Congratulations to two The Kids Research Institute Australia researchers, who have been awarded funding from the Raine Medical Research Foundation.
Dr Gail Alvares and Dr Rachel Foong were both awarded grants to continue research that improves the lives of children.
Director of The Kids Research Institute Australia Professor Jonathan Carapetis congratulated them on their funding success.
“They are each examples of the high calibre of research talent that we have here at the Institute and it is fantastic to see our staff recognised yet again for the positive impact they are making to child health,” he said.
Grant details
Dr Gail Alvares was awarded a Raine Priming Grant for her project entitled ‘Childhood indicators of adult outcomes: A longitudinal follow-up of the WA Autism Register’. The project is a collaboration between The Kids Research Institute Australia, the WA Department of Health, the University of Queensland, and Kings College London. She received $160,000 in funding.
The study is examining the predictors of long term outcome in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to understand what their outcomes are like in adolescence and adulthood. While a great deal of important research is focused on early diagnosis and intervention, very little is known about ASD beyond childhood, and what are the early factors at diagnosis that could predict outcomes. The study will be recruiting individuals diagnosed in childhood from Australia’s only state-wide ASD register up to 20 years after their diagnosis. These findings are critically important in helping to understand the nature of lifelong disability in individuals diagnosed with ASD, as well as understanding those factors predicting positive outcomes, to help inform clinical guidance and policy.
Dr Rachel Foong was awarded a Raine Priming Grant for her project entitled ‘Examining environmental risk factors for asthma in Western Australia’. She received $93,397 in funding.
The study will examine how environmental factors play a role in asthma and how gene and environment interactions influence asthma risk in Western Australia. The project aims to:
- Identify early life environmental stressors that impact lung function trajectories and asthma risk using existing data from pooled analysis of a range of comprehensive birth cohort studies;
- Explore the prevalence and severity of asthma as well as trends in asthma management and healthcare utilization in Western Australia; and
- Identify early-life environmental stressors that are risk factors for asthma in Western Australia to direct future interventions.