Annette Da Costa

B.A. (Soc Sc.), Grad.Dip. (Adol & Child Psych), Grad.Cert. (App Sci), DPsych (Clin Neurosych)

Annette Decosta

SPECIAL INTERESTS

Neuropsychological features of craniofacial anomalies
Paediatric Neuropsychological disorders

EDUCATION

1989-1991	BA (Soc. Sci.) - Monash University, Caulfield, Victoria
1993	Grad Cert (App. Sci.) - Swinburne University, Hawthorn, Victoria
1994-1996	Grad Dip (Adol. & Child Psych.) - University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria
1998-2004	DPsych (Clin. Neuropsych.) - Victoria University, St Albans, Victoria

CERTIFICATION

1998	Psychologist, Psychologist's Registration Board of Victoria

HOSPITAL APPOINTMENTS

2003-present

Clinical Research Coordinator, Dept of Plastic & Maxillofacial Surgery, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria

SOCIETIES

2005-present

American Cleft Palate Craniofacial Association

RESEARCH PROJECTS

2000-present	Neuropsychological functioning in children and adolescents with craniosynostosis
2004-present	Infant developmental functioning in craniosynostosis disorders
2004-present	Developmental issues in deformational plagiocephaly (positional skull deformities)

RECENT PUBLICATIONS AND RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

Publication History

Downer SR, Meara JG, Da Costa AC & Sethuraman K. SMS text messaging improves
outpatient attendance. Accepted for publication in Australian Health Review (04/06/2006).
Da Costa, AC, Walters I, Savarirayan R, Anderson VA, Wrennall J & Meara JG. (2006) Intellectual outcomes in children and adolescents with syndromic and nonsyndromic craniosynostosis. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery; 118 (1): 175-181.
Downer, SR, Meara, JG & Da Costa, AC (2005). Use of SMS text messaging to improve
outpatient attendance. The Medical Journal of Australia, 183 (7) 366-368.
Da Costa, AC, Savarirayan, R., Wrennall, J., Gardiner, N., Tucker A., Anderson, V., Wrennall, J & Meara, JG. (2005). Neuropsychological diversity in Aperts syndrome: A comparison of cognitive profiles in children and adolescents with syndromic and nonsyndromic craniosynostosis. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, 54(4), 450-455.
Finch C., Da Costa A., Stevenson M., Hamer P & Elliot B. (2002). Sports injury experiences
from the Western Australian Sports Injury Cohort Study. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 26(5), 462-467.

Manuscripts under review

Da Costa AC, Wrennall JA, Walters I, Anderson VA, Savarirayan R, Meara JG. Neuropsychological functioning in children and adolescents with syndromic and nonsyndromic craniosynostosis. Submitted to Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society,
Knight S, Anderson VA, Da Costa AC & Meara JG. Neurodevelopmental functioning in infants
with deformational plagiocephaly. Manuscript submitted to Paediatrics.

