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Projects we are raising money for in 2010:
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Application No: 2010-005
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Chief Investigator: Professor Anne Chang
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Project Title: Protracted bacterial bronchitis in children: what is the natural history and role of innate immunity dysfunction?
Our previous studies lead to the first description of protracted bacterial bronchitis (PBB), an important and common cause of chronic cough in children. PBB has been incorporated into Australian and international cough guidelines.
We will study possible underlying mechanisms and clinical outcomes of PBB, a likely antecedent to chronic lung disease, if recurrent. We will undertake in-depth clinical and laboratory studies of blood and airway cells of children with and without recurrent PBB to evaluate several immunity types and function.
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Application No: 2010-039
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Chief Investigator: Dr Jianghong Li
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Project Title: Impact parental work on mental health in Australian children
This interdisciplinary project aims to investigate the impact of parental work patterns on child mental health and to shed new light on the social and economic causes of the high prevalence of mental health problems in children. The future of society and economic prosperity rests in having all children equipped not only physically but also mentally for their participation in society. The goal is to inform policies and innovative interventions to improve the mental health and wellbeing of future generations.
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Application No: 2010-051
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Chief Investigator: Dr Seana Gall
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Project Title: The development of the Childhood Health Orientation Index (CHOI)
We aim to create an index of childhood health orientations, school performance, and educational engagement that will predict health behaviours in adulthood. We will use data already collected as part of the Childhood Determinants of Adult Health (CDAH) study. This study started in 1985 with 8,498 children who were followed-up in 2004-05 when aged 26¬36 years. The project will involve new conceptual development, statistical analysis and modelling of this large and unique dataset.
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Application No: 2010-065
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Chief Investigator: Dr Matthew Kemp
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Project Title: Inflammation of the fetal skin - a potential mediator of preterm birth?
Annually, 8% of all babies in Australia are born premature (preterm). Being born preterm places infants at an increased risk of death and disability. Infection and fetal inflammation are common causes of preterm birth. We suggest that fetal skin may play an important role in the development of fetal inflammation and preterm birth. By studying fetal skin inflammation, we hope to better understand the causes of preterm birth and develop treatments to reduce the consequences of prematurity and fetal inflammation.
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Application No: 2010-066
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Chief Investigator: Dr Mirella Dottori
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Project Title: Generation of Sensory Nerves from Friedreich's Ataxia Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Lines
Friedreich’s Ataxia is an inherited disorder that results in progressive degeneration of the nervous system and the heart. The onset age of symptoms is during childhood and their quality of life is severely hampered. We will use stem cells derived from Friedreich’s Ataxia patients to generate the specific nerve cell types affected in this disease. These studies are very important for developing cellular models of this disease to aid the progression of drug discoveries and well as cell replacement therapies.
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Application No: 2010-080
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Chief Investigator: Associate Professor David Thorburn
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Project Title: Developing Therapies For Mitochondrial Energy Generation Diseases
Mitochondrial diseases are the most common inherited metabolic diseases of childhood. They usually affect brain, heart or muscle but currently lack any effective treatments. We have generated two mouse models of Complex I deficiency, the most common mitochondrial disease, one with heart disease and the other neurological disease. We will determine whether bezafibrate can prevent or retard progression of symptoms in these mice. We anticipate that this will provide strong justification for human treatment trials to improve wellbeing of patients.
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Application No: 2010-099
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Chief Investigator: Dr Julie Leask
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Project Title: Protecting babies from the effects of whooping cough and influenza: a study of maternal vaccination and an educational intervention to improve uptake.
Whooping cough and influenza cause illness and death in infants. These diseases can be better controlled with vaccination of mothers but the majority are not getting vaccinated. Getting a more precise picture of how many women receive these vaccines, and the reasons why many don’t, will help to develop better campaigns. This study will look at what women think, feel and do about vaccination during pregnancy and after giving birth. Using these findings, we will develop an educational tool for women.
