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Research

Neutrophil elastase is a significant risk factor for structural lung disease in cystic fibrosis, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa airway infection is linked with neutrophilic inflammation and substantial respiratory morbidity. We aimed to evaluate how neutrophil elastase (NE) activity changes after P. aeruginosa eradication and influences early disease outcomes. We assessed participants in the AREST CF cohort between 2000 and 2018 who had P. aeruginosa cultured from their routine annual bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid and who underwent eradication treatment and a post eradication BAL. Factors associated with persistent P. aeruginosa infection, persistent neutrophilic inflammation following eradication and worse structural lung disease one year post-eradication were evaluated.

Research

Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) exposure during pregnancy is linked to serious adverse child outcomes, including Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. The Parent-Child Assistance Program (PCAP) supports women with problematic AOD use, who are pregnant or have young children, and are not effectively engaging with services. PCAP has been shown to reduce alcohol exposed pregnancies, promote AOD abstinence, increase employment and family planning and improve child outcomes.

Research

Despite the volume of accumulating knowledge from prospective Aboriginal cohort studies, longitudinal data describing developmental trajectories in health and well-being is limited.

Research

Interventions to address alcohol use during pregnancy need to target underlying determinants of the behaviour. Using the theory of planned behaviour as a theoretical framework, the aim of this study was to identify behavioural, normative and control beliefs regarding alcohol use during pregnancy among a sample of women.

Research

ATP Binding Cassette Subfamily A Member 3 (ABCA-3) is a lipid transporter protein highly expressed in type-II alveolar (AT-II) cells. Mutations in ABCA3 can result in severe respiratory disease in infants and children. To study ABCA-3 deficiency in vitro, primary AT-II cells would be the cell culture of choice although sample accessibility is limited. Our aim was to investigate the suitability of primary nasal epithelial cells, as a surrogate culture model for AT-II cells, to study ABCA-3 deficiency.

Research

A higher than expected proportion of children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders had gross motor scores that indicated impairment and need for therapy

Research

The airway epithelium of children with wheeze is characterized by defective repair that contributes to disease pathobiology. Dysregulation of developmental processes controlled by Notch has been identified in chronic asthma. However, its role in airway epithelial cells of young children with wheeze, particularly during repair, is yet to be determined.

Research

The link between respiratory and vascular health is well documented in adult populations. Impaired lung function is consistently associated with thicker arteries and higher incidence of cardiovascular disease. However, there are limited data on this relationship in young children and the studies that exist have focussed on populations at high risk of cardiorespiratory morbidity.

Research

Differential cell counts is a challenging task when applying computer vision algorithms to pathology. Existing approaches to train cell recognition require high availability of multi-class segmentation and/or bounding box annotations and suffer in performance when objects are tightly clustered.

Sibling Support and Teen Talk Studies form

Respiratory illness accounts for 12% of the age-standardised gap in mortality between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

News & Events

Held every two years, the Australasian FASD Conference is a significant and unifying event for those in the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder sector.

News & Events

If there’s one thing modern researchers and health professionals now understand, it’s that for so many diseases and conditions affecting children and adolescents, early intervention is crucial.

News & Events

A huge congratulations to The Kids Research Institute Australia founding researcher, Emeritus Professor Carol Bower, who has been recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours for her profound impact on child and public health over a 40-year career.

News & Events

Doctors and other health professionals who care for pregnant women are being encouraged to talk openly to women about the dangers of alcohol in pregnancy.

News & Events

Strong support and high demand has led to the early release of an Institute-developed learning package designed to empower midwives to tackle FASD.

News & Events

Researchers from The Kids Research Institute Australia are running a school program designed to help children adjust their levels of alertness and attention in class.