New funding from the Stan Perron Charitable Foundation will support innovative research projects and programs at The Kids Research Institute Australia with the aim of improving the health and wellbeing of WA children and their families.
The Stan Perron Charitable Foundation has a long tradition of funding Western Australian research that aims to solve problems and deliver tangible outcomes that will benefit children, adolescents or young people.
Ten Institute researchers and projects have been awarded funding in the Foundation’s latest round of People and Platform grants designed to support outstanding health-related research.
Two Programs and Partnerships grants have also been awarded for major research programs that are collaborative and outcome-driven for up to five years.
The Kids Research Institute Australia Executive Director Professor Jonathan Carapetis AM, said the support of the Foundation had been invaluable over many years.
“For three decades, the Stan Perron Charitable Foundation has been a passionate supporter of research to improve the health and wellbeing of Western Australian children,” Professor Carapetis said.
“The vision of the Foundation very much aligns with the vision of the Institute in that we are both committed to see every child live their healthiest and happiest life possible and to reach their potential.”
“The Kids Research Institute Australia is deeply grateful for the Foundation’s continued commitment to support West Australian research,” Professor Carapetis said.
Researchers from The Kids Research Institute Australia to receive People grants in this round are:
- Associate Professor Francis Mitrou will be working on how to prevent deep and persistent disadvantage, reducing mental health problems in young people, and improving the health, education, community and justice outcomes for Aboriginal children and families in Western Australia.
- Dr Janessa Pickering is investigating new ways to prevent Rheumatic Heart Disease in children.
- Dr Thomas Iosifidis’ work looks at enhancing airway repair to prevent respiratory deterioration in children with asthma.
- Dr Gina Trapp is focused on feeding the future: Improving children’s nutritional health and wellbeing through innovative food environment interventions.
- Dr Jonatan Leffler is discovering how to improve clinical care by identifying how sex hormones change the immune system.
Researchers from The Kids Research Institute Australia to receive Platform grants in this round are:
- Professor Desiree Silva, Co-Director of the ORIGINS Project and Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Western Australia and Joondalup Health Campus will be Enhancing the ORIGINS platform: from early life to early childhood. Other researchers involved in this project are Professor Susan Prescott, Professor Andrew Whitehouse, Professor Cath Elliott, Associate Professor Debbie Palmer, Dr Lisa Gibson, Dr Nina D’Vaz, Sarah Whalan, Jackie Davis, Ravisha Srinivasjois
- Associate Professor Brad Farrant, Co-Head of the Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing team is focusing on how environmental changes pose great risk to the health and wellbeing of children and families through ‘Local Communities of Practice for Healthy Environments and Lives’. Other researchers involved in this project are Dr Mara West, Dr Noel Nannup, Caitlyn Wyrwoll, Naomi Godden, Lynette Dimer, Emma-Lei Synnott, Jaime Yallup Farrant, Associate Professor Alex Larcombe, Professor Peter Le Souef.
- Dr Emma Glasson, Senior Research Fellow is managing The IDEA (Intellectual Disability Exploring Answers) Database. Other researchers involved in this project are Professor Helen Leonard and Jenny Bourke.
- Professor Aleksandra Filipovska, Louis Landau Chair in Child Health Research, NHMRC Leadership Fellow, Deputy Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Synthetic Biology and Adjunct Research Professor Monash University is discovering Diagnosis and treatment pathways for metabolic diseases in Western Australian children using the Seahorse Analyser XF Pro. Other researchers involved in this project are Professor Oliver Rackham and Dr Tara Richman.
- Belinda Frank and Anne McKenzie will be championing Consumer and Community Involvement in Health Research by further developing the community involvement training platform.
The Kids Research Institute Australia Programs to receive grants are:
- The STAMP (Surveillance-Transmission-Attitudes-Modelling and Policy) RSV Program led by Chief Investigator Associate Professor Hannah Moore
- Establishing a novel therapeutics pipeline to treat antibiotic resistant infections in children led by Chief Investigator Associate Professor Anthony Kicic