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Application No: 2010-137
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Chief Investigator: Dr Kenneth Tan
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Project Title: Oxygen therapy for the preterm infant - optimising delivery
This study aims to develop a computerised system to control oxygen delivery and achieve more optimal oxygen saturation levels in preterm infants. Previous studies suggest that such a system is feasible and our group has expertise that makes it well placed to bring this approach to clinical fruition. If successful the impact on preventing injury to the lungs, eyes and brain is potentially immense.
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Application No: 2010-162
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Chief Investigator: Dr Daniel McCulloch
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Project Title: Defining mechanisms underlying skeletal muscle development and muscular dystrophy
Muscle damage and its inadequate repair leads to fibrosis and atrophy in children with muscular dystrophy. The balance between muscle repair and fibrosis is largely regulated by the extracellular matrix surrounding muscle fibres. Using cell, zebrafish and mouse models, this Project will investigate the role of extracellular matrix enzymes (ADAMTS) in promoting muscle development and repair, and their use as therapeutic agents to improve muscle health in muscular dystrophy.
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Projects we raised money for in 2009:
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Application No: 2009-014
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Chief Investigator: Professor Anne Chang
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Project Title: Improving the management and outcomes for infants hospitalised with bronchiolitis
Bronchiolitis is the most common cause of hospitalisation in infants, particularly Indigenous infants. Furthermore these infants are at greater risk of developing longer term respiratory problems. This study aims to:
1. Assess the ability of azithromycin to improve the immediate and longer term health of babies admitted to hospital with bronchiolitis, and
2. to determine which respiratory bacteria and viruses are a risk to children and how they affect the ability of our children to fight infection.
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Application No: 2009-032
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Chief Investigator: Professor Karen A Waters
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Project Title: Ventilatory Control in Paediatric obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA)
Children with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) have increased surgical risk because they have abnormal breathing responses (VRs). We will test VRs under anaesthetic before surgery or during a sleep study. We will test the breathing responses of infants with cleft palate and older children with OSA. Both groups will be studied before and after their treatment for OSA. If we show that treating OSA corrects VRs we know we can reduce the risk of surgery for these infants and children.
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Application No: 2009-050
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Chief Investigator: Lisa Smithers
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Project Title: Effects of perinatal vitamin D status on maternal and infant health
A mother’s health during pregnancy can have lasting effects on her child’s health. Adequate vitamin D is essential for healthy bones, but it may also influence child development or the risk of allergic diseases like asthma or eczema. We will measure vitamin D levels of 1,500 newborn infants from 4 Australian states, then study whether vitamin D status affects childhood growth, development and allergy. This project will help define vitamin D levels needed for optimal health of Australian children.
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Application No: 2009-055
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Chief Investigator: Dr Kylie M Gray (Vic)
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Project Title: Teaching emotion recognition skills to children with autism
Children with autism have difficulties in understanding the emotions of others, for example facial expressions. These difficulties contribute to the significant problems experienced by children with autism in their interactions with other children and adults. This study aims to test the effectiveness of a programme developed to improve the emotion recognition skills of young children with autism.
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Application No: 2009-091
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Chief Investigator: Professor Andrew Davidson
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Project Title: A randomised trial comparing post-operative behaviours and pain after midazolam or pregabalin premedication in children having day case surgery
Surgery and anaesthesia can be stressful for children. This stress may be demonstrated as anxiety or post-operative behaviour disturbance (POBD). Using a premedication, such as midazolam, usually reduces pre-operative anxiety, but it does not always work. The use of another medication, pregabalin has been promoted in adults both for its anxiolytic and analgesic properties. The aim of this project is to determine if pregabalin is superior to midazolam at reducing POBD, anxiety and post-operative pain in children having day surgery.
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Application No: 2009-094
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Chief Investigator: Naomi Priest
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Project Title: Hearing the voices of Aboriginal children in urban areas about their health and wellbeing - strengths, challenges, and solutions
This project will describe what health and wellbeing means for Aboriginal children from their point of view, hearing their voices, and working with them to develop solutions to challenges they see as priority health and wellbeing concerns. It has been developed in partnership with Aboriginal community members with whom the project team already has strong relationships. It makes an important contribution to closing the gap in outcomes for Aboriginal children and to developing solutions more clearly targeted to their needs.
