14 important The Kids Research Institute Australia research projects have received support under the WA Near-miss Awards (WANMA) funding program.
The diverse projects selected cover areas including respiratory research, pre-natal health care, obesity and diabetes, immunity and Aboriginal child health. Each was rated very highly by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) but missed out on the last round of funding.
The WA Near-Miss Awards provide funding for outstanding emerging West Australian researchers to help them lay the groundwork for future NHMRC grants.
Dr Christopher Brennan-Jones from the Wesfarmers Centre for Vaccines and Infectious Disease at The Kids Research Institute Australia was awarded an Emerging Leaders Fellowship for his project aimed at preventing hearing loss in Aboriginal children.
Dr Brennan-Jones said his project will build on his existing work, establishing a telehealth model that can be used to treat more children in Australia who are suffering from ear infection.
Developed in partnership with the Aboriginal Community Advisory Group, this research will greatly benefit the health of the 1 in 2 Aboriginal children suffering from OM and lead to better health and educational outcomes and lasting changes in the way our health system provides services
Dr Jonatan Leffler was also awarded an Emerging Leaders Fellowship for his project examining immune system changes in Transgender people.
Dr Leffler said the research will examine what impact hormone treatment given to transgender young people can impact their immunity.
“Sex hormones have significant impact on our immune system, this project will not only provide the necessary evidence to improve clinical care for transgender people but may also help us understand why some diseases, particularly autoimmune diseases, affect males and females differently.” he said.
“This will not only provide the necessary evidence to improve clinical care for transgender people but also form a blueprint for how therapies may be designed to specifically target hormone-sensitive immune pathways in male and females in the future,” he said.
The Kids Research Institute Australia Director, Professor Jonathan Carapetis, said the high calibre of work recognised by the WANMA program showcases the broad areas of research already underway at The Kids.
I am so proud to see the quality of work that’s being supported by these grants and excited to see where these ambitious research projects will lead
“These near-miss grants will provide a springboard for our researchers, allowing them to continue their work and have real-life outcomes for children.”
WANMA – Full list of The Kids Research Institute Australia recipients
- Dr Chris Brennan-Jones was awarded an Emerging Leaders Fellowship for the project Healthy Ears for Healthier Lives: Tackling ear disease and preventable hearing loss in Indigenous Children.
- Dr Jonatan Leffler was awarded an Emerging Leaders Fellowship for the project Sex Hormones as Immune Modulatory Drivers in Transgender People and received a Near Miss Award for the project Unravelling the male/female immune imbalance: mapping immune changes following gender transformation.
- Dr Rachel Foong was awarded a Near Miss Award for the project Determining prenatal and postnatal environment exposures that alter lung function in early life.
- Dr Christina Gamez was awarded a Near Miss Award for the project Pregnancy diet, antibiotic use and their effects on microbial signatures and immune health
- Dr Shelly Gorman was awarded a Near Miss Award for the project Benefits, harm or no effect on cardiometabolic risk? Comparing the effects of low and high daily vitamin D supplementation with sun exposure in community-dwelling Australian adults with mild vitamin D-deficiency
- Dr Rae-Chi Huang was awarded a Near Miss Award for the project was awarded a Near Miss Award for the project Early Life Prevention of Childhood Obesity and Lifelong Non-Communicable Diseases
- Dr Thomas Iosifidis was awarded a Near Miss Award for the project Prenatal reprogramming of respiratory epithelial progenitors and early postnatal respiratory disease.
- Dr Yuliya Karpievitch was awarded a Near Miss Award for the project AI- and XR- enabled Virtual Doctor for respiratory disease
- Dr Timo Lassman was awarded a Near Miss Award for the project Personalised analytics to improve diagnostic rates in clinical sequencing
- Dr David Martino was awarded a Near Miss Award for the project The role of BCG induced epigenetic changes in the protection from neonatal sepsis
- Dr Kathryn Ramsey was awarded a Near Miss Award for the project Improving outcomes in children with cystic fibrosis and bronchiectasis lung disease
- Dr Shannon Simpson was awarded a Near Miss Award for the project Unravelling the mechanisms underpinning lung function decline for survivors of very preterm birth
- Dr Gina Trapp was awarded a Near Miss Award for the project Creating a geospatial 'Food Atlas' to map, measure and monitor food access