Researchers (EN)

KOALA is an acronym (in Dutch) for: Child, parents and health: lifestyle and genetic constitution.

In this birth cohort study more than 2500 children born between the years 2001 en 2003 are being followed from pregnancy into adulthood, together with their families. Most of the participating families are living in the south of the Netherlands

The study addresses two major themes:

1. Allergy en asthma
2. Growth and development
    

A unique feature of the KOALA-study is the enrichment with families with alternative lifestyles including biologic food choice and anthroposophic philosophy. This facilitates the study of a broad spectrum of factors that influence child development and health. The study combines both social science and biomedical approaches, including biomarker and genetic studies. 

Publications (PubMed)

We are open to collaboration and sharing data and welcome requests from researchers and research institutes. KOALA has diverse data available from questionnaires, biosamples and biometric measurements. At present, we are in the process of building our data catalogue, and a global overview of data and biomaterials can already be found at birthcohorts.net/koala

Collaboration and Grant proposals

Researchers considering collaborating with KOALA, including use of existing data, biomaterials or logistics (collecting new data or biosamples), as part of writing a grant proposal are invited to contact us at koalaresearch@maastrichtuniversity.nl timely to discuss the proposal with the KOALA Management Team.

Application for use of existing data and collected biomaterials

Researchers can apply for the use of existing data and/or biosamples by completing the online application form, clearly stating the aim and research question (in case of multiple research questions, use one form per research question). After having received the completed form, your application will be discussed in the KOALA Management Team regarding eligibility, overlap with ongoing projects and logistics. 

Eligibility criteria include: project or study is in line with the KOALA goal and mission, the approval of the medical research ethics committee and informed consent of the participants, and Maastricht University’s policies and procedures. 

We will inform you of the outcome within one month. In case this unexpectedly takes longer, we will contact you timely.

When the application is approved, a member of the KOALA Management Team will be appointed as your contact person, supervising the further collaborative research process.

Please note that KOALA does not receive (financial) support for its core activities. Therefore, researchers will be charged for the true costs of processing and retrieving the data and necessities such as concluding research collaborative agreement. As a consequence, the charges will vary per project and will be calculated and communicated with applicants in advance.

Bachelor and Master student projects

At Maastricht University we are committed to teaching and KOALA supports education by providing student projects on available data to students from Maastricht University for research internships/placements. A member of the KOALA Management Team is either supervisor of the student project or co-supervisor. The (co-)supervisor is responsible for putting together the dataset (and as consequence charges are waived) and for the responsible and FAIR processing of research data.

Bachelor and master students from other universities are welcome to use KOALA data for their research projects. In principal the usual charges will apply and the request will be discussed in our KOALA Management Team.

Contact

In case of questions please feel free to contact us at koalaresearch@maastrichtuniversity.nl