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Application No: 2009-112
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Chief Investigator: Dr Taher I Omari
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Project Title: A New Diagnostic and therapeutic approach to the management of infantile gastro-oesophageal reflux
Infantile reflux is the most common problematic early childhood condition encountered by doctors. Symptoms of infant reflux are diverse and could be due to a variety of other causes, making it difficult to diagnose and leading to inappropriate and often unnecessary therapies. We will assess the effectiveness of therapies known to reduce reflux acidity or volume by using novel diagnostic systems to determine if symptoms are reflux related and if so, whether symptoms are due to acid or volume reflux.
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Application No: 2009-113
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Chief Investigator: Dr Karen Zwi
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Project Title: Longitudinal study of the health and well being of refugee children over their first two years of settlement
Information about the health needs of refugee children after settlement is scarce and existing research has tended to focus exclusively on either physical health or psychological wellbeing, mostly shortly after arrival. This study involves prospectively following a cohort of newly arrived refugee children for 2 years. The study will assess the physical health and psychological wellbeing of refugee children at regular intervals and will explore pre arrival and post arrival factors that contribute to favourable physical and psychological health outcomes at 2 years.
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Application No: 2009-136
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Chief Investigator: Dr Adrian Lowe
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Project Title: A randomized trial to prevent the development of eczema and asthma in children
Infantile eczema is a common condition, and infants with eczema often develop asthma. Damaged skin caused by eczema probably leads to sensitisation to inhaled allergens and subsequently asthma. Both eczema and asthma may be prevented by improving the infants’ skin-barrier-function in early life. Unlike topical steroids, a new ceramide-based cream has been shown to improve skin barrier function. We will conduct a randomised-controlled-study of a ceramide cream for the prevention of eczema in infants, and eventually childhood asthma.
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Application No: 2009-161
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Chief Investigator: Dr Michael Skilton
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Project Title: Does maternal obesity influence the cardiovascular health of newborns?
We will determine whether maternal obesity during pregnancy is associated with differences in the structure of the newborn’s blood vessels, consistent with a heightened risk of developing heart disease later in life. If so, this will change the perception of obesity, from a problem affecting an individual’s health to one that affects the health of others.
Potential underlying mechanisms will also be determined, including the health of the placenta and blood cholesterol levels, to assist in designing future intervention studies.
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Application No: 2009-180
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Chief Investigator: Harriet Hiscock
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Project Title: Kid Sleep Study: Long-term outcomes of a randomised trial of an infant sleep intervention on child overweight/obesity at school entry
Overweight/obesity affects around 25% of Australian children. New research suggests that shorter sleep duration in early childhood predicts later overweight/obesity. We have shown that a brief intervention suitable for public health uptake improves infant sleep problems. This follow-up study will determine whether it also reduces body mass index (BMI) and waist girth at age 6. Findings will be available by late 2010. If positive, the study will have immediate policy implications for preventing childhood obesity, as well as future research.
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Application No: 2009-181
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Chief Investigator: Professor Melissa Wake
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Project Title: Improving outcomes for children with congenital hearing loss: Wave 3 of the CHIVOS study
The Children with Hearing Impairment in Victoria Outcome Study (CHIVOS) has followed 88 children since diagnosis of congenital hearing loss, supported by the Foundation for Children. After assessments at 7-8 and at 12-13 years, we can now determine what early factors most affect outcomes on the cusp of adulthood (17-18 years): quality of life, language, academic skills, physical and mental health and life views. The longest population study of congenital hearing loss, CHIVOS has important implications for deaf children born today.
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Application No: 2009-204
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Chief Investigator: Dr Dylan Cliff
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Project Title: Wollongong Sport: A community-based after-school activity program for overweight and at-risk of overweight 8-11 year old children
The Wollongong Sport pilot study aims to evaluate the effects of a community-based after-school sports program designed for overweight, obese and at-risk of overweight children and delivered to boys and girls separately. We propose that participation in the gender-specific programs will improve children’s weight status, blood profiles, physical activity participation, fitness, self-esteem and health-related quality of life, after treatment (30 weeks) and at follow-up (12 months), more than participation in a health education program.
