalup Health Campus. Desiree qualified as a doctor in the UK and completed her paediatric specialist training in Western Australia and the Northern Territory. She has a strong interest in neurodevelopmental disorders with over 20 years experience in managing children diagnosed with ADHD, autism, anxiety and developmental disorders. She has had extensive leadership experience in her role as professor of paediatrics for over 6 years, head of paediatrics and neonataology at Joondalup Health Campus for over 12 years and research experience for over 20 years. In 1998 she worked with Western Australian Health Department on a Needs Analysis which has enabled her to be part of translational research with the Paediatric Implementation Plan which provides state-wide service level recommendations, strategies and actions for Western Australia. Desiree was the lead paediatrician in the swimming pool project, which looked at the health benefits of swimming pools in remote Aboriginal communities. Her PhD on risk factors and outcomes for ADHD enabled her to recognise the limited up to date information available for parents and teachers and published the ADHD GO-TO GUIDE for teachers and parents through UWA Publishing that is currently one of their top selling books. She also has a special interest in understanding early brain development, nature relatedness and improving the lives of children and parents who have mental health conditions.
More recently she is the founding project co-director for the ORIGINS Project. She was instrumental in developing relationships between the Paul Ramsay Foundation and Federal Government via Telethon to enable core funding of $26 million over 10 years for the ORIGINS project.
Desiree has published widely in international journals, which include Pediatrics and Lancet Psychiatry. She has been asked to speak at the world ADHD congress (2013, 2015, 2017). She was also an invited speaker at the International Paediatric Congress (2016) and at the International Data Linkage conference on the use of data linkage systems to understand ADHD. She was an invited speaker at the National Psychiatry Congress, Japan and the recipient of the rising Star award at Science on the Swan (2018). Desiree is currently a board member at St Mary’s Anglican Girls School since 2009 and Nature Play WA since 2015. She is on a number of hospital and community working groups which include the JHC Reconciliation Action Plan. She is a strong advocate for a good work life balance enjoying nature and adventure sports.
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Projects
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Publications
March 2023
Associations between the human immune system and gut microbiome with neurodevelopment in the first 5 years of life: A systematic scoping review
The aim of this review was to map the literature assessing associations between maternal or infant immune or gut microbiome biomarkers and child neurodevelopmental outcomes within the first 5 years of life. We conducted a PRISMA-ScR compliant review of peer-reviewed, English-language journal articles.
Published research Human Capability Child Disability Pregnancy and Early Life Immunology Subsite: ORIGINS Project Early Neurodevelopment and Mental HealthDecember 2022‘There’s good and bad’: parent perspectives on the influence of mobile touch screen device use on prenatal attachment
The potential for human-computer interaction to have a substantial impact on adults is well documented. However, its potential importance prior to birth has rarely been reported. Parental use of smartphones and tablet computers could influence the relationship between parent and baby during pregnancy (prenatal attachment) and thus child development.
Published research Early Childhood Development Human Capability ORIGINS Technology & KidsMarch 2022Health-related behaviours and weight status of expectant fathers
Little attention has been given to the health status and lifestyle behaviours of expectant fathers. This study aimed to examine health-related variables in a cohort of expectant fathers to identify potential focus areas for interventions designed to optimise health and wellbeing outcomes in this group.
Published research ORIGINS Subsite: ORIGINS ProjectMarch 2022Anti-Müllerian hormone concentration is associated with central adiposity and reproductive hormones in expectant fathers
The role of the anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) as an indicator of physical and reproductive health in men is unclear. We assessed the relationships between AMH and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), testosterone, and metabolic parameters, in a cohort of expectant fathers.
Published research ORIGINSAugust 2022Longitudinal changes in wellbeing amongst breastfeeding women in Australia and New Zealand during the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted new mothers’ wellbeing and breastfeeding experience. Women have experienced changes in birth and postnatal care and restricted access to their support network. It is unclear how these impacts may have changed over time with shifting rates of infection and policies restricting movement and access to services in Australia and New Zealand.
Published research Breastfeeding Infectious Diseases ORIGINS COVID-19August 2022The impact a Mediterranean Diet in the third trimester of pregnancy has on neonatal body fat percentage
Maternal diet during pregnancy has long been recognised as an important determinant of neonatal outcomes and child development. Infant body composition is a potentially modifiable risk factor for predicting future health and metabolic disease.
Published research Early Childhood Development Nutrition ORIGINS Subsite: ORIGINS ProjectJuly 2022Study Protocol for a Randomised Controlled Trial Investigating the Effects of Maternal Prebiotic Fibre Dietary Supplementation from Mid-Pregnancy to Six Months’ Post-Partum on Child Allergic Disease Outcomes
Infant allergy is the most common early manifestation of an increasing propensity for inflammation and immune dysregulation in modern environments. Refined low-fibre diets are a major risk for inflammatory diseases through adverse effects on the composition and function of gut microbiota. This has focused attention on the potential of prebiotic dietary fibres to favourably change gut microbiota, for local and systemic anti-inflammatory effects.
