Eight The Kids Research Institute Australia-led projects will benefit from the latest round of WA Child Research Fund (WACRF) grants, announced this week by Medical Research Minister Stephen Dawson.
WACRF – formerly known as the Telethon-Perth Children’s Hospital Research Fund – was established by the Department of Health and the Channel 7 Telethon Trust in 2012 to provide financial support to research projects that focus on the health of children and adolescents in WA.
This year’s round will see 11 diverse child health research projects share in $6.5 million in funding, with each supported by a grant of between $500,000 and $600,000 over three years.
The following The Kids Research Institute Australia-led projects – each of which will be administered by The University of Western Australia (UWA) and involve a collaborative team led by a chief investigator – have received WACRF grants:
- The JELLYFISH (Just eating these little lollies you’ll feel it stops hunger) project will see a team led by Professor Britta Regli-von Ungern-Sternberg – from The Kids Research Institute Australia, Perth Children’s Hospital (PCH) and UWA – undertake a clinical trial of a chewable tablet developed to alleviate hunger and discomfort in children required to fast, sometimes for more than 10 hours, before surgery.
- Clinical Professor André Schultz from the Wal-yan Respiratory Research Centre, Perth Children’s Hospital and UWA will lead a project examining why some Aboriginal children develop chronic lung disease after being hospitalised for bronchiolitis, and find ways to prevent it.
- Dr Kevin Looi, also from the Wal-yan Respiratory Research Centre and UWA, will lead a project investigating whether the widely used dietary supplement, biocurcumin, can be safely administered to children via aerosol nebulisation to help manage respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections.
- Dr Annabel Short, Pirate Ship Research Fellow with the The Kids Cancer Centre and UWA, will work with the Brain Tumour Research Group to investigate the ability of new treatments to amplify the response to radiotherapy for children with aggressive brain cancer.
- Professor Peter Richmond, from UWA, PCH and the Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases at The Kids Research Institute Australia, will work with a team to study findings from the ongoing OPTIMUM trial, in the hopes of developing ways to improve the protection of vulnerable children from severe infection. This research is likely to help inform how vaccines are delivered in WA, nationally and globally.
- Professor Elizabeth Davis, from The Kids Research Institute Australia, PCH and UWA, will lead a study which aims to provide early, equitable access of hybrid closed loop (HCL) technology to all children and adolescents newly diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at PCH over a one-year period, and evaluate its cost-effectiveness. Current access to this technology is limited to those able to pay for it, those with health insurance, or those who can access philanthropic funding – creating inequity in access and health outcomes.
- Associate Professor Alma Fulurija, from the Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases at The Kids Research Institute Australia and UWA, will research the immune response to Strep A throat infection to identify biomarkers that contribute to protection from Strep A infection in healthy individuals. The findings will be used to design better vaccines to prevent rheumatic heart disease.
- Professor Aleksandra Filipovska, from The Kids Research Institute Australia and UWA, will lead a team which aims to establish new treatments for paediatric metabolic diseases. This project will particularly target mitochondrial diseases – the most common group of inherited metabolic diseases – for which there are currently no effective treatments or cures.
The Kids Research Institute Australia Executive Director Professor Jonathan Carapetis said the WA Government’s ongoing commitment to and investment in child health research was facilitating valuable work which offered hope to children and families.
“We are immensely grateful for the support of the WA Government and the community through their incredible contributions to Telethon,” Professor Carapetis said.
“Their generosity means our talented and dedicated researchers, in collaboration with partner organisations including UWA, PCH and other research organisations, can pursue a diverse range of projects which promise to make a tangible difference to the Western Australian community.”
For more information, see the Minister’s media release here.