Janet Hammill AM, PhD, MTH, RN

Dr. Janet Hammill  is an Coordinator of Collaboration for alcohol-Related Developmental Disorders at the UQ Centre for Clinical Research. Jan, an ethnographer, weaves narratives of family history of health and life experiences into a biological framework that better illustrates the epigenetic and developmental burden placed on families. Of particular interest is the neurobiology of stress and teratogenic exposures that have influenced negative trajectories for Indigenous families and their children. Those exposed to alcohol in utero represent the most vulnerable individuals in Australia and the adverse effects of alcohol are being seen transgenerationally. Statistics on FASD show associated high rates of maternal substance use, compromised perinatal outcomes, poor school achievement, behavioral problems, younger sole parenting, early criminality, recidivism, and incidence of chronic diseases which manifest prematurely. FASD impacts significantly overall access to equal life chances and poses critical and urgent challenges for remediation.