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Individual Differences in the Biological Embedding of Developmental Origins of Health and Illness in Syrian Refugee Children

Project description

Towards an integrated understanding of adversity's effects among refugee children

Millions of Syrian children and their families have been displaced due to the Syrian Civil War. This EU-funded project, RefugeeBioEmbed, will investigate whether refugee children's adverse experiences are reflected in their biology, development, and mental health. The research will also explore why some refugee children fare better or worse than others after traumatic experiences. By applying advanced interdisciplinary methods in genetics, endocrinology, psychology, and behavior, RefugeeBioEmbed will seek answers about how early life experiences influence health and illness later in life. It will investigate modifiable risk and protective factors that affect refugee mental health which may lead to individualised interventions to forestall and treat mental illness among Syrian refugees as well as others.

Objective

The Syrian Civil War led to the displacement of more than 5.6 million Syrians in surrounding nations, millions of whom are children. Nations around the world are striving to resolve the economic, cultural, and societal strains of accommodating an unprecedented number of refugees. The proposed project aims to begin tackling this problem by investigating experiences of Syrian refugee children to determine whether individual characteristics influence their psychological and behavioral responses to the Syrian Civil War and subsequent circumstances. The research objectives entail applying innovative, evolutionary-developmental models to explore individual differences in the ways early childhood adversity is biologically embedded and reflected in developmental milestones and mental health. The project applies strong interdisciplinary methods to the analysis of existing, high-quality data to understand the intersections of genetics, endocrinology, psychology, and behavior. The overarching goals of the project are to 1) understand individual differences in the developmental origins of health and illness, 2) identify modifiable risk and protective factors that suppress or enhance refugee mental health, and 3) inform individualized interventions to prevent and treat mental illness among Syrian—and other—displaced populations. Bringing to bear leading experts in neuroendocrinology, genetics, psychiatry, and resilience; high-quality, longitudinal data; and state-of-the-art training in genetic and hormonal data analyses, this project will showcase European excellence in innovative, interdisciplinary, and intersectoral research in child development and public health and policy.

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Keywords

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2019

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Coordinator

QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 212 933,76
Address
327 MILE END ROAD
E1 4NS LONDON
United Kingdom

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Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 212 933,76
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