The Kids Research Institute Australia

11/12/2025

Your questions about autism, answered!

Two of our leading autism researchers – Professor Andrew Whitehouse, Deputy Director of Research at The Kids and Director of CliniKids, and Professor David Trembath, Head of Autism Research, Senior Principal Research Fellow, CliniKids – recently hosted a community webinar exploring the latest developments in autism research.

They answered community questions on everything from early supports and neurodiversity to communication and practical ways to better support parents and carers of autistic children.

🎥 Watch the full webinar here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRWnar9nDq8

CliniKids

11/12/2025

Co-Head of Brain Tumour Research at The Kids, Professor Nick Gottardo, recently spoke with Cancer Council Western Australia about his research into finding kinder and more effective treatments for kids with brain cancer.

In this piece, Professor Gottardo discusses how his research project has found several new drugs that will soon be used in clinical trials to support happier, healthier kids. 💛

“The beauty of collaboration is that discoveries made in Perth can help children both here and all around the world.”

We spoke with Professor Nick Gottardo from The Kids Research Institute Australia about his research into finding new ways to make current childhood brain cancer treatments kinder and more effective.

To read more about Professor Gottardo's work, visit the link below.
https://bit.ly/4pnzv73

10/12/2025

Social media restrictions for under-16s come into effect today – and for families of young people, this means some big changes.

So, we asked one of our researchers for expert advice on navigating the digital world with young people, especially as many of them are still using technology.

Professor Kathryn Modecki, Head of Developmental Science of Mental Health at The Kids, Future Health Research Infrastructure (FHRI) Distinguished Fellow and Professor of Psychological Science at The University of Western Australia, has been streaming data from adolescents’ phones for over 10 years.

She has three tips:
📱 Build communication with your child
📱 Chat about privacy
📱 Boost your digital literacy

Beacon is an evidence-based tool designed for parents and carers to help their children around technology use: https://beacon.thekids.org.au/

09/12/2025

Are you ready to take a deep dive into the challenges facing teens in a digital world?

While Australian Government restrictions will limit social media access from tomorrow, kids will still be online and confronting issues not faced by previous generations.

Join parenting expert and The Kids ambassador, Maggie Dent, as she chats with our Head of Youth Mental Health, Associate Professor Yael Perry, about how parents and caregivers can support their teens to thrive in this challenging landscape.

This special podcast episode is now available for everyone to download via this link: https://shorturl.at/czvdK

05/12/2025

🌟 Happy International Volunteer Day! 🌟

Today, we’re celebrating the incredible volunteers who help bring our vision of happy, healthy kids to life.

From coordinating activities in our Discovery Centre to supporting our schools and outreach programs, our volunteers continue to show up with passion, expertise and generosity.

Their impact across the year has been extraordinary, and we’re so proud to share just how much they’ve contributed to our cause.

To every volunteer: thank you. Your time, energy and heart make all the difference. 💛

04/12/2025

🌟 $1.5 million funding to advance translational research outcomes in early childhood and family health.

ORIGINS, Australia’s largest longitudinal cohort study of its kind, has received funding from the Minderoo Foundation to support postdoctoral research positions leading interventional studies, a unique feature of ORIGINS which enables real-time feedback to families.

Dr Jackie Davis, ORIGINS Co-Director, said the funding will be pivotal in enabling expert researchers to navigate and harness more than 400,000 biological samples from the ORIGINS Biobank and 30 million data points within its Data Catalogue to deliver meaningful research outcomes that improve the lives of Australian families.

“By embedding interventional research at the heart of ORIGINS, our vision is to empower every child and family with the strongest start in life, creating healthier communities and shape lifelong flourishing for generations to come,” Dr Davis said.

Learn more here: https://shorturl.at/guzHJ

Ramsay Health Care | Joondalup Health Campus Public & Private

04/12/2025

The teenage years can be particularly challenging for boys, according to parenting expert and Kids ambassador Maggie Dent.

And the digital world has brought with it a whole host of new challenges, especially for our younger teens who are in the thick of huge brain and body changes.

With the pending social media ban delay for under 16s Maggie recently partnered with The Kids to record a special podcast with our Head of Youth Mental Health, Associate Professor Yael Perry, about the challenges our teens are facing, and how we can help them thrive.

