The funding is part of a $16 million boost for the WA Child Health Research Fund (WACRF) with grants of up to $600, 000 each awarded to Associate Professor Anthony Kicic (The Kids and Curtin University) Associate Professor Rishi Kotecha (The Kids and Curtin University), Dr Shannon Simpson (The Kids and Curtin University), Associate Professor Kathryn Ramsey (The Kids and The University of Western Australia) and Dr Ruth Thornton (The Kids and The University of Western Australia).
Associate Professor Kicic’s project will extend previous work to identify the causes of asthma, by conducting lung function tests on children up to five-years-old.
“We will then combine this outcome with data we have already collected including gene signature patterns, respiratory virus infections in the first year of life, and hospitalisations, to identify those children at risk of developing asthma,” Associate Professor Kicic said.
Funding for Associate Professor Rishi Kotecha will go towards developing novel therapeutic strategies to improve the outcome for infants with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL).
“Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) in infants diagnosed at less than one year of age has significantly worse outcomes compared to older children,” Associate Professor Kotecha said.
“While older patients can be treated successfully with a cocktail of up to ten chemotherapy drugs, infants are unable to tolerate such intensive therapy and often suffer from toxic side effects of the drugs. The aim of this project is to test new drug classes that we have identified using our unique preclinical models of infant ALL.”
Associate Professor Shannon Simpson’s project will focus on prematurity-associated lung disease – which is complex and can look very different from person to person.
“There are currently no evidence-based clinical guidelines on how to treat children with prematurity associated lung disease,” Associate Professor Simpson said.
“Categorising the different characteristics of lung disease among individuals in this population would be a step towards better understanding this disease and applying targeted treatments.”
Dr Ruth Thornton is working to develop a single-dose, slow-release gel-based medicine, administered during grommet surgery, to effectively treat chronic middle ear infections and prevent repeat grommet surgeries.
“While grommets restore hearing loss, most children require further antibiotics and up to 50 per cent need repeat surgeries due to bacteria persisting in “slime” or biofilm,” Dr Thornton said.
“The biofilm makes the “glue” in children’s ears and protects the bacteria from antibiotics. Our research has led to the development of a treatment that breaks down the biofilm and allows antibiotics to work.”
Bronchiectasis – a chronic lung disease characterised by chronic wet cough, recurrent hospitalisations, and progressive lung damage – is the focus of Associate Professor Kathryn Ramsey’s work.
“Despite the increasing prevalence in Australia and significant burden of the disease (especially in First Nations Australians), bronchiectasis remains an under-recognised, under-treated, and under-researched respiratory condition,” Associate Professor Ramsey said.
“The number one priority for consumers and clinicians is to find new ways to improve treatment for bronchiectasis.”
Associate Professor Ramsey and her team will undertake prospective, longitudinal analysis of airway sputum and clinical surveillance data in paediatric bronchiectasis patients attending Perth Children’s Hospital to help improve long term outcomes for patients.
The Kids Executive Director Professor Jonathan Carapetis congratulated the award recipients and expressed his thanks to the WA Government and Telethon for funding the diverse range of projects.
“We are extremely grateful for this ongoing support of our researchers, so they can continue to deliver excellent research that supports our vision for happy, healthy kids.
The WACRF 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.
For more information, see the Minister’s media release here.