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.

Friedreichs 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 Friedreichs 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.