University of Western Australia
Child health research at The University of Western Australia, including several projects that address WA's recent winter spike in respiratory conditions, has been boosted by grants worth $6 million.
The WA Child Research Fund grants, co-funded by the State Government and the Channel 7 Telethon Trust, support research aimed at improving outcomes for child and adolescent health.
Clinical Professor André Schultz, from UWA Medical School and Telethon Kids Institute, will examine why some Aboriginal children develop bronchiectasis, a serious lung condition resulting from bronchiolitis that causes permanent lung damage.
Professor Mark Nicol, from UWA's School of Biomedical Sciences, will work on developing next-generation probiotics to prevent childhood pneumonia.
The potential benefits of this project include reduced hospitalisations, reduction in antimicrobial resistance and other diseases associated with early life exposure to antibiotics and improved long-term respiratory health for children.
Professor Peter Richmond, from UWA Medical School and Telethon Kids Institute, will work with a team to analyse findings from a WA-led clinical trial testing a vaccine for pneumococcal PCV in combination with other vaccines. This research aims to develop a way to improve the protection of vulnerable children from severe infection.
Professor Elizabeth Davis, from UWA Medical School and Telethon Kids Institute, will investigate implementing and evaluating a new model of early care for children and adolescents with a new diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes.
Associate Professor Alma Fulurija, from UWA's School of Biomedical Sciences and Telethon Kids Institute, will research the immune response to Strep A throat infection to identify biomarkers that contribute to protection in healthy individuals. The findings will be used to design better vaccines to prevent rheumatic heart disease.
Professor Aleksandra Filipovska, from UWA Medical School and Telethon Kids Institute, will investigate new therapeutics for paediatric metabolic diseases. This work will particularly target mitochondrial diseases – the most common group of inherited metabolic diseases.
Dr Kevin Looi, from UWA Medical School and Telethon Kids Institute, will investigate the outcomes of administering diferuloylmethane-2, an anti-inflammatory agent used in traditional medicine, via aerosol nebulisation to treat mucosal inflammation.
Dr Annabel Short, from UWA Medical School and the Telethon Kids Cancer Centre, will study how amplifying the response to radiotherapy affects children with aggressive brain cancer.
Professor Britta Regli-von Ungern Sternberg, from UWA Medical School, Telethon Kids Institute and Perth Children’s Hospital, will investigate how a chewable product can help children undergoing fasting before surgery.
Associate Professor Jason Waithman, from UWA’s School of Biomedical Sciences, will research how enhancing immunotherapy practices can improve childhood and adolescent cancer control.
The WA Child Research Fund is administered through the Department of Health's Office of Medical Research and Innovation. Grants of up to $600,000 each over three years are awarded to successful child and adolescent health research projects.