Professor Terry Johns (left), Dr Gail Alvares (middle), Dr Asha Bowen (right)
The Kids Research Institute Australia researchers have been awarded 12 of 16 grants under the latest round of funding from the WA Child Research Fund (formerly known as the Telethon-Perth Children’s Hospital Research Fund).
Health Minister Roger Cook today announced a total of $3.9 million in funding for WA research projects of direct significance to the health of children and adolescents.
The Kids projects to receive support under the scheme include research focused on preterm respiratory health, leukaemia, diabetes, rare diseases, rheumatic fever and heart disease, autism, ear health and foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD).
The Department of Health awarded the following project grants to The Kids researchers:
- Professor Jane Pillow – Cognitive Improvement through early Restoration of cirCADian rhythms in very preterm Infants via Environmental Modification: The CIRCA DIEM Study – $249,578
- Dr Jason Waithman – Developing next generation 'armoured' NK cells to treat leukaemia – $249,965
- Clinical A/Professor Mary Sharp – Developing new approaches to predicting in-flight hypoxia in infants born preterm – $217,628
- Dr David Martino – DNA Methylation Biomarkers of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure: Informing FASD – $238,110
- Dr Ingrid Laing – Unlocking mechanisms of age-relationships in rhinovirus-induced wheezing attacks; the key to identifying biomarkers of recurrent exacerbations in early life – $249,646
- Professor Terry Johns – Development of a new therapy against Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma - $249,945
- Dr Amelia Harray – Quality or Quantity: The Role of Carbohydrate in the Health of Children with Diabetes – $249,643
- Dr Vanessa Fear – Rapid and reliable rare disease diagnosis: developing a new diagnostic pipeline for children with rare diseases – $249,974
- Dr Asha Bowen – From Bush & Bench to Policy & Practice: Evidence to inform the primary prevention of Rheumatic Heart Disease in WA Aboriginal children – $249,982
- Dr Tim Barnett – Could an intracellular bacterial reservoir in the tonsils account for recurrent episodes of Strep throat and rheumatic fever? – $249,992
- Dr Gail Alvares – Preventative mental health care for young children with autism – $249,950
- Dr Lea-Ann Kirkham – A bacterial therapy to prevent otitis media – preparing for first-in-human studies – $250,000.
The Kids Research Institute Australia Director Professor Jonathan Carapetis thanked the fund for its support and congratulated those awarded grants.
“We’re extremely grateful to the fund for supporting such innovative research here in Western Australia,” Professor Carapetis said.
“It’s a great example of how the generosity of our community, through Telethon, can partner with the State Government to fund essential science for the kids of WA.”
“The Institute is very proud to house such outstanding researchers and these grants will enable them to continue their work to improve the health and development of children and their families across the country.
“We are particularly grateful for the boost this will provide to our lab-based research. At the heart of our lab work is the innovative, discovery research necessary to advance our knowledge and understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of health and disease.”
The WA Child Research Fund was established by the Department of Health and the Channel 7 Telethon Trust to provide financial support to research projects that focus on the health of children and adolescents in WA.
For a full list of the grants awarded under this round, see here.