The Biosocial Birth Cohort Research Network was established in Autumn 2019 by Sahra Gibbon who is the coordinator for this initiative.
Funded by a Wellcome Trust this unique cross-disciplinary international network brings together social scientists, geneticists and epidemiologists who are working with and/or examining longitudinal birth cohort studies in the Global North and South.
Birth cohorts are increasingly recognised as important for understanding how biological, social, and environmental processes interact over time. This makes them central to an emerging terrain of what has been described as ‘biosocial’ research. Despite this, however, relatively few social scientists have engaged with or investigated longitudinal birth cohorts. There is an urgent need to co-ordinate and consolidate emerging efforts in this area to ensure that biological and social science research benefits from productive cross-disciplinary engagement. This network enables a community of international researchers to examine the social, ethical and methodological challenges and opportunities of developing innovative cross-disciplinary research with birth cohort studies. It is the first network dedicated to critically examining and intervening on the co-production of birth cohorts and biosocial science.
For more information on the Biosocial Birth Cohort Research Network, please visit our website