IMPROVING THE LIVES OF WA CHILDREN

 
Health research droplet

Health research droplet

The Stan Perron Charitable Foundation has formally announced funding support for 15 major research platforms, programs and partnerships aimed at improving the health of children.

Foundation Chair, Elizabeth Perron said the awarding of the grants followed an extensive application and assessment process, which included, for the first time, valued input from the Foundation’s recently established Health Research Advisory Panel.

“Led by Professor Gervase Chaney, the advisory panel of eminent medical researchers assessed the applications received and provided expert advice to the Foundation Trustees in the final selection process,” Elizabeth said.

“In doing this we were mindful that there are many planned or current research proposals of great merit and it was important that we had a rigorous process in place to ensure the proposed research outcomes matched as closely as possible the guiding principles of the Foundation,” she said.

“My father, the late Stan Perron had a great passion for improving the health and well-being of Western Australian children, which is what led to the establishment of this specific stream of funding for larger-scale medical research proposals.

“Many of the initiatives involve researchers across many institutions and research organisations collaborating to address a wide range of conditions facing children both physically and mentally.

“This is particularly important to the Foundation because we are keen to ensure health research in our community is appropriately coordinated and brings together the best minds to jointly find solutions for complex challenges.”

As such, researchers benefiting from the health grants include experts affiliated or working directly with a wide range of research, community and health institutions.

The projects funded for 2020 include:

  • Research by a team at the University of Western Australia aimed at reducing self-harm and suicidal behaviours among young people in WA;

  • A study helping mothers to have confidence in successfully breast feeding their newborn children;

  • A collaboration among researchers from a range of institutions to develop and evaluate a program to help school children impacted by adversity or trauma;

  • Research to understand how medical therapies focused on the thyroid can be used to help children with autism spectrum disorder.

  • A project to improve professional guidelines and practice for child protection agencies and health services when they need to intervene to protect infants, especially newborn children;

  • Supporting a WA-led international program to improve the health outcomes of babies born prematurely;

  • Support for the Stan and Jean Perron Awards at the Telethon Kids Institute to ensure the attraction and retention of highly qualified and experienced researchers;

  • Supporting the work of the Telethon Kids Cancer Centre in developing immune therapies to fight childhood cancer;

  • Funding for the Lyfe Languages initiative using language to transform the culturally appropriate diagnosis and care of First Nations children and young people;

  • A grant to enable the purchase of much needed equipment and qualified staff to support the work of new Western Australian National Imaging Facility Node;

  • The Perron Paediatric Retinopathy initiative at the Lions Eye Institute to save the sight of children and young people at risk of going blind due to eye disease;

  • The implementation of practical health promotion programs to prevent chronic disease in remote Aboriginal communities;

  • A novel study seeking to discover a safe and effective probiotic treatment for premature babies

  • Genomic treatments for currently incurable neuromuscular disorders affecting children; and

  • Work to establish an evidence base for exercise as a therapy to treat the one in five Australian children struggling with chronic diseases such diabetes, cerebral palsy, cancer or burns related injuries.

WA based researchers benefiting from the health grants include experts affiliated or working directly with a wide range of research, community and health institutions including the following:

  • The University of WA

  • Edith Cowan University

  • Curtin University

  • Telethon Kids Institute

  • Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research

  • Child and Adolescent Health Service

  • Murdoch University

  • Foodbank WA

  • North Metropolitan Health Service

  • Women and Infants Research Foundation

  • Perth Children’s Hospital

  • WA Department of Health

  • Genetic Services WA

  • WA Health Translation Network

  • Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital

  • Royal Perth Hospital

  • Derby Aboriginal Health Service

  • Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services Ltd

  • North West Remote Health

  • Fiona Wood Foundation

  • Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service

For a full list of research grant recipients, click here

 
Megan Putland