Published Abstracts/ Conference Presentations

Da Costa AC, Anderson VA, Holmes ADH, Chong DK & Greensmith AL. Craniosynostosis: Neuropsychological outcomes during late infancy and early childhood following surgical intervention. Paper presented at the 32nd Annual Brain Impairment Conference of the Australian Society for the Study of Brain Impairment, September 7-9, Syndey, Australia.
Knight, S, Anderson, VA, Bialocerkowski, A, Chong, DK, Savarirayan, R, Greensmith, AL, Reilly, SR & Da Costa, AC. Neurodevelopment, genotype and cranial morphology in infants with isolated craniosynostosis. Paper presented at the 66th Annual Meeting of the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association & Pre-Conference Symposia, April 20- 25, 2009, Scottsdale, Arizona.
Da Costa, AC. Pre- and post-natal skull growth deformities: Neuropsychological implications from infancy to adolescence. Paper presented at the 2nd Biennial decog Conference: Clinical and Research Perspectives in Developmental Neuropsychology, March 28-29, 2008, Sydney, Australia.
Da Costa, AC. Developmental issues in craniosynostosis. Paper presented at the Cleft & Cranio- Maxillofacial Anomalies Conference, Melbourne, Australia, September 20-23, 2007.
Wilson, N., McLean, L., Da Costa, AC. & Kilpatrick, N. 2007. Identifying resilience factors associated with psychological adjustment in young adults with cleft lip and/or palate. Paper presented at the Cleft & Cranio-Maxillofacial Anomalies Conference, Melbourne Australia, September 20-23.
Zervos, A., McLean, L., Da Costa, AC. & Kilpatrick, N. (2007). What about school? Parental adjustment to school commencement of children with cleft lip and/or palate. Paper presented at the Cleft & Cranio Maxillofacial Anomalies Conference, Melbourne Australia, September 20-23.
Da Costa AC. Developmental implications of single-suture synostosis: Patient Audit 2003-2005. Paper presented at the 4th Bi-annual Conference of the Australia and New Zealand Society of Cranio-maxillofacial Surgeons, Queenstown, New Zealand, September 25-27.
Da Costa, AC, Meara, JG, Walters, IW, Wrennall, J & Savarirayan, R. Neuropsychological profiles of children and adolescents with syndromic and nonsyndromic craniosynostosis. Paper presented at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the American Cleft-Palate Craniofacial Association. Vancouver, BC, April 3-8, 2006.
Da Costa, AC, Meara, JG, Wrennall, J & Savarirayan, R. Neurodevelopmental functioning in infants with single-suture craniosynostosis. Paper presented at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the American Cleft-Palate Craniofacial Association. Vancouver, BC, April 3-8, 2006.
Da Costa, AC, Meara JG, Wrennall, I & Savarirayan, R. Neurodevelopmental functioning in infants with craniofacial disorders. Paper presented at the 34th Annual INS Meeting. Boston, Massachusetts, USA, February 1-4, 2006.
Da Costa, AC, Meara JG, Wrennall, I & Savarirayan, R. Neurodevelopmental functioning in infants with craniofacial disorders. Paper presented at the College of Clinical Neuropsychologists Annual Conference. Melbourne, Australia. November 24-26, 2005.
Da Costa AC, Meara JG, Wrennall J, Holmes AH. Developmental outcomes in children and adolescents with craniosynostosis. Paper presented at the International Society of Craniofacial Surgeons XIth International Congress. Coolum, Queensland, Australia, September 11-14, 2005.
Da Costa, AC. Information processing biases in Anorexia nervosa. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Australian Psychological Society, Oct 1998, Victoria, Australia.
Da Costa, AC. Craniofacial Anomalies in Children: A neuropsychological study. Paper presented at the College of Clinical Neuropsychologists Student Research Day Sept 2003, Victoria, Australia.
Da Costa AC, Meara, JG, Savarirayan, R, Walters, I., Wrennall, JA. Craniofacial anomalies in children: A neuropsychological study. Australian Society for the Study of Brain Impairment & International Neuropsychological Society. Brisbane, Australia, July 2004

Guest Speaker

Da Costa AC. Long-term developmental outcomes in nonsyndromic craniosynostosis. The Children's Dentofacial Study Group. October 2008, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
Da Costa, AC. Developmental implications of craniosynostosis. October 2006. Genetic Health Services Victoria, The Royal Children's Hospital.

Guest Lecturer

The University of Melbourne Postgraduate Doctoral Training Program 2006, 2008
La Trobe University Postgraduate Doctoral Training April 2007, May 2009

Research Support/ Prizes Awarded

2008 -- Australian Centre for Child Neuropsychology Studies $25,000
Infra-structure support for Research Assistant
2007 Australian Centre for Child Neuropsychology Studies $25,000
Da Costa AC, Reilly SR & Morgan, A. Neuropsychological, speech and language phenotypes of children with nonsyndromic cleft lip and/ or palate
2006 -- National Health and Medical Research Council $164,400
Health Professional Research Fellowship (4 years duration)
Brain structure, neuropsychological function and genotype in paediatric orofacial clefts
Best consultant presentation
Neurodevelopmental functioning in infants with single-suture synostosis. Paper presented at the 4th Bi-annual Meeting of the Australia & New Zealand Society of Cranio-maxillo-facial Surgeons, Queenstown, New Zealand, 24th-26th September 2006.
2005 -- Murdoch Children's Research Institute Project Grant $53,000
Royal Children's Hospital
Da Costa A, Bialocerkowski A, Meara J, Savarirayan R, Reilly S. A sustainable multi-
disciplinary best practice early intervention care model for the assessment and diagnosis of children with craniosynostosis.
Uncle Bob's Travelling Scholarship $8,595
Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, Australia
Allied Health and Nursing Research Small Research Grant, $5,000
Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital
Da Costa AC, Bankier A, White S. Adaptive living skills in adults with Williams syndrome.
2004 -- Allied Health and Nursing Research Seed Grant $2,500
MCRI, Royal Children's Hospital
Da Costa A & Bialocerkowski A. Morphological characteristics of infants with positional skull deformities.

Reviewer responsibilities

Manuscript reviewer for Australian Psychologist
Manuscript reviewer for Journal of Neuropsychology
Manuscript reviewer for Clinical Genetics
Manuscript reviewer for Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society
Manuscript reviewer for Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry
Manuscript reviewer for Advances in Speech Pathology

Last Updated 01-Jul-2009. Authorised by: Heather Cleland. Enquiries: Amber Fraser.