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Application No: 2009-223
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Chief Investigator: Professor Grant Townsend
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Project Title: What factors influence the transmission and colonisation of caries-producing bacteria in Australian children?
Tooth decay is a major problem in the Australian community, leading to pain, disability and significant cost. Despite fluoride being present in the water supplies of many cities and considerable public education, the level of dental decay is actually increasing in Australian children.
This project’s research priorities are to collect samples of families’ oral bacteria, DNA and questionnaire information to explain how a person’s genes and their environment can influence the colonisation and transmission of decay-forming bacteria.
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Application No: 2009-225
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Chief Investigator: Professor Maria Craig
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Project Title: How do Enteroviruses cause type 1 diabetes?
Such studies are needed if EV vaccines and antivirals currently being trialled are to be used in the primary prevention of diabetes.
The proposed studies will address some of the major unanswered questions regarding the molecular characteristics of EVs associated with T1DM development. Our studies will also provide important information regarding the molecular characteristics of diabetes-inducing EVs, and may lead to potential identification of putative ‘diabetogenic’ EVs. Because EVs are ubiquitous viruses, the effects of EVs isolated from children with pre-diabetes or diabetes on ß-cell function must be compared with non-diabetogenic EVs. We are the only group in Australia researching the link between EV infection and the prevention of type 1 diabetes. We have internationally recognised research expertise in T1DM, virology and cell biology, and have preliminary results suggesting enterovirus-induced diabetes is strain-dependent (5), as outlined in the research plan below.
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Projects we raised money for in 2008:
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Application No: 2008-003
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Chief Investigator: Professor Louise Baur – NSW
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Project Title: Loozit: A community-based healthy, active living program for overweight and obese young people aged 13-16 years.
The aim of the Loozit study is to determine the effect of extended contact with a group leader over a 2 year period in overweight and obese adolescents attending a community-based weight management group program. We propose that extended contact with a group leader, by phone coaching and a combination of SMS text messages and/or email, will help obese adolescents to achieve and maintain the goals they set and will improve the outcomes of a high quality group weight management program.
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Application No: 2008-009
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Chief Investigator: Professor Jonathan Craig – NSW
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Project Title: ARDAC Second Phase Study – Antecedents of Renal Disease in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Children and Young Adults (a 12 year follow-up study).
Aboriginal Australians have 2 to 10 times the rate of chronic kidney disease and premature death from cardiovascular disease compared with non-Aboriginal Australians. Our 6 year follow-up of Aboriginal children from diverse NSW areas has shown no increase in risk for these diseases when compared with non-Aboriginal children. The Aboriginal Health Worker for whom funding is requested will work with the ARDAC Second Phase Study and follow the participants for another 6 years to determine whether these health disparities start to manifest in young Aboriginal adults.
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Application No: 2008-043
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Chief Investigator: Dr Alla Dolnikov – NSW
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Project Title: Pre-Clinical Development of Ex-Vivo Expanded Haematopoietic Stem Cells Derived From Umbilical Cord Blood For Use in Allogeneic Transplantation.
Use of UCB for transplantation is limited in older children, adolescents and adults because of the low engraftable stem cell dose and can result in high rejection rates, slow recovery of blood cells following transplantation potentially leading to increased rates of life threatening infections or bleeding. A potential solution to this is to develop a strategy to expand engraftable UCB cells prior to transplantation allowing for greater use of UCB for all kids in need of a life saving transplant.
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Application No: 2008-092
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Chief Investigator: Professor Vicki Anderson – VIC
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Project Title: Outcome of head injuries in children injured in the first three years of life; Cognitive, behavioural and social implications.
Children of preschool age and older show severe problems in many areas after a head injury. What effect a head injury has on young children (before 3 years) is currently unknown but is thought that these children have more problems than older children do. This study will look at how young children recover after a head injury and the findings will be used to form programs to help these children before they develop long-lasting social, behavioural and learning difficulties.
