Highlights from the EPOCH-Translate Centre of Research Excellence celebration meeting
On 9 September, EPOCH-Translate held its final meeting, marking the conclusion of 11 years of research collaboration through the EPOCH (2016-2021) and EPOCH-Translate (2022-2026) Centres of Research Excellence.
The meeting provided an opportunity to reflect on the achievements of the EPOCH collaboration, celebrate the contributions of everyone involved, and recognise the friendships and connections built along the way.
Showcasing EPOCH EMCR research
A highlight of the meeting was the research snapshots presented by EPOCH-Translate early- to mid-career researchers (EMCRs) and EMCR affiliates. Presenters shared their current work across a range of areas including infant feeding, oral health, child cardiovascular health, priority populations, cultural responsiveness, co-design, health economics, food insecurity, physical activity, eating disorders and sleep.
The EMCR presenters were Dr Dimity Dutch, Ms Heilok Cheng, Dr Danielle Jawad, Ms Pippy Walker, Ms Michelle Tran, Mr Saeed Ghobadi, Dr Cynthia Smith, Ms E Clarke, Ms Abhigale D’Cruz, Dr Eve House and Ms Chitra Tulpule.
The presentations showcased the breadth of research across the EPOCH collaboration and the important contributions of emerging researchers to the fields of early childhood obesity prevention and health promotion.
Celebrating EPOCH capacity building
Former EPOCH EMCRs, Dr Sarah Taki, Dr Penny Love and Dr Chelsea Mauch shared how their time as EPOCH EMCRs contributed to their careers.
The EPOCH-Connect Community of Practice organising committee (comprising co-chairs Dr Jessica Appleton and Dr Ioanna Katiforis, and committee members Ms Heilok Cheng, Ms Abhigale D’Cruz, Dr Cynthia Smith and Dr Eve House) shared a reflective presentation on the journey of EPOCH-Connect and how their roles in the organising committee helped to strengthen their leadership skills and connections. We thanked Dr Konsita Kuswara for founding and chairing the EPOCH-Connect Community of Practice from 2022-2025.
The capacity-building session demonstrated one of EPOCH’s key strengths: bringing researchers together to share knowledge, build capability and support one another. For EMCRs, this meant developing skills while also building relationships with mentors, peers and collaborators. One presenter captured this through the analogy of a tree, illustrating that strong careers require good roots and a healthy ecosystem around them. Mentors, collaborators and peers help ideas grow, create new connections and enable new opportunities for research, supervision, leadership and career development. This was a key lesson for future EMCR support: capacity building is most powerful when it is created together.
The impact of EPOCH
An interactive workshop led by Dr Brittany J Johnson and Dr Sarah Hunter explored the impacts of the EPOCH collaboration across knowledge, health, economic and social domains. Over more than a decade, the EPOCH collaboration has generated important research, evidence-based programs, health economic models, and practical resources for practitioners, policymakers, and parents and caregivers to support early childhood obesity prevention and health promotion.
Research across the Healthy Beginnings and INFANT programs, alongside global evidence synthesis through TOPCHILD, has strengthened our understanding of effective early-life interventions and how they can be scaled up, with a focus on equity and the needs of priority populations. Our work has also generated evidence on intervention reach and adaptation, scale-up and implementation strategies to support integration of evidence-based programs into routine practice. Together, these efforts have helped build a pathway from research to real-world impact.
Celebrating our EPOCH leaders
Professor Elizabeth Denney-Wilson led a formal acknowledgement of our EPOCH-Translate Director, Professor Louise Baur, for her outstanding leadership in building a successful and collaborative EPOCH research community, and her commitment to supporting the next generation of researchers.
We also acknowledged our current and former Deputy Directors (current: Associate Professor Rachel Laws; former: Professor Rebecca Golley, Professor Kylie Hesketh and Professor Karen Campbell), Knowledge Translation Coordinators (current: Dr Ioanna Katiforis; former: Dr Konsita Kuswara and Associate Professor Seema Mihrshahi) and Administrative Officer, Ms Cathie Kiernan, for their many contributions to the EPOCH Executive over many years.
Where to next?
While the EPOCH-Translate CRE will conclude in December 2026, the need for policy and practice-relevant research in early childhood obesity prevention continues. Translating evidence into practice in the context of a rapidly changing policy, economic and social environment will require researchers to work across sectors, build strong relationships with policymakers, health and early childhood services and communities, and clearly communicate the value of investing in prevention to support both immediate and long-term child health.
