Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases

Over 140 researchers, students, support staff, collaborators and community members came together last week for our biennial WCVID retreat. As always, it was a fantastic opportunity to celebrate success, plan for the years ahead and foster professional development in a relaxed environment. A key highlight was hearing from a panel of Aboriginal elders as they shared their thoughts and experience in the research environment. A big thank you goes out to everyone who shared their knowledge on the day, as well as the organisers of yet another excellent retreat! The Kids Research Institute Australia I Christopher Blyth I Sarah Brazier

🏆 Double WCVID win at the 2025 Premier's Science Awards!! 🏆 Congratulations to Professor Asha Bowen OAM and Taleah Ugle who both took out wins at last night's event! Head of our Healthy Skin & ARF Prevention team, Asha was awarded the Mid-Career Scientist of the Year for her dedication to reducing the burden of skin infections for Aboriginal children in Australia. Aspiring doctor and Aboriginal Research Assistant, also from the Healthy Skin & ARF Prevention team, Taleah won the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander STEM Student of the Year category. Congratulations to all of the winners recognised for their contribution to outstanding scientific research and engagement taking place in Western Australia. View the full list of award winners online here 🔗 👇 https://lnkd.in/gHjCpbGG A big round of applause also goes to our WCVID finalists Glenn Pearson, Stephanie Enkel and Michael Dymock 👏 The Kids Research Institute Australia I The University of Western Australia I Child and Adolescent Health Service I Strong Skin

One of the major breakthroughs from the last 35 years ‘thinking of the kids’ at The Kids Research Institute Australia is our work in #RSV prevention. Our Vaccine Trials Group have been part of a global effort to develop a safe and effective RSV #vaccine for the past 25 years, and modelling research by our Infectious Disease Epidemiology team provided the critical evidence to support WA’s nation-first RSV immunisation program in 2024. Ian Anderson went through the horrific experience of watching his son struggle to breathe when Jimmy caught RSV at five months old. “It’s amazing knowing there is now a vaccine that can help other families not be exposed to the trauma we went through,” Ian said. Learn more about our work protecting newborns from RSV and other key breakthroughs profiled in The West Australian here: 🔗 🔒 https://lnkd.in/gDNWrDMJ Hannah Moore OAM I Christopher Blyth I Peter Richmond

Congratulations to Tamara Veselinović - Clinical Research Fellow for our Ear & Hearing Health team!

WCVID investigators participating in a major global study have developed an innovative Cultural Information Hub to maximise cultural safety for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander patients participating in research. Launched this week, the new platform supports hospital recruitment for the Staphylococcus aureus Network Adaptive Platform (SNAP) Trial, which aims to improve outcomes for patients with bloodstream infections. Professor Asha Bowen OAM, Head of our Healthy Skin & ARF Prevention team, identified a gap in cultural knowledge in the clinical trial space during recruitment for the SNAP Trial. “For research trials of this nature to be successful, it is essential to include a wide range of participants, yet many investigators may have insufficient knowledge to safely recruit Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people due to limited levels of cultural awareness training,” Professor Bowen said. “Having access to a dedicated platform designed to support investigators to up-skill and provide confidence and knowledge in cultural safety will play a vital role in our research – encouraging study teams to really consider the needs of participants and elevate opportunities for involvement." Read more about the new Cultural Awareness Hub or check it out online here 👉 https://lnkd.in/gTxb2t4W The Kids Research Institute Australia I The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity I The University of Western Australia I Child and Adolescent Health Service

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, 'on the ground’ efforts attending key events and baby expos nation-wide, and her strong partnership with researchers at the WCVID, Catherine has achieved more in the past 10 years than ever thought possible. We are marking Whooping Cough Day this year by recognising the tremendous impact of Catherine's efforts to raise awareness of immunisation against vaccine-preventable diseases - read more online here 👉 https://lnkd.in/eCkVHdU4 The Kids Research Institute Australia I Christopher Blyth I Jacqui Hume

Such an important message in this The Conversation Australia + NZ piece by Stephanie Enkel, Professor Asha Bowen OAM, Hannah Thomas and Rachel Burgess - how can you have good health without good homes?