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Application No: 2008-142
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Chief Investigator: Dr Harriet Hiscock – VIC
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Project Title: Can a sleep intervention improve child sleep, behaviour, quality of life, and school attendance in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder – a pilot study.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affects up to 7.5% of Australian children. Between 50 and 70% of parents also report that their ADHD child has a sleep problem. Sleep problems are associated with poorer child behaviour, concentration, and school attendance. We want to know if managing sleep problems in ADHD children can improve these outcomes. This pilot will determine the best way to manage sleep problems in ADHD children and results will inform a larger effectiveness trial of this approach.
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Application No: 2008-171
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Chief Investigator: Professor Anne-Louise Ponsonby – VIC
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Project Title: An Investigation of Early Life Determinants of Type 1 Diabetes.
We do not understand why childhood diabetes is increasing rapidly among Australian children. The increase is likely to be due to environment. This project aims to investigate the role of the modern child’s early life environment so that possible adverse risk factors for T1DM (e.g. sun avoidance, adequate exposure to minor infections, diet and child obesity) can be identified and then better advice can be provided to new parents on the optimal child environment required to reduce the risk of type 1 diabetes.
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Application No: 2008-176
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Chief Investigator: Ms Melinda Randall - VIC
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Project Title: Investigating the responsiveness of the Melbourne Assessment of Unilateral Upper Limb Function for children with neurological impairment.
Thirty children aged 2.5 – 15 years with upper limb impairment from cerebral palsy or an acquired brain injury will be administered the Melbourne Assessment on three occasions. Twenty of these children will be receiving intervention to their upper limb and ten children will be in the first six months of recovering from an acquired brain injury. Analysis of assessment scores across the three time points will determine if the scale is sensitive to detecting changes in upper limb abilities.
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Application No: 2008-179
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Chief Investigator: Assoc. Professor Mimi Tang – VIC
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Project Title: Investigation of passive immunity to Streptococcus pneumoniae in indigenous Australian Newborns.
Protection from infection during early life is based on placental transfer of IgG (passive immunity). It is reported that many Australian indigenous infants succumb to ear infections caused by S. Pneumoniae in the first 6 weeks of life. Why does maternal transfer of IgG not protect these infants?
We aim to investigate passive immunity in this group and an indigenous group with similar socio-economic conditions but with no associated problems of ear infection.
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Application No: 2008-197
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Chief Investigator: Dr Sophie Havighurst – VIC
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Project Title: Tuning in to Kids – A community treatment effectiveness trial of an early intervention parenting programme for preventing emotional and behavioural difficulties in preschool children.
Preschool children who fail to understand and regulate their emotions are at risk for mental health and antisocial behaviour problems throughout their lives. Parents play a central role in helping children develop these abilities. The Tuning in to Kids programme teaches parents’ skills that help children learn about and regulate their emotions. The program has already been shown effective when delivered by a research team – the proposed study will evaluate whether Tuning in to Kids is effective in a real-world setting when delivered by staff from community agencies rather than the program developers.
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Application No: 2008-216
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Chief Investigator: Professor Allan W Cripps
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Project Title: Microbial Pathogenesis of Otitis Media
Otitis media is the most prevalent paediatric disease presenting to general practitioners and often requires repeated antibiotic treatment. This project unifies clinical expertise in the treatment of otitis media, molecular virology and microbiology with immunology research expertise and equipment. Using state of the art detection methods, examination of bacterial and viral carriage and immune response within children with otitis media will address fundamental gaps in knowledge that will facilitate development of more effective treatment regimes and prevention strategies.
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Projects we raised money for in 2007:
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Application No: 2007-009
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Chief Investigator: Dr Elise Davis
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Project Title: Developing a quality of life questionnaire for adolescents with cerebral palsy: An extension of the cerebral palsy quality of life questionnaire for children (CP QOL-Child©).
This study aims to develop a quality of life questionnaire for adolescents with cerebral palsy. This questionnaire is essential to evaluate the effectiveness of a range of interventions and to aid in service planning and delivery. This questionnaire is based on our recently developed cerebral palsy quality of life questionnaire for children (CP QOL-Child©), which has been extremely successful and is currently being translated into five different languages and used in several clinical trials.
