The Kids Research Institute Australia

We were thrilled to recently host The Queen of Common Sense parenting, Maggie Dent, for a special podcast with our Head of Youth Mental Health, Associate Professor Yael Perry. With social media restrictions fast approaching, teens and the digital world are at the forefront of many parents’ minds. In this podcast, our experts discuss how to prepare your teen for the restrictions; how to ensure they stay connected to their friends; the subtle signs of cyberbullying; and how to help our kids thrive in a digital world. Subscribers to our newsletter get access first – click the link below to sign up, and get the podcast and video delivered straight to your inbox.  https://lnkd.in/gEQxz6S9

Our research is having an impact! A life-saving meningococcal vaccine covering all five common strains of the deadly disease could soon be available for families. 🚑 A rare but very serious disease, meningococcal can result in death if not treated quickly. 🚑 Children who survive are often left with life-changing health complications such as brain injuries, deafness, severe scarring or amputated limbs. Currently, there is no single vaccine available that covers the five common strains – A, B, C, W and Y. However this may soon change, thanks to vital research conducted by the Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases at The Kids, alongside national and international collaborators. Professor Peter Richmond – Head of the Vaccine Trials Group at the Wesfarmers Centre, Head of Paediatrics at The University of Western Australia’s Medical School and a paediatrician at Perth Children’s Hospital – said currently, parents wanting protection against all five strains must purchase a separate vaccine at a significant cost. “Our aim was to show that a combination ‘pentavalent’ vaccine containing the A, B, C, W and Y strains of meningococcal in one injection was safe,” Professor Richmond said. “Thanks to the success of this research, the combination vaccine was recently approved by the FDA for use in the US for those aged 10 to 25, and we hope to see it licensed in Australia in the near future.” The research is welcomed by families like those of Tahlea, who contracted meningococcal at just six months old. Her mother Chelsea Perrin was told to say goodbye to her beautiful baby girl – but thankfully, Tahlea made it through the first critical 48 hours. Tahlea was left with amputated fingers and toes, scarring to 80% of her body and epilepsy. She also has a brain injury that means she is unable to talk, walk or swallow on her own. Ms Perrin said the introduction of the combination vaccine to the National Immunisation Program would be a game-changer for families. “Meningococcal is not a game, and it doesn’t discriminate – every child deserves full protection against this terrifying disease, and I’m so thankful this research will make that possible.” Read more about this game-changing research in our latest Impact Report: https://shorturl.at/rtVP2   Image courtesy of The West Australian.

We’re thrilled to celebrate three of our incredible researchers who were crowned winners at last night’s 24th Premier’s Science Awards. 🏆 Professor Professor Asha Bowen OAM – Mid-Career Scientist of the Year – recognised for transforming the prevention and treatment of skin infections in Aboriginal children across Australia. 🏆 Shakara Liddelow-Hunt – Student Scientist of the Year – celebrated for pioneering research advancing the mental health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQA+ young people. 🏆 Taleah Ugle – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander STEM Student of the Year – commended for excelling academically while driving meaningful improvements in health outcomes for Aboriginal communities. With nine finalists from a field of 38, it was an exceptional result for The Kids and a powerful endorsement of our commitment to impact-driven research and fostering the next generation of scientific leaders. 👉 Read more about their inspiring work and achievements: https://lnkd.in/g9BiwpHA The University of Western Australia | Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases

Welcome to our latest edition of Research News! Earlier this month, The Kids Research Institute Australia celebrated 35 years of bold ideas and groundbreaking research improving health outcomes for children and families. At a special event at Government House, we launched Behind the Breakthrough - an interactive exhibition showcasing our impact, on display at Central Park until 28 November. This edition also features a national study on Australia’s social media ban, major research achievements and cultural safety in mental healthcare.

Pathological dissociation, or an altered state of awareness ranging from a mild fugue state to complete detachment from your body, impacts approximately 1 in 25 adults. Estimates suggest it is more common in young people, but little is known about how it affects adolescents.     Now, world-first research from The Kids, led by Honorary Research Associate Dr Bronwyn Milkins, has identified that young people use different coping strategies to adults when experiencing a dissociative episode, including the desire to have a friend or family member present to provide reassurance or emotional support.    These findings are being used to help shape tailored support for teens with dissociation, ultimately improving their care and wellbeing.    Read our article on The Conversation: https://shorturl.at/nkb9q 