Spotlight on Professor Asha Bowen OAM - finalist for Mid-Career Scientist of the Year at this year's Premier's Science Awards! Asha is Head of the WCVID Healthy Skin & ARF Prevention team, based at The Kids Research Institute Australia, a Paediatric Infectious Diseases Specialist at Perth Children’s Hospital, and Clinical Professor with The University of Western Australia Medical School. Asha has dedicated her career to reducing the burden of skin infections in Aboriginal children and is one of Australia’s leading clinician-scientists. She led the landmark SToP (See, Treat, Prevent Skin Sores and Scabies) Trial in partnership with nine remote Kimberley communities. SToP is Australia’s largest community-wide skin infection program, which successfully halved the prevalence of skin sores in remote #Aboriginal kids. Asha 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 recognise, diagnose and treat skin infections in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families. People's Choice Award nominations are open until 10 November - vote for Asha online here 👉 https://lnkd.in/gEuqNkDr Meet the 2025 finalists here 👉 https://lnkd.in/gVYXyEiZ Good luck Asha! Child and Adolescent Health Service I Strong Skin

The seminal piece of my PhD '"You can't heal yourself in that setting and you wouldn't expect other people in this country to": Yarning about housing and environmental health in remote Aboriginal communities of Western Australia' has now been published. This piece dives deep into the structural and environmental foundations of health in remote communities. This work grew out of my time with remote communities in the Kimberley — on Yawuru, Kukatja, Walmatjarri, Gija, Karrajarri, Bardi and Nyul Nyul Country. Through yarning sessions with over 200 people, my team and I shifted the lens from focusing on the bug (Strep A) to what really drives transmission risk: the home, the taps and pipes, crowding, repairs and the systems meant to keep them working. Key points I hope this work shines light on: 🏡 Housing conditions in remote settings are active determinants of health, wellbeing and opportunity. 🚿 Services exist to respond to environmental health challenges (water, sanitation, crowding, pests) but greater investment is urgently required. 🗣️ Co-designed research (listening, yarning, relational methods) offers richer insights and more respectful collaborations than conventional models. 💬 Improvement isn’t about ticking boxes. It’s about responding to what communities say matters and building pathways grounded in local voice, strength and leadership. 🤝 Equity is non-negotiable: what is standard in Perth, Sydney or Melbourne; safe water, reliable plumbing, uncrowded, pest-free homes and timely repairs, must also be standard for families living in remote communities. There’s so much to do. Preventing infections like Strep A isn't just about medicine; it's about equity, housing and respect. It's about making sure people have what they need to live with dignity and in a manner that enhances their wellbeing. I’m hopeful this paper acts as a springboard for policy, practice and further research, centering lived experience and participant voice at the centre. To everyone who supported this work, I am deeply grateful and so thrilled to see our collective achievement finally out in the world. If you’re interested in the findings or how this can translate into policy or practice, I’d love to connect. Our paper was recently profiled by National Indigenous Times, linked below, or you can read the full article here ➡️ https://lnkd.in/dMzm3cMv https://lnkd.in/dsNqhwjt

Spotlight on Associate Professor Glenn Pearson - finalist for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Scientist of the Year at this year's Premier's Science Awards! Glenn is Associate Professor at The University of Western Australia, and has a number of roles at The Kids Research Institute Australia, including Director of First Nations Strategy and Leadership, Head of First Nations Health and Equity Theme and Co-lead of the WCVID Strep A Translation team. He has led the integration of Aboriginal health across all research programs, with the expectation that the health of #Aboriginal kids is everyone’s business. Glenn's work involves ensuring that all researchers adopt robust and culturally respectful processes, where Aboriginal people are not just considered in research but are drivers and leaders of the research affecting them and their families. He is an investigator for the Australian Alliance for Indigenous Genomics (ALIGN) and the Western Australian Aboriginal Child Health Survey (WAACHS), as well as the Indigenous lead of the Australia Strep A Vaccine Alliance (ASAVI) among a broader range of #StrepA/#RHD research projects. People's Choice Award nominations are open until 10 November - vote for Glenn online here 👉 https://lnkd.in/gEuqNkDr Meet the 2025 finalists here 👉 https://lnkd.in/gVYXyEiZ Best of luck Glenn!