Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network (SCHN) researchers have had great success in the latest rounds of investigator grants from the Medical Research Future Funds (MRFF), with up to $14.5 million awarded for paediatric health and medical research projects.

These grants will further drive innovation and research into areas such as childhood asthma, cancer, Cerebral Palsy and trauma care. The grant successes are a shared celebration with our partner universities and institutes, including the University of Sydney, University of NSW, Macquarie University and Griffith University.

MRFF grants aim to transform health and medical research and innovation to improve lives, build the economy and contribute to health system sustainability.

Our grant recipients were:

MRFF 2023 Early to Mid-Career Researchers

• Prof Tom Snelling, University of Sydney, was awarded $470,000 to investigate how AI can improve decision-making and outcomes for children with pneumonia. Prof Snelling is an infectious diseases physician at the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network.

MRFF 2023 Clinician Researchers Applied Research in Health

• A/Prof Susan Adams, University of New South Wales, was awarded $1.45 million to research ways to improve paediatric trauma care. A/Prof Adams is a researcher with the Centre for Trauma, Care, Prevention, Education and Research (CTCPER) at Kids Research.
• Prof Russell Dale, Dr Simon Paget, Dr Timothy Scott and Dr Laurel Mimmo, University of Sydney, were awarded $1.46 million to explore equitable pathways and integrated care in Cerebral Palsy. Prof Dale is the research lead of the Clinical Neuroimmunology group, Kids Neuroscience Centre at Kids Research. Dr Paget is a rehabilitation specialist at Kids Rehab, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead. Dr Scott is a rehabilitation specialist at Rehab2Kids, Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick. Laurel Mimmo is a senior research fellow and nurse in the Nursing Research Unit at Kids Research.
• Dr Ursula Sansom-Daly, University of New South Wales, was awarded $1.47 million to look how a new model of care could improve the quality of life for young people with cancer through integrated patient-centred palliative care. Dr Sansom-Daly is a research lead at the Behavioural Sciences Unit at Kids Research.

MRFF 2023 Rapid Applied Research Translation

• Prof Adam Jaffe, Macquarie University, was awarded $4.98 million for a research translation initiative to transform the care for children with asthma, type 1 diabetes and antibiotic overuse. Prof Jaffe is a paediatric respiratory researcher with the Respiratory Research Group at Kids Research.

MRFF 2023 Consumer-Led Research

• Dr Laurel Mimmo, Macquarie University, was awarded $1 million to improve healthcare quality and outcomes for people with intellectual disability. Laurel Mimmo is a senior research fellow and nurse in the Nursing Research Unit at Kids Research.

MRFF 2022 Research Data Infrastructure Grant

• Dr Leanne Dwan, Griffith University, was awarded $2.5 million to inform treatment in Cerebral Palsy through a national data infrastructure across Australian clinical gait analysis services. Dr Dwan is a clinical biomechanist with the Neuropathy research group, Kids Neuroscience Centre and the Paediatric Gait Analysis Lab at Kids Research.

MRFF 2022 Genomic Health Futures

• Dr Alan Ma, Clinical Prof Kristi Jones, Prof Robyn Jamieson and Ms Kirsten Boggs, University of Sydney was awarded $1.9 million to improve clinical capacity for genomics in primary care. Dr Ma is a clinical geneticist and research lead of the Genomic Implementation Research Unit at Kids Research. Clinical Prof Jones is the clinical lead of the Clinical Trial and Clinical Research group, Kids Neuroscience Centre at Kids Research. Prof Jamieson is the head of the Western Sydney Genetics Program and Eye Genetics Research Unit at Kids Research. Ms Boggs is a senior genetics counsellor at the Sydney Children's Hospitals Network.

This accomplishment is a testament to the longstanding partnerships and dedicated SCHN research body, Kids Research.

Congratulations to all the grant recipients!