Grants offer career boost to help women make their mark in paediatric research

Queensland women committed to working wonders in the field of paediatric research are encouraged to apply for funding of up to $50,000 from the Children’s Hospital Foundation as part of its Mary McConnel Career Boost Program.

Leaders in paediatric healthcare and research came together today for International Women’s Day at a breakfast hosted by the Children’s Hospital Foundation. The breakfast celebrated last year’s recipients – female researchers at the forefront of innovation in paediatric care.

In the inaugural 2018 grant round, the Foundation invested more than $438,000 funding in nine outstanding female researchers working to improve healthcare outcomes for sick and injured children. The successful applicants were:

• Dr Helen Petsky – Improving the clinical interpretation of fractional exhaled nitric oxide in children
• A/Prof Amanda Ullman – Transforming paediatric vascular access for the patient, families, clinicians and health service
• Dr Severine Navarro – Comparison of the influence of Western lifestyle and parasite infection on breastmilk and microbiome composition in mother/baby dyads
• Dr Leanne Sakzewski – Novel rehabilitation to improve outcomes for children with cerebral palsy
• Dr Zephanie Tyack – Advancing the management of children with skin conditions including burns scars
• Dr Debbie Long – Paediatric neurodevelopmental outcomes following nitric oxide bypass in infants undergoing cardiac surgery: a randomised controlled trial
• Dr Natalie Bradford – Development of a research program to support children, adolescents and families with cancer or palliative care needs
• Dr Suzanne Parker – Advanced treatment of infectious diseases for critically ill children, through innovation in blood sampling
• Dr Emma Hamilton-Williams – Maintaining immune tolerance to prevent type 1 diabetes

Today’s event also saw the Children’s Hospital Foundation launch the Mary McConnel Networking Group.  The networking group will comprise grant recipients and mentors from the Mary McConnel Career Boost Program for Women in Paediatric Research and will facilitate the sharing of knowledge, experience and expertise electronically and at biannual networking events.

Grant recipients from prior grant rounds will act in a mentorship role for new grant recipients, with the aim to foster the new generation of researchers who share the passion of improving health outcomes for children.

The Mary McConnel Boost Program for Women in Paediatric Research program honours Queenslander Mary McConnel, who campaigned for and established the state’s first children’s hospital in Brisbane in 1878.

Applications for the 2019 grant round are open until 5pm, 20 March 2019. For more information, please visit http://bit.ly/CurrentGrants