Two leading The Kids Research Institute Australia researchers will use more than $1.1 million in National Health and Medical Research Council funding to improve outcomes for some of the world’s most vulnerable children and young people.
Dr Ashleigh Lin, head of Mental Health & Youth research at the Institute, received targeted research funding ($716,301 over three years) to investigate the social and emotional wellbeing and mental health needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex or queer (LGBTIQ).
Dr Sally Brinkman, head of Child Health Development and Education at the Institute and Co-Director of the Fraser Mustard Centre, was awarded a four-year Career Development Fellowship ($437,036) which she will use to undertake international research aimed at improving the health and development of young people in highly disadvantaged, poor communities.
A total of 320 research projects across Australia will share in the latest round of medical research funding – worth $200 million – from the NHMRC and the Medical Research Future Fund. The projects, funded following a competitive process, were announced by Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt this week.
Dr Lin’s project was funded as part of a Targeted Call for Research into Indigenous Social and Emotional Wellbeing.
She and fellow The Kids mental health researcher Dr Yael Perry will work with the University of Western Sydney, the Kulbardi Aboriginal Centre at Murdoch University, and Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander LGBTIQ suicide prevention not-for-profit Black Rainbow to give a voice to young people whose experiences and needs have until now been poorly understood.
“We know that being Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, being young, and being LGBTIQ are all risks for poor mental health and suicide, but there’s really not very much known about what happens when you are a member of all three of these groups,” Dr Lin said.
“The research is almost non-existent. However, anecdotally, these young people are often marginalised from the LGBTIQ community. There are also cultural concerns that can lead to exclusion from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
“This project aims to better understand the social and emotional needs of this vulnerable group and the barriers they face when accessing health services.”
Dr Brinkman’s research – expected to have global and local impact – will focus on children across Australia, as well as countries in Asia, the Pacific, Latin America and the United Arab Emirates.
Dr Brinkman and her team of 15 researchers aim to conduct a challenging and ambitious research program which provides evidence on the effectiveness of different interventions targeting stunting and wasting, injury and poor development in geographically isolated and remote communities.
“In Australia, my research will provide important evidence behind the transmission of disadvantage across generations, with a focus on language development in early childhood, and social and emotional development in early and middle childhood,” Dr Brinkman said.
The research will include population monitoring, cohort studies and clinical trials to determine the prevalence, distribution and magnitude of inequality in child health and development across communities; investigate the precursors and consequences of poor child health to inform interventions; and evaluate the impact and cost-effectiveness of interventions.
“Taken together, the three components form a cycle of enquiry aimed at informing policy and practice with a depth of understanding that few others are able to provide,” Dr Brinkman said.
A full list of projects funded this round can be found here.
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