A The Kids Research Institute Australia researcher devoted to Aboriginal health and justice has been named the inaugural Shell Aboriginal STEM Student of the Year at the 2019 Premier’s Science Awards – on the same night her PhD supervisor, founding The Kids researcher Professor Carol Bower, was inducted into the WA Science Hall of Fame.
Aboriginal student researcher Sharynne Hamilton was recognised for her work aimed at improving equitable access to services, and exploring initiatives designed to promote recovery and healing by working with the strengths and hopes of Aboriginal young people.
Her research projects have included the ground-breaking Banksia Hill Project, remote community sports initiatives, and the Birthing on Noongar Boodja Elder Stories Project.
Earlier in the evening, Ms Hamilton watched as Professor Bower was honoured for the profound impact she has had on the health of WA children throughout a 40-year career at The Kids and The University of Western Australia – including landmark folate research and advocacy which has saved an estimated 4,000 children from debilitating and deadly birth defects.
An internationally recognised public health researcher, Professor Bower has devoted much of her career to understanding the causes and impacts of birth defects – including neural tube defects, IVF-associated birth defects, and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) – and to developing diagnostic tools and preventive strategies.
Her early work with Institute founder Professor Fiona Stanley confirmed the link between low dietary folate in mothers-to-be and devastating neural tube defects such as spina bifida in their babies, leading to a world-first public health campaign in the 1990s.
Then – after further research showed the message wasn’t reaching Aboriginal communities – she, Professor Stanley and others spent two decades lobbying for mandatory fortification of bread products with folate so that all Australian children could benefit.
Introduced in 2009, this hard-fought policy shift led to a dramatic decline in neural tube defects, including a 68 per cent reduction in the conditions in Aboriginal babies.
In 2018, mandatory folate fortification was rated by the Public Health Association of Australia as one of the top 10 public health achievements of the past 20 years.
Professor Bower also established Australia’s first birth defects registry – an internationally admired model which has since been replicated by other states, and which has provided critical data for a myriad of research projects.
In addition, Professor Bower has led research on the prevalence, prevention, diagnosis and management of FASD, through leadership roles at The Kids and as Director of the FASD Research Australia Centre of Research Excellence (WA hub).
She developed the Australian Guide to the Diagnosis of FASD and in 2018 led the Banksia Hill Project, which found that 89 per cent of detainees at the Banksia Hill Detention Centre had at least one severe neurodevelopmental impairment and 36 per cent had FASD. The findings have since prompted a rethink of how to identify and manage these vulnerable young people.
The Kids Research Institute Australia Director, Professor Jonathan Carapetis, congratulated Professor Bower and said the Institute was immensely proud not just of her contribution to health research, but her commitment to its translation into practical public health outcomes, and her passion for involving consumers and community members in the process.
“The community, in WA and beyond, has benefited in countless ways from Carol’s rigorous scientific approach and determination to make research count,” Professor Carapetis said.
“Beyond the paradigm-shifting work she has done in relation to folate and birth defects, she has had a profound impact on Australia’s ability to grasp and address the nature, causes and scale of FASD.
“She and her team have united the scientific, justice, social services and health communities to tackle FASD, developing Australian diagnostic tools and informing the community about the risks of alcohol during pregnancy.”
Professor Carapetis also congratulated PhD candidate and Banksia Hill team member Hayley Passmore – who was a finalist in the category of ExxonMobil Student Scientist of the Year for developing training resources to help justice professionals work more effectively with young detainees with neurodevelopmental impairment – and said he was thrilled for Ms Hamilton.
“Sharynne’s work in promoting healing in Western Australian communities – by merging western neurodevelopmental science with the social determinants of Aboriginal health – is inspiring and has led to innovative initiatives that are having positive impacts for Aboriginal communities,” he said.
“The projects she has been involved in have important implications for criminal justice and community health, and are providing a framework for healing, growth, and hope.”
Ms Hamilton is a PhD student at The Kids and The University of Western Australia.
Read more about the awards here.