Who we are
The Ife Behaviour Genetics (IBeGe) Project uses information from twins and their relatives, such as parents, children and siblings, to understand what influences the wellbeing and mental health of children in Low- and Middle-Income Countries like Nigeria. Children depend on their parents for food, shelter and emotional nurturing, so much of our work involves both children and their parents.
Why twins?
South West Nigeria has one of the highest rates of twins in the world. In Yoruba culture, twins are revered and believed to bring blessings and good fortune to their parents, and the Yoruba have a traditional praise song, the oriki Ibeji, dedicated to them.
Twins are also special in research. Because they are conceived at the same time and raised in the same family, they share many environmental influences. Identical twins share exactly the same genes, while non-identical twins share about half. Comparing the two lets us estimate how much of a trait comes from genes and how much from experience and environment.
What we aim to do
- Build a community of twins, adult children and parents who are interested in helping us understand children’s wellbeing in Nigeria
- Work with this community to study the genetic and environmental factors behind children’s wellbeing
- Collaborate with researchers around the world to generate new knowledge
- Give feedback on our findings to participants so they can use them in daily life
- Build networks that turn research findings into policies that improve children’s wellbeing on a larger scale
Join Our Next Study
Want to be part of our next study?
We regularly invite twins, parents of twins, and adult twins and their children to take part.