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Application No: 2007-030
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Chief Investigator: Professor Louise Baur
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Project Title: Loozit: a community-based healthy, active living program for overweight and obese young people aged 13-16 years.
The aim of the Loozit® study is to determine the effect of extended therapeutic contact over a 2 year period in overweight and obese adolescents attending a community-based weight management group program. We propose that extended therapeutic contact, by phone coaching and a combination of SMS text messages and/or email, will help obese adolescents to achieve and maintain the goals they set and will improve the outcomes of a high quality group weight management program.
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Application No: 2007-032
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Chief Investigator: Dr Jeffrey Craig
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Project Title: Monitoring environmental influences on the establishment of the epigenetic landscape during pregnancy and implications for the health of children
We don’t understand how chronic disease develops but evidence is mounting for an origin before birth. It’s possible that that a fetus can be “reprogrammed” in the womb by maternal diet, stress, etc, predisposing it to chronic disease later. A possible mechanism behind this is epigenetics, which involves molecules binding to our DNA and turning our genes on or off. Once identified, epigenetic marks can be changed by diet or drugs, opening up possible new avenues for prevention and therapy.
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Application No: 2007-035
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Chief Investigator: Dr Ngiare Brown
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Project Title: Evaluation of the role and function of an Indigenous Reference Group (IRG) as a model for conducting research involving Indigenous children in the Northern Territory
We will evaluate the role and function of an Indigenous Reference Group (IRG) as a model for conducting research in Indigenous communities. The evaluation will incorporate: direct observation of IRG meetings; semi-structured focus group discussions and interviews involving community representatives and other stakeholders, study participants, IRG members and researchers. Thematic analysis will be used to analyse the qualitative data.
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Application No: 2007-048
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Chief Investigator: Dr Kylie M Gray
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Project Title: Behavioural and emotional problems in young children with developmental delay
Young people with developmental problems suffer from significantly high levels of behaviour and emotional problems. Difficulties present from an early age, persisting over time. To understand how these problems begin and develop treatments, we need to examine these difficulties in young children with developmental delay. This study aims to evaluate a measure to assess behaviour problems in young children with developmental delay, determine how many young children have behaviour problems, and how this impacts their families.
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Application No: 2007-053
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Chief Investigator: Professor Louise Baur
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Project Title: Clinical and community studies of child and adolescent obesity research; a co-ordinated approach
Despite the increasing amount of research into childhood obesity, there is no co-ordinated approach to research in this area, either nationally of internationally. The Australian Child and Adolescent Obesity Research Network (ACAORN) aims to address this problem with an innovative proposal to set up databases of (1) Australian paediatric longitudinal studies related to obesity, (2) treatment trials in childhood obesity for a prospective meta-analysis and (3) measurement tools for diet, physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and measures related to community-based interventions.
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Application No: 2007-060
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Chief Investigator: Dr Ngaire Elwood
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Project Title: Using telomere biology to improve therapy for childhood leukaemia
Today’s challenge is to cure childhood leukaemia without compromising quality of life. We will perform an eighteen-month pilot study to investigate if measurement of chromosome (telomere) biology in leukaemia cells can predict what treatment a child should receive, the response to treatment and whether the child is likely to survive. These findings may allow us to better determine the intensity of therapy required for the treatment of childhood leukaemia, thereby improving patient survival and enhancing long-term quality of life.
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Application No: 2007-082
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Chief Investigator: Professor Tien Y Wong
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Project Title: Are Blood Vessel Changes in the Eye Inherited? A Twin Study in Children
Retinal vessel calibre can be viewed non-invasively in children, and has been linked to heart disease in adulthood. There is new evidence that genetic factors may influence retinal calibre. This study will examine retinal vessel calibre in a population of twin children and compare the correlation of the retinal calibre between identical and non-identical twins. Findings from the study will provide important insights into the genetic determinants of retinal vessel calibre and the development of vascular diseases in early life.
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