Researchers from The University of Western Australia have been awarded grants to continue research in childhood diabetes' diagnosis, asthma, pain management, skin health and treatment for preterm babies.
The grants from the WA Child Health Research Fund of up to $ 600,000 each were awarded to Professor Jane Pillow, Dr Bernadette Ricciardo, Associate Professor David Sommerfield, Dr David Hancock and Professor Chandra Balaratnasingam.
Professor Pillow, from UWA's School of Human Sciences and The Kids Research Institute Australia, will follow up on a study that examined whether simulating a natural day–night environment in hospital could help establish healthy circadian rhythms in WA children who were born preterm.
The grant will assess the sight, hearing, sleep, lung function and general wellbeing of the children – who are now five to seven years of age – to determine if those who received the day–night intervention have better outcomes than those who received standard care.
Funding for Dr Ricciardo, from UWA and The Kids, will go toward developing an inpatient Aboriginal health practitioner-led skin health assessment and research evaluation initiative for Aboriginal children at Perth Children's Hospital.
Dr Riccardio's team have designed a novel model of care: Moorditj Marp – SHARE, where Aboriginal children will be offered inpatient skin health assessment, dermatology treatment and education by an Aboriginal Health Practitioner.
Associate Professor Sommerfield, from UWA's Medical School and The Kids, received fund to investigate potentially safer, more effective pain management alternatives for children following surgery to remove their tonsils.
Dr Sommerfield's team aims to assess the safety and health outcomes of a novel opioid-free postoperative treatment option, by comparing clonidine versus opioids to manage pain in children in a randomised controlled trial at Perth Children's Hospital.
Dr Hancock, from UWA's Medical School and Wal-yan Respiratory Centre, will focus on early identification of asthma risk using interferon-based diagnostics.
Wheezing disorders affect up to 30 to 40 per cent of WA children but is clinically challenging to identify children who will experience recurrent wheezing and life-long asthma.
The project aims to progress development of an 'interferon' diagnostic test to predict future asthma risk, by extending the initial observations into additional birth cohorts.
Professor Balaratnasingam, from UWA's Medical School and the Lions Eye Institute, is leading a project to examine whether the retina can reveal early signs of organ damage in children with diabetes.
The team has developed an eye imaging tool to detect early signs of injury to the retina of the eye, which in turn can reveal damage to organs elsewhere in the body.
The fund was established by the Department of Health and the Channel 7 Telethon Trust in 2012 to provide financial support to research projects that focus on the health of children and adolescents in WA.
