UWA-led research among vital projects enabled by record Telethon support

The development of a unique chewable tablet to help prepare young children for surgery is one of many new research projects that have been enabled by last year’s record-breaking support of Channel 7’s Telethon Trust.

"We are so excited about these three exceptional research projects and the impact they will have in our community."

Telethon Kids Institute Executive Director Jonathan Carapetis

More than $71 million was raised to help sick and needy kids in WA, including support for vital child health research being carried out at Telethon Kids Institute in 2023.

Associate Professor David Sommerfield, from Telethon Kids Institute’s Perioperative Medicine Team, Perth Children’s Hospital and The University of Western Australia, will lead the project to further develop a pre-surgery tablet for children.

Fasting is usually required before surgical procedures for safety reasons, but for young children in particular this can prove extremely distressing.

Associate Professor Sommerfield and colleagues from PCH and The University of Western Australia have been awarded funding through Telethon to carry out pre-clinical trials to develop a product that gives children to make fasting easier.

“Our product is designed to not interfere with fasting guidelines in children while providing children with a comforting sensation of having consumed solid food,” Associate Professor Sommerfield said.

“Allowing fasting patients to eat these chewable tablets will help to relieve hunger and distress.

“An added advantage of this new product is that it does not have to be consumed with water.”

Associate Professor Sommerfield said the pleasant-tasting product was likely to lead to reduced pre-operative distress in children and less vomiting and nausea, which will contribute to better outcomes post-surgery.

Other Telethon-funded projects will use cutting-edge research to tackle youth suicide rates and decode rare mitochondrial diseases.

Telethon Kids Institute and NHMRC Emerging Leader Fellow Dr Nicole Hill will lead a team of experts from Murdoch University and UWA, in partnership with the Department of Education, Anglicare WA, Lifeline WA and NEAMI, to investigate and develop WA’s first evidence-informed blueprint to tackle “suicide contagion” and prevent suicide clusters in young people, their friends and families.

Dr Hill, one of Australia’s leading researchers investigating suicide clusters in young people, said this research would help to develop a best-practice response to providing care to young people affected by a suicide.

“We know that for every suicide, up to 130 people can be deeply affected,” she said.

“Those people are then at an increased risk of poor mental health as well as suicide themselves, and young people are particularly vulnerable.

“Thanks to the generous support of the Channel 7 Telethon Trust, we will develop a decision-making toolkit which can be used to drive the ongoing care and support given to people impacted by a suicide.”

Another researcher, Professor Aleksandra Filipovska, will lead a project seeking to improve the diagnosis and treatment of mitochondrial disease – a rare but debilitating and potentially fatal disorder of the body’s cells.

The project will use sophisticated 3D reconstruction of cells affected by mitochondrial disease (MD), which will allow for faster, more accurate diagnosis for MD.

Telethon Kids Institute Executive Director, Jonathan Carapetis, thanked the Channel 7 Telethon Trust for its ongoing support of medical research in WA.

“All of our researchers at Telethon Kids work tirelessly to improve the lives of West Australian kids and families, and we’re so grateful for the support of Telethon and the WA public as we work towards our mission of happy, healthy kids,” he said.

“We are so excited about these three exceptional research projects and the impact they will have in our community.”