Not only is it the end of 2019, it’s also the end of a decade of incredible growth for the Washington State Twin Registry (formerly the University of Washington Twin Registry). Below we summarize some highlights of the past 10 years, as well as the past year.
Have you participated in one of our studies? We recently updated our completed studies page with links to the published findings from each study.
Decade in Review
On September 30, 2009, the University of Washington Twin Registry was awarded a large economic recovery grant which provided funding to increase the size of the Registry and available data. Over the past decade, the Registry has nearly tripled in size, adding over 6,000 new pairs of twins. In 2013, we modified our procedures to allow volunteers and twin children to join. In 2014, we held our first TwinFest event at the University of Washington. In 2015, the Registry moved from the University of Washington to Washington State University and became the Washington State Twin Registry (WSTR). Today, there are 9,761 twin pairs in the WSTR — 8,980 pairs are still actively participating. Our members reside in all 50 US states plus the District of Columbia, and around the world.
Year in Review
In 2019, we added 198 new pairs of twins. We had 6 active studies, and 1,407 unique twin pairs participated in those studies. 14 peer-reviewed publications were accepted. Our website had 171,537 visits from 151,838 users, and our Facebook page has 1,329 likes. We held a small get together at WSU Everett in June, which gave local twins the opportunity to meet other twins and learn about our research.
Coming in 2020!
Our second TwinFest event will be held August 8, 2020 in Everett, Washington. As we have updates, they will be posted on our website and on the Facebook event page. If you and/or your business would be interested in contributing, please send an email to Ally Avery.
As always, thank you for your continued support of and participation
in the Washington State Twin Registry!