$4 million to fund healthier futures for WA kids

Friday, 2 September 2016

• Fourth round of Telethon-Perth Children's Hospital Research Fund grants
• 15 projects supported, including diet, obesity, cancer and diabetes studies
• New projects keep WA at forefront of health science 

Fifteen outstanding child health research projects will benefit from $4 million in grants from the Telethon-Perth Children's Hospital Research Fund (TPCHRF).

Announcing the successful 2016 applicants today, Health Minister John Day said the grants had been awarded across two streams - one supporting short-term research initiatives to improve the health of Western Australian children and adolescents, and the other for strategic projects to lift the capacity of the State's child and adolescent health research sector. 

"From diet and obesity to cancer research, these are all projects with exciting potential to make life better for our children," Mr Day said.

"Babies will potentially benefit from three of the studies, focusing on pre-term birth, whooping cough immunisation and how regular sleep patterns can improve health outcomes.

"Longer-term research projects should also provide benefits in the fields of Type 1 diabetes, personalised medicine and unlocking more of the bacterial secrets of the human body."

The Minister said the 15 studies selected had been chosen from a field of 77 strong applications.

"Research is the cornerstone of a world-class health system and each of these scientific teams is to be congratulated on its success," he said.

"These projects will enable us to implement preventive health measures, improve patient care and ultimately lift the health and wellbeing of children and young people in WA, as well as contributing to improved child health across the world."

The TPCHRF is a collaboration of the Department of Health and the Channel 7 Telethon Trust.

Since the fund's establishment in 2012, the Department of Health and Channel 7 Telethon Trust have each contributed $7 million.

Fact File

• The Liberal National Government and Channel 7 Telethon Trust each contribute half of the $4 million annual research fund allocation
• Stream One projects can be awarded up to $250,000 and must be completed within two years
• Stream Two projects can receive up to $500,000 and must be completed within three years
• The establishment of the TPCHRF was announced by the Premier and former Minister for Health in 2012 during the Telethon Appeal 

Stream One Projects

1. Minimum Intervention Dentistry - Atraumatic Restorative Treatment-based (ART-based) Approach to Manage Early Childhood Caries
   Co-ordinating Principal Investigator (CPI):  Dr Peter Arrow
   Administering Institution (AI):  Dental Health Services
2. Exploiting the cell cycle to improve treatment efficacy in childhood brain tumours
   CPI:  A/Professor Nicholas Gottardo
   AI:  Princess Margaret Hospital/The University of Western Australia
3. Rapid culture-independent diagnosis of paediatric meningitis and encephalitis
   CPI:  Dr Timothy Inglis
   AI:  PathWest Laboratory Medicine WA/Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital
4. Developing simple markers of respiratory and immune system gene-expression signatures to predict clinical course and response to treatment in children with acute severe wheezing - a crucial step in the translational medicine pipeline for personalised medicine
   CPI:  Dr Ingrid Laing
   AI:  The University of Western Australia
5. A cohort study of otitis media in young urban Aboriginal children - prevalence, risk factors and consequences
   CPI:  Clinical A/Professor Deborah Lehmann
   AI:  Telethon Kids Institute
6. Penicillin-Yes, please! De-labelling WA children
   CPI:  A/Professor Michaela Lucas
   AI:  Princess Margaret Hospital
7. WA ATOM pilot study; Atropine treatment of myopia
   CPI:  Professor David Mackey
   AI:  Lions Eye Institute
8. The CIRCA DIEM Trial: Reintroducing circadian cues to decrease length of stay, improve growth and metabolic outcomes in preterm neonates
   CPI:  Dr Peter Mark
   AI:  The University of Western Australia
9. Regular fat versus reduced fat dairy consumption: a pilot study of effects on cardiometabolic and gut health in young children
   CPI:  Dr Therese O'Sullivan
   AI:  Edith Cowan University
10. Targeting Treatment Success to Prevent Preterm Birth
    CPI:  A/Professor Craig Pennell
    AI:  The University of Western Australia
11. Impact of Maternal Pertussis Immunisation On Infant Vaccine Responses
    CPI:  A/Professor Peter Richmond
    AI:  The University of Western Australia
12. Energy drinks: an emerging health risk for children and adolescents
    CPI:  Dr Gina Trapp
    AI:  Telethon Kids Institute
    
    

Stream Two Projects

1. Building a Shared Research Database for All of Life Monitoring of Long-term Outcomes in Patients with Type 1 Diabetes
   CPI:  Professor Tim Jones
   AI:  Princess Margaret Hospital/The University of Western Australia/Telethon Kids Institute
2. Establishing the West Australian Human Microbiome Collaborating Centre (WAHMCC): Positioning W.A. as a leading international centre studying human microbial ecologies and their impact on the life course
   CPI:  Professor Fergal O'Gara
   AI:  Curtin University of Technology
3. Building capacity in systems and computational biology to facilitate precision medicine in children
   CPI:  Professor Stephen Stick
   AI:  Telethon Kids Institute.