Valsamma Eapen Explained

Valsamma Eapen
Birth Place:Kerala, India
Alma Mater:T.D Medical College Alleppey
University of London
Occupation:Psychiatrist
Known For:Developing the Quality of Life in Autism (QoLA) scale

Valsamma Eapen is a chair of infant, child and adolescent psychiatry at UNSW Sydney. She is a fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, and the Royal College of Psychiatrists, UK.[1]

Education

Eapen was born in Kerala, India and completed her secondary education in Trivandrum. After graduating in medicine from T.D Medical College Alleppey, she trained at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences in Bangalore, India, and in the UK, through the University College Hospital and North London Teaching Hospitals rotational training scheme and advanced training through the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children and Institute Of Child Health. She undertook her PhD at the University of London, with research carried out at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London on the genetics of Tourette syndrome.[2] [3] [4]

Research and career

Her academic career began at the University College London and she then moved to United Arab Emirates University before taking up her current appointment as professor and chair of infant, child and adolescent psychiatry at UNSW Sydney and as clinical academic and head of the academic unit of child psychiatry at South West Sydney Local Health District.[5] [6]

As a clinician researcher, she has translated research findings into practice and policy applications such as developing service delivery frameworks for early identification of developmental problems in preschool children including the Watch Me Grow webapp.[7] [8] [9] [10] Further, her team examined the pivotal role of oxytocin in attachment, separation anxiety and child development, offering translational opportunities for identifying women at risk in the antenatal period to improve intergenerational outcomes.[11]

Her research has included genetic, epidemiological, and phenomenological studies as well as clinical interventions in Tourette syndrome. Further, she has contributed significantly to research in autism spectrum disorders, building evidence base on early intervention and leading the autism subtyping program in collaboration with the Autism Co-operative Research Centre (Autism CRC). A world first research through the NSW ASELCC in Liverpool – where Eapen is the research lead – showed the benefits of the Early Start Denver Model in reducing maladaptive behaviours in preschool children with autism spectrum disorder.[12] [13] [14]

Eapen was part of a four-member executive team that developed the National Guideline for the Assessment and Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders through the Autism CRC in collaboration with the National Disability Insurance Agency and endorsed by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).[15] Launched November 2017, this is being utilised across Australia and adopted by the NDIS.

Eapen has developed the Quality of Life in Autism (QoLA) scale, which has been adopted for use by more than 73 teams across 25 countries and translated into several different languages.[16]

The Watch Me Grow study, funded through an NHMRC Partnership grant with NSW Health, involved a 2000-strong birth cohort study that examined the modifiable risk factors for developmental disability.[17] [18] This study found evidence of an ‘inverse care law’, whereby those children at highest risk (e.g. mothers born overseas and of lower educational/income levels) were the least likely to access the surveillance program.[19]

In an effort to address the current inequity in access to developmental services in low resourced environments, Eapen developed the Watch Me Grow Electronic Platform (WMG-E), a webapp for engaging parents in developmental monitoring during opportunistic contacts such as immunisation visits.[20] [21] This webapp was developed in collaboration with the Random Hacks of Kindness community of technologists – a joint initiative between Microsoft, Google, Yahoo!, NASA, and the World Bank. This is currently being disseminated in Australia and overseas to establish a Universal Developmental Surveillance program with equitable access to all pre-school children. It was featured at the American Psychiatric Association 2019 conference as ‘one of three exemplars of innovative global mental health programs’.[22] [23]

Her book Where There is No Child Psychiatrist is being used to improve skills for professionals on mental health problems, particularly in developing countries.

Awards and honors

Personal life

Eapen is a board director (voluntary) for Karitane Parenting Services. As the medical publicity liaison officer for the Tourette Syndrome Association Australia, she leads the annual Tourette Awareness Week activities.[27] [28]

Selected publications

Eapen has written six books and more than 300 journal publications.