Published research Early Childhood Development Child Allergy & Immunology ORIGINS Allergy Maternal dietDecember 2021“Coronavirus Changed the Rules on Everything”: Parent Perspectives on How the COVID‐19 Pandemic Influenced Family Routines, Relationships and Technology Use in Families with Infants
This study explores how the first wave of the COVID‐19 pandemic influenced family routines, relationships and technology use (smartphones and tablet computers) among families with infants. Infancy is known to be an important period for attachment security and future child development, and a time of being susceptible to changes within and outside of the family unit.
Published research Human Capability ORIGINS Subsite: ORIGINS Project Technology & Kids COVID-19December 2021“Coronavirus Changed the Rules on Everything”: Parent Perspectives on How the COVID‐19 Pandemic Influenced Family Routines, Relationships and Technology Use in Families with Infants
This study explores how the first wave of the COVID‐19 pandemic influenced family routines, relationships and technology use (smartphones and tablet computers) among families with infants. Infancy is known to be an important period for attachment security and future child development, and a time of being susceptible to changes within and outside of the family unit.
ORIGINS Subsite: ORIGINS Project Technology & Kids COVID-19August 2021Comparison of experiences in two birth cohorts comprising young families with children under four years during the initial Covid-19 lockdown in Australia and the UK: A qualitative study
This study aims to understand the experience and impact of the initial COVID-19 lock-down in young families with children aged below 4 years. Free text questions were administered to participants in the ORIGINS (Australia) and Born in Bradford (UK) cohort studies to collect qualitative information on worries, concerns and enjoyable experiences during the pandemic.
Published research Early Childhood Development ORIGINS Subsite: ORIGINS Project COVID-19July 2021The association of mobile touch screen device use with parent-child attachment: a systematic review
Mobile touch screen devices (smartphones and tablet computers) have become an integral part of many parents’ and children’s lives, with this interaction linked to physical, mental and social outcomes. Despite the known importance of parent-child attachment, evidence on the association between device use and attachment was yet to be reviewed.
Published research ORIGINS Subsite: ORIGINS Project Technology & KidsMay 2021Wellbeing of breastfeeding women in australia and new zealand during the covid‐19 pandemic: A cross‐sectional study
During the COVID-19 pandemic, breastfeeding women have experienced restricted access to support, placing them at increased risk of mental health concerns and limited breastfeeding assistance. This study investigated the effect of the pandemic on feeding choices and maternal wellbeing amongst breastfeeding mothers living in Australian and New Zealand. We conducted a cross-sectional online survey that examined feeding methods, maternal mental wellbeing, worries, challenges, and positive experiences during the pandemic.
Published research Subsite: ORIGINS ProjectMay 2021Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD): The importance of life-course and transgenerational approaches
With well-established evidence that early life conditions have a profound influence on lifespan and health-span, new interventional birth cohorts are examining ways to optimise health potential of individuals and communities. These are aimed at going beyond preventing disease, to the conditions that facilitate flourishing from an early age.
Published research ORIGINS Subsite: ORIGINS ProjectOctober 2020Comparing Web-Based Mindfulness With Loving-Kindness and Compassion Training for Promoting Well-Being in Pregnancy: Protocol for a Three-Arm Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial
Promoting psychological well-being and preventing distress among pregnant women is an important public health goal. In addition to adversely impacting the mother's health and well-being, psychological distress in pregnancy increases the risk of poor pregnancy outcomes, compromises infant socioemotional development and bonding, and heightens maternal and child vulnerability in the postpartum period. Mindfulness and compassion-based interventions show potential for prevention and early intervention for perinatal distress.
Published research Child Disability ORIGINS Youth Mental HealthSeptember 2020Introducing the ORIGINS project: a community-based interventional birth cohort
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) pose the greatest threat to human health globally. The dramatic rise in early onset NCDs - such as childhood obesity, the allergy epidemic and an increasing burden of mental ill health in children and youth - reflect the profound early impact of modern environments on developing systems.
July 2020Literacy and Numeracy Underachievement in Boys and Girls With ADHD
Children with ADHD are disadvantaged from an early age in key areas of learning, and this risk increased with reduction in gestational age at birth
Published research ADHDJanuary 2020Feasibility of conducting an early pregnancy diet and lifestyle e-health intervention: The Pregnancy Lifestyle Activity Nutrition (PLAN) project
A lifestyle intervention starting in the first-trimester pregnancy utilising e-health mode of delivery is feasible
Published research Nutrition ORIGINS Diabetes and Obesity Subsite: ORIGINS ProjectJanuary 2019The ORIGINS Project
ORIGINS is a new birth cohort study, collecting detailed information about the early environment's influence on a broad range of non-communicable diseases
Published research ORIGINS