Premier’s Science Awards Finalist Spotlight: Professor Asha Bowen OAM, Mid-Career Scientist of the Year. Professor Bowen is Head of the Healthy Skin & ARF Prevention team at The Kids and a Paediatric Infectious Diseases Specialist at Perth Children’s Hospital. She has dedicated her career to reducing the burden of skin infections for Aboriginal children and is one of Australia’s leading clinician-scientists. Professor Bowen led the landmark SToP (See, Treat, Prevent) Skin Sores and Scabies Trial in partnership with nine remote Kimberley communities, Australia’s largest community-wide skin infection program, which halved the prevalence of skin sores. She also envisioned and led the National Healthy Skin Guidelines, first released in 2018 and updated in 2023, which has been downloaded more than 15,000 times worldwide and transformed how healthcare workers diagnose and treat skin infections in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families. 💡 The Premier’s Science Awards recognise and celebrate the outstanding scientific research and engagement taking place in Western Australia - and are a keystone in the WA Government’s efforts to raise the profile of science. 👏 We extend our congratulations to all the 2025 finalists. The winners will be revealed at the Premier’s Science Awards ceremony in November.

Whooping Cough Day in 2025 has a special significance to Catherine Hughes AM and her family - it marks a decade of dedication to vaccine advocacy after the loss of their four-week-old baby son Riley in 2015. Through the creation of her advocacy organisation, Immunisation Foundation of Australia, and her strong partnership with researchers at the Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, based at The Kids Research Institute Australia, Mrs Hughes has achieved more in the past 10 years than ever thought possible. We are marking Whooping Cough Day earlier this week by recognising the tremendous impact of Mrs Hughes’ efforts to raise awareness of immunisation against vaccine-preventable diseases. Immunisation Foundation of Australia | #vaccineadvocacy | #LightforRiley | Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases

Living with type 1 diabetes can be exhausting – for kids and their families. It’s a condition that requires round-the-clock monitoring and care, often leading to stress and fatigue. That’s why, today on World Diabetes Day, researchers from the Rio Tinto Children's Diabetes Centre, based at The Kids Research Institute Australia, are proud to launch DiabHQ Patient Portal – an Australian-first app with the potential to transform care for children and families living with diabetes. Co-designed with parents, children and clinicians, DiabHQ brings together everything families need in one place – clinical records, pathology results, appointment details, educational resources and more. It will also help clinicians deliver more personalised care and provide researchers with valuable insights to advance diabetes research and innovation across Australia and beyond. Learn more about DiabHQ 👉 https://shorturl.at/TB6Hh Stan Perron Charitable Foundation | Rio Tinto | Child and Adolescent Health Service | Telethon7 | Breakthrough T1D

We’re delighted to announce four of our early-career researchers have been awarded BrightSpark Foundation Fellowships and project funding for 2026.    These projects will address some of the most pressing health challenges affecting Western Australian children, with bold, community-driven and translational approaches.    Dr Anna Boggiss is co-designing care pathways to enable early intervention and improve outcomes for young people with diabetes at a heightened risk of developing eating disorders.     Dr Noor ul Huda Ghori, PhD is leading a first-of-its-kind study into the wound microbiome and its role in childhood burn recovery, aiming to identify biological markers and test microbiome-based therapeutics to accelerate recovery and reduce scarring.    Mr Alemneh Liyew’s initiative aims to address WA’s lagging childhood influenza vaccination rates, especially in culturally and linguistically diverse communities.     Dr Tamara Veselinović aims to improve auditory environments in early childhood to ensure no child's development is compromised by untreated ear disease, and for greater ear health equity in Aboriginal children.    These projects reflect The Kids commitment to innovation, equity, and collaboration, with families, communities, and healthcare at the centre.    Congratulations to our researchers for leading the way in child health!    You can learn more about these projects here: https://lnkd.in/gFRtGZth   #BrightSparkFellowships | #ResearchImpact | The University of Western Australia | Rio Tinto Children's Diabetes Centre | Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases | Curtin University 

A national study examining the impact of the Federal Government’s upcoming social media ban is being undertaken by The Kids Research Institute Australia, in collaboration with The University of Western Australia (UWA) and Edith Cowan University.    The new laws will prohibit under-16s from having social media accounts from December 10, after which age-restricted platforms must take reasonable steps to prevent them from creating or keeping an account. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube, Kick and Reddit will become age-restricted platforms.     📱 Our researchers will speak to more than 2000 rural, remote and metropolitan parents of 9-15-year-olds pre-ban, to examine how they currently oversee their child’s use of digital media, their knowledge of the restrictions and how they are preparing.     📱 A second round of research in mid-2026 will examine if and how parents are changing their rules, whether the new laws are helping and what benefits or conflicts have arisen in the family.    Professor Kathryn Modecki, PhD, Head of Developmental Science of Mental Health at The Kids, Future Health Research Infrastructure (FHRI) Distinguished Fellow and Professor of Psychological Science at UWA, said the study was using pioneering, best-practice methods.    “This social media ban will be studied by policymakers worldwide, so it is critical we understand its impact,” Professor Modecki said.    Read more: https://shorturl.at/44b2M