External links

Google Scholar – Valasamma Eapen

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Professor Valsamma Eapen. 2021-03-07. research.unsw.edu.au. en.
  2. Web site: Dr. Valsamma Eapen - Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences - HMA. 2021-03-07. hmaward.org.ae.
  3. Web site: unsw.edu.au.
  4. Web site: Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist - Valsamma Eapen. 2021-03-07. Developmental Paediatrics. en-AU.
  5. Web site: College of Medicine and Health Science. 2021-03-07. cmhsweb.uaeu.ac.ae.
  6. Web site: Valsamma Eapen - Autism Research Australasia. 2021-03-07. www.autismresearch.org.au.
  7. Web site: The App that helps all kids get the best start Maridulu Budyari Gumal. 2021-03-07. www.thesphere.com.au.
  8. Web site: SWSLHD Liverpool Hospital - Watch Me Grow. 2021-03-07. www.swslhd.health.nsw.gov.au.
  9. Eapen . Valsamma . Woolfenden . Susan . Williams . Katrina . Jalaludin . Bin . Dissanayake . Cheryl . Cheryl Dissanayake . Axelsson . Emma L . Murphy . Elisabeth . Eastwood . John . Descallar . Joseph . Beasley . Deborah . Črnčec . Rudi . 2014 . "Are you available for the next 18 months?" - methods and aims of a longitudinal birth cohort study investigating a universal developmental surveillance program: the 'Watch Me Grow' study . BMC Pediatrics . en . 14 . 1 . 234 . 10.1186/1471-2431-14-234 . 1471-2431 . 4190387 . 25241772 . free.
  10. Woolfenden. Susan. Eapen. Valsamma. Axelsson. Emma. Hendry. Alexandra. Jalaludin. Bin. Dissanayake. Cheryl. Overs. Bronwyn. Descallar. Joseph. Eastwood. John. Einfeld. Stewart. Silove. Natalie. 2016-03-24. Who is our cohort: recruitment, representativeness, baseline risk and retention in the "Watch Me Grow" study?. BMC Pediatrics. en. 16. 1. 46. 10.1186/s12887-016-0582-1. 1471-2431. 4806415. 27013220 . free .
  11. Web site: Welcome to our 2020 Research Excellence Awards. 2021-03-07. Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research. en-US.
  12. Eapen. Valsamma. Črnčec. Rudi. Walter. Amelia. 2013-01-07. Clinical outcomes of an early intervention program for preschool children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in a community group setting. BMC Pediatrics. 13. 1. 3. 10.1186/1471-2431-13-3. 1471-2431. 3631131. 23294523 . free .
  13. Web site: autismcrc.com.au.
  14. ResearchGate. Frontiers in Pediatrics. 2014. en. 10.3389/fped.2014.00040. 4023017. 24847474. Fulton. E.. Eapen. V.. Crnčec. R.. Walter. A.. Rogers. S.. 2. 40. free.
  15. Web site: thepaediatricnurse.
  16. Eapen. Valsamma. Crnčec. Rudi. Walter. Amelia. Tay. Kwok Ping. 2014. Conceptualisation and development of a quality of life measure for parents of children with autism spectrum disorder. Autism Research and Treatment. 2014. 160783. 10.1155/2014/160783. 2090-1925. 3977417. 24778873. free .
  17. Eapen. Valsamma. Woolfenden. Susan. Williams. Katrina. Jalaludin. Bin. Dissanayake. Cheryl. Axelsson. Emma L.. Murphy. Elisabeth. Eastwood. John. Descallar. Joseph. Beasley. Deborah. Črnčec. Rudi. 2014-09-22. "Are you available for the next 18 months?" - methods and aims of a longitudinal birth cohort study investigating a universal developmental surveillance program: the 'Watch Me Grow' study. BMC Pediatrics. 14. 234. 10.1186/1471-2431-14-234. 1471-2431. 4190387. 25241772 . free .
  18. Web site: nhmrc.gov.au.
  19. Garg. Pankaj. Ha. My Trinh. Eastwood. John. Harvey. Susan. Woolfenden. Sue. Murphy. Elisabeth. Dissanayake. Cheryl. Jalaludin. Bin. Williams. Katrina. McKenzie. Anne. Einfeld. Stewart. Explaining culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) parents' access of healthcare services for developmental surveillance and anticipatory guidance: qualitative findings from the 'Watch Me Grow' study. BMC Health Services Research. 2017. 17. 1. 228. 10.1186/s12913-017-2143-1. 1472-6963. 5361826. 28330490 . free .