You can listen to the insightful conversation right now by subscribing to The Kids newsletter: https://www.thekids.org.au/events/helping-teens-thrive-in-a-digital-world-register

03/12/2025

Driving change for children with disability 💛

Today, we join communities around the world in recognising International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD) – a day dedicated to deepening awareness, understanding and inclusion.

With one in ten Australian children living with disability, the 2025 IDPwD theme, 'Fostering disability-inclusive societies for advancing social progress', speaks directly to our vision for a healthier, fairer future for every child.

Our Child Disability team is leading research that amplifies the voices of children and families, breaks down barriers to healthcare, and creates tools and resources that help young people participate fully in their communities.

From improving access to clear health information, to co-designing decision-making tools with parents, to developing world-leading measures like QI-Disability, our researchers are driving meaningful change.

Read more about how our research is strengthening support, inclusion and wellbeing for children with disability 👉 https://shorturl.at/N8NYX

03/12/2025

Dr Vincent Mancini from our Human Development and Community Wellbeing team recently spoke with ABC Perth about research he is undertaking to support regional WA dads whose babies need care in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

With a 2025 EMCR Fellowship, Dr Mancini will co-design, trial, and evaluate a program to support the mental health and involvement of WA fathers from regional, rural, and remote communities who have a baby admitted to a NICU.

He was joined by Kabe Redfern, who shared his lived experience as a dad of two premature babies. They also gave a sneak peek of the upcoming Dads of the NICU podcast series featuring stories from WA fathers and the healthcare professionals who walk alongside them in the NICU.

🎧 Skip to 1:35:25 to hear the interview: https://shorturl.at/cKY5a

02/12/2025

Aboriginal health is everyone’s business. That message underpins so much of the work we do at The Kids.

So we were thrilled when our Embrace and Healing Kids, Healing Families team came together recently at WA Museum Boola Bardip to share findings from their Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF)-backed research into cultural safety in WA mental health care services.

Among the findings identified in the project were that trust needs to be built over time with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people by service providers to improve cultural safety.

You can read more about the findings here: https://shorturl.at/1QsmB

These findings were supported by Embrace’s principal partner, Rio Tinto, and Channel 7 Telethon Trust.

Telethon7 Perth

01/12/2025

Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is a preventable, devastating condition that disproportionately affects Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

➡️ When a child gets a Strep A throat infection (strep throat) and it’s not treated, they can develop acute rheumatic fever (ARF)
➡️ If untreated, ARF may damage the heart
➡️ This irreparable heart damage is known as RHD
➡️ RHD can cause heart failure and premature death

At The Kids, our researchers are working hard to help eliminate RHD.

🩺 300,000 lives are lost to ARF and RHD globally each year.
🩺 > 11,000 Australians live with ARF and RHD.
🩺 > 90% of ARF diagnoses are in Indigenous Australians aged 5-14.

The second World Congress on RHD will be hosted in Perth in 2026 – and we welcome this renewed focus on eliminating RHD.

Read more about RHD 🔗 https://shorturl.at/GouNq

Heart Foundation

28/11/2025

Let’s celebrate our local heroes. ⭐ Community has been at the heart of The Kids over the past 35 years, as we have striven to ensure that our research meets the needs of the community and those with lived experience.

April Welsh was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at 3 years old. For April and her family, the diagnosis changed their lives.

“It became the whole family’s priority. Our life lost spontaneity with the constant worry of managing glucose levels to ensure I didn’t develop potential long-term complications. I wasn’t able to run out the door to go to the park down the road without taking a glucometer and jellybeans,” April said.

💡 In 1999, researchers from The Kids introduced Australia’s first insulin pump for kids – and April became the youngest child in WA to receive an insulin pump.

She has since participated in numerous research trials with The Kids to improve diabetes management for kids and young people.

Now 31 and thriving, April has achieved many of her dreams – including becoming the first female with T1D to compete in National motorsport, racing a Formula Vee – and even joining the team here at The Kids!

⭐ We extend a big thanks to April, and the brave patients and families just like hers whose courage has supported medical breakthroughs.

Find out more about The Kids’ impact: https://shorturl.at/Psgei