Child health research flourishes when families, communities, researchers and donors come together for a shared purpose: to improve health outcomes and make life better for every child.
At The University of Western Australia, this purpose is being realised through generous, sustained partnerships with Stan Perron Charitable Foundation and Channel 7 Telethon Trust. Their investment in diverse disciplines, nurturing of research talent, and funding of world-class infrastructure, supports more than individual projects – they are building a globally recognised child health research ecosystem, with UWA and Western Australia leading the way.
What makes this approach so powerful is its breadth and depth, underscored by a diverse portfolio that spans the full spectrum of child health. From understanding the earliest influences on newborns and their development, to finding new ways to support teenage mental wellbeing, our researchers embrace laboratory discovery, community-centred work, rigorous data and lived-experience perspectives.
This diversity is not accidental. Institutional understanding of the complexity of children’s health, and a shared belief that meaningful progress requires many ways of thinking, and many hands working together, empowers our researchers to respond to today’s challenges and prepare for tomorrow’s emerging needs.
The impact of philanthropic support from Stan Perron Charitable Foundation has been felt across this rich landscape of research, further emphasised by 10 new grants being awarded in the past year, alongside the establishment of two research centres.
By investing in UWA’s people – Professor Livia Hool, Professor Charlene Kahler, Professor Jane Pillow, The Raine Study, Professor Valerie Verhasselt, Dr Michael Kyron, Dr Henry Hui, Dr Peijun Gong, Dr Lucy Furfaro, Mr Kan Yu – and its teams and capability, the support of the Foundation amplifies groundbreaking research in biomedical, human and psychological sciences through to engineering and population health.
From improving outcomes of childhood leukaemia, neonatal sepsis, and respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, to the importance of colostrum, newborn skin health, youth mental health, and their commitment to intergenerational cohort studies, the Foundation’s support expands research capability that allows ambitious ideas to grow and thrive.
The Foundation has also invested in the establishment of two major centres that share a commitment to collaboration and innovation: The Rare Care Comprehensive Centre and the Comprehensive Kids Cancer Centre.
The Rare Care Comprehensive Centre is the first of its kind globally, delivering integrated support for families navigating rare or undiagnosed conditions. This is complemented by the Comprehensive Kids Cancer Centre, a collaborative hub that brings researchers and clinicians together with cutting-edge laboratories to explore new pathways in childhood cancer care. These new research hubs signal a courageous and compassionate, future-focused approach to child health.
The partnership between Channel 7 Telethon Trust and UWA further bolsters this landscape, underscored by its three recent grants funding the work of Professor Jane Pillow, Professor Wendy Erber and The Raine Study.
Respectively, these researchers are improving outcomes for vulnerable newborns, supporting more precise treatment approaches for children with cancer, and recruiting to reinforce one of the world’s most influential cohort studies – a testament to UWA’s advancement of research breakthroughs and their long-term impact, which ripple into the wider WA community and beyond.
Through steadfast partnerships and philanthropic support, Stan Perron Charitable Foundation and Channel 7 Telethon Trust have helped shaped a research community that cares deeply about children’s lives and is transforming the State’s collective capacity to create lasting impact for children and families. It’s a tangible legacy.