Search

Government funding for innovative sun safety online tool for teens

The Kids researcher Dr Shelley Gorman has received a Healthway grant to develop an online tool to promote safe sun behaviours to teenagers.

Beneficial health effects of ultraviolet radiation: expert review and conference report

Carcinogenic effects of ultraviolet radiation (UVR) with reference to skin cancer are the basis of widely implemented recommendations to avoid sun exposure. Whether the benefits of "restrictive sun policies" outweigh their potential harms due to diminished beneficial effects of sunlight exposure remain a matter of controversy.  

A Gender Lens on User Quality Ratings From Young Teenagers Assessing the Sun Safe App: Comparing Responses From Co-researchers and Participants of Pilot Intervention Studies

We developed the iOS smartphone app Sun Safe to support healthy sun practices in young teenagers (aged 12-13 years). The production involved co-design with young co-researchers (ie, aged 12-13 years) with a health message of using sun protection when the UV index is ≥3. Important features include real-time and location-specific weather data on the UV index and gamified educational content.

Research symposium to hear how sunscreens proved no threat to vitamin D production in recent European study

Leading international and national experts will gather at The Kids Research Institute Australia on Friday for a D-Light Research Symposium.

UV and Vitamin D

Researchers at The Kids Research Institute Australia are continuing to hone in on the effects of ultraviolet radiation and vitamin D on the immune system.

Sun safe: balancing the risks and benefits

The D-Light program, set up in 2014, aims to shed light on the amount of sun exposure that will promote good health in children and adolescents.

Developmental vitamin D deficiency increases foetal exposure to testosterone

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a group of neurodevelopmental disorders which are more common in males. The 'prenatal sex steroid' hypothesis links excessive sex-steroid exposure during foetal life with the behavioural differences observed in ASD. However, the reason why sex steroid exposure may be excessive remains unclear. Epidemiological studies have identified several environmental risk factors associated with ASD, including developmental vitamin D (DVD) deficiency.

Professor Prue Hart

Head, Inflammation

UV exposure and protection against allergic airways disease

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the small and large conducting airway mucosa characterised by Th2 cell immunity.

House dust mite induced lung inflammation does not alter circulating vitamin D levels

We hypothesized that allergic inflammation decreases the level of circulating 25(OH)D and tested this using a mice model of house dust mite (HDM) induced...