RESEARCH UNDERWAY FOR A HEALTHIER, HAPPIER WESTERN AUSTRALIA

 

The Stan Perron Charitable Foundation has announced funding for 16 new initiatives through its latest round of Health Research Grants.

The Foundation’s People and Platforms grants are intended to support individual researchers and platforms that enhance Western Australia’s capacity for medical and scientific research.

Each round of applications is reviewed by the Board of Directors in collaboration with a panel of medical and scientific experts, including the Foundation’s Manager — Research and Evaluation, Dr Barbara Sheil.

Foundation Chair Elizabeth Perron said the grants were consistent with the Foundation’s objective to focus on initiatives that could provide the greatest impact.

“While the amounts involved are important, what matters most is the potential for genuine improvement in the lives of children and families battling illness, disability and disadvantage related to their health,” Elizabeth said.

In keeping with the Foundation’s principles of giving, successful applicants must demonstrate that their work will make substantive and verifiable contributions to improving the health and well-being of young Western Australians.

The initiatives funded this year include:

  • Starter grant programs promoting early career researchers in child health

  • Edible supplement designed to improve the comfort and safety of children undergoing surgery

  • Health impacts of water contamination on women and children in remote or regional communities

  • Immunotherapy treatments for paediatric cancer

  • Virtual modelling to develop treatments for COVID-19 in children and young people

  • Diabetes data management platform for patients and families, researchers and clinicians

  • A roadmap for improving quality of life in children with disability

  • Digital interventions to improve the mental health of LGBTQA+ young people in Western Australia

  • Training and support for Aboriginal staff and students at the Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases

  • Arresting and reversing lung disease among Western Australians born prematurely

  • Early warning system for children undergoing hospital treatment

  • Improved treatment of pain in children and adolescents

  • Impacts of family and domestic violence on children’s health and well-being

In addition, the Foundation approved three Programs and Partnerships initiatives, including:

Prof Tobias Strunk (UWA)

Can Pentoxifylline improve long-term outcomes in preterm infants with late-onset sepsis or necrotizing enterocolitis? Completing the international PROTECT trial

Dr Peter Arrow (North Metropolitan Health Service)

The use of Silver Fluoride and Teledentistry to manage and prevent childhood dental decay among Aboriginal children in remote communities

Dr Adam Edwards (Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science)

Neuroprotection and neuroimaging: reducing the burden of Neonatal Encephalopathy

A complete list of the recipients supported by the 2022 Health Research Grants program can be found here.

Published: January 2022

 
Megan Putland