  20. News: Kontos. Eric. 2019-05-28. Local research leads to a better way to check your child's development. 2021-03-07. South West Voice. en-US.
  21. Woolfenden. Susan. Eapen. Valsamma. Axelsson. Emma. Hendry. Alexandra. Jalaludin. Bin. Dissanayake. Cheryl. Overs. Bronwyn. Descallar. Joseph. Eastwood. John. Einfeld. Stewart. Silove. Natalie. 2016-03-24. Who is our cohort: recruitment, representativeness, baseline risk and retention in the "Watch Me Grow" study?. BMC Pediatrics. en. 16. 1. 46. 10.1186/s12887-016-0582-1. 1471-2431. 4806415. 27013220 . free .
  22. Web site: ANZCTR - Registration. 2021-03-07. www.anzctr.org.au.
  23. Web site: Research. 2021-03-07. karitane.com.au.
  24. Web site: 2017-08-12. Valsamma Eapen. 2021-03-07. Autism CRC. en.
  25. Akin-Ojo. Isabelle. November 2013. Where There is No Child Psychiatrist: A Mental Healthcare Manual. By Valsamma Eapen, Philip Graham & Shoba Srinath, RCPsych Publications, 2012, £10.00, pb, 208 pp. 9781908020482 . The Psychiatrist . en. 37. 11. 375–376 . 10.1192/pb.bp.113.044925 . 1758-3209 . free.
  26. Web site: Dr. Valsamma Eapen - Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences - HMA . 2023-04-05 . www.hmaward.org.ae.
  27. Web site: 2018-07-06. Tics, twitches, and Tourette's. 2021-03-07. ABC Radio National. en.
  28. Web site: 2014-10-02. Low postpartum oxytocin levels linked to poor mother-daughter bond. 2021-03-07. The Guardian. en.
  29. 2013-01-23. Using Whole-Exome Sequencing to Identify Inherited Causes of Autism. Neuron. en. 77. 2. 259–273. 10.1016/j.neuron.2012.11.002. 0896-6273. free. Yu. Timothy W.. Chahrour. Maria H.. Coulter. Michael E.. Jiralerspong. Sarn. Okamura-Ikeda. Kazuko. Ataman. Bulent. Schmitz-Abe. Klaus. Harmin. David A.. Adli. Mazhar. Malik. Athar N.. d'Gama. Alissa M.. Lim. Elaine T.. Sanders. Stephan J.. Mochida. Ganesh H.. Partlow. Jennifer N.. Sunu. Christine M.. Felie. Jillian M.. Rodriguez. Jacqueline. Nasir. Ramzi H.. Ware. Janice. Joseph. Robert M.. Hill. R. Sean. Kwan. Benjamin Y.. Al-Saffar. Muna. Mukaddes. Nahit M.. Hashmi. Asif. Balkhy. Soher. Gascon. Generoso G.. Hisama. Fuki M.. Leclair. Elaine. 23352163. 3694430. 1.
  30. Stewart. S. E.. Yu. D.. Scharf. J. M.. Neale. B. M.. Fagerness. J. A.. Mathews. C. A.. Arnold. P. D.. Evans. P. D.. Gamazon. E. R.. Osiecki. L.. McGrath. L.. July 2013. Genome-wide association study of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Molecular Psychiatry. en. 18. 7. 788–798. 10.1038/mp.2012.85. 22889921. 4218751. 1476-5578. 1854/LU-4241923. 15807999. free.
  31. Web site: apa.org.
  32. Ivanova. Masha Y.. Achenbach. Thomas M.. Rescorla. Leslie A.. Harder. Valerie S.. Ang. Rebecca P.. Bilenberg. Niels. Bjarnadottir. Gudrun. Capron. Christiane. De Pauw. Sarah S. W.. Dias. Pedro. Dobrean. Anca. 2010-12-01. Preschool Psychopathology Reported by Parents in 23 Societies: Testing the Seven-Syndrome Model of the Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 1.5–5. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. en. 49. 12. 1215–1224. 10.1016/j.jaac.2010.08.019. 21093771. 0890-8567. 4247330.
  33. Eapen. V.. Pauls. D. L.. Robertson. M. M.. May 1993. Evidence for Autosomal Dominant Transmission in Tourette's Syndrome: United Kingdom Cohort Study. The British Journal of Psychiatry. en. 162. 5. 593–596. 10.1192/bjp.162.5.593. 8149109. 26062975 . 0007-1250.
  34. Rescorla. Leslie A.. Achenbach. Thomas M.. Ivanova. Masha Y.. Harder. Valerie S.. Otten. Laura. Bilenberg. Niels. Bjarnadottir. Gudrun. Capron. Christiane. De Pauw. Sarah S. W.. Dias. Pedro. Dobrean. Anca. 2011-05-01. International Comparisons of Behavioral and Emotional Problems in Preschool Children: Parents' Reports From 24 Societies. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology. en. 40. 3. 456–467. 10.1080/15374416.2011.563472. 1537-4416. 4247339. 21534056. 11655/14529.

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