The ANU Bacteria Enteropathy and Nutrition (BEN) program of research is a 4 year research program funded by the Australian Centre for International Research (ACIAR). The BEN study aims to understand the relationship between foodborne gastrointestinal infections and environmental risk factors in Timorese infants that may lead to subsequent child malnutrition and stunting.

The BEN research program consists of two main studies: a case control study enrolling children under 5 years admitted to hospital with severe acute malnutrition and location and age matched community controls. The second study which commenced in December 2024, is a longitudinal cohort following infants from birth to 2 years of age in three rural and urban locations across Timor-Leste.

Both projects collect household data and information, as well as  stool samples from children and their environment, including water, soil and household animals swab samples, with the aim of  understanding zoonotic risks, including environmental exposures in infants and children in Timor-Leste that are associated with growth rates.

Additionally, the BEN study was designed to have multiple embedded research projects that will focus on national priorities or knowledge gaps in nutrition, food safety and food security. All projects are led by a local principal investigator, study doctor, laboratory scientists and a team of research nurse. The ANU NCEPH team support the local team and provide research capacity strengthening opportunities to design and implement research that helps inform policy and practice taking a One Health approach

About the speakers:

Sam is an epidemiologist and international health researcher at NCEPH. Her research program focuses on food safety and infant and child malnutrition and infection in Timor-Leste and on field epidemiology workforce strengthening in the Pacific and South East Asia.

Haribondhu is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Applied Epidemiology at NCEPH, with expertise in global health, nutrition, and health systems research in the Asia-Pacific and Sub-Saharan Africa. His current research focuses on strengthening health resilience and sustainable marine biodiversity in Indonesia for diabetes treatment, integrating nutrition science with environmental sustainability

Kathryn Bright is a clinical trials coordinator with 20 years experience co-ordinating in country research in Fiji, Vietnam, Laos, Mongolia and Timor-Leste. She supports the local team in training, data collection, data monitoring and cleaning

Sayeed is PhD Candidate at NCEPH, with a background as a veterinary epidemiologist. His work is grounded in the One Health framework, addressing the complex interactions between human, animal, and environmental health to combat zoonotic diseases