February 2024

I am excited to launch the first issue of the Women’s and Children’s Research News.  Every day I hear inspiring stories about the life-changing research happening within the Women’s and Children’s Health Network, and this newsletter is an opportunity to share some of the highlights with our community.  Here you will find essential information about upcoming research opportunities and research events, along with research success and impact stories. We will also feature researchers and those supporting research to increase the visibility of research excellence across our Network.

We would love to hear from you. If you have ideas on how we can improve the newsletter or have a research story to share, please contact us via the email address at the end of the newsletter. Please share the newsletter in your communities and help us to spread the news about the amazing achievements of the more than 200 researchers across WCHN.
 

A key outcome of the WCHN Research Strategy 2023-2027 was to establish a Women’s and Children’s Research Centre to build research capacity and enhance research culture across the Women’s and Children’s Health Network. The new Women’s and Children’s Research Centre on level 7 of the Clarence Rieger Building currently houses Clinical Research Director, Professor Helen Marshall. Research Liaison Manager Kate Chadwick, Senior Biostatistician Dr Jennie Louise and AI Fellow Dr Antonios Perperidis. This month we are pleased to welcome the WCHN’s new Director of AI, Dr Melissa McCradden, who comes to us from Sick Kids Toronto. She’s this month’s featured researcher, so read her profile to learn about her research and role at the WCHN. We will shortly be appointing a Senior Research Nurse to support research nurses and grow nurse-led research across the WCHN.

Research Training Seminar Series

The Women’s and Children’s Research Centre has launched a monthly lunchtime Research Training Seminar Series for all WCHN staff involved in, or interested in, research. All workshops are held between 12:30 and 1:30pm on a Thursday in the Maxwell Lecture Theatre on Level 2, Clarence Rieger Building, with a light lunch provided. No registration is required.

Upcoming Seminars

Thursday 7 March – How to get your research project started - Dr Jennie Louise, Senior Biostatistician

Thursday 4 April – How NOT to do bad research - Dr Jennie Louise, Senior Biostatistician

Thursday 2 May – How to engage with consumers in research - Dianna Smith-McCue (Director Consumer and Community Engagement), Tim Braund (consumer advocate), Dr Mark McMillan (researcher) and Leanne Morrison (consumer)

Read more about the full seminar program and updated information about research events at the WCHN on our website.

WCH Foundation Bloom Research Program 2024 

The Women’s & Children’s Hospital Foundation is inviting registrations for the 2024 Bloom Research Program grant round. In this year’s round, up to $4 million is available to support paediatric and/or maternal health and medical research projects focusing on:

• Priority populations, including: 
• Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples
• People experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage

Emerging technologies for the prevention, early intervention, treatment and management of health and medical conditions, including:

• Artificial intelligence and machine learning
• Genomics, embryoids and organoids, and stem cells
• Precision medicine

Innovative clinical or public health strategies for the prevention, early intervention, treatment and management of health and medical conditions, including:

• Medicines and devices
• Digitally enabled models of care

Up to $2 million may be requested for research projects conducted over a maximum of five years. Applicants must hold a paid appointment at the Women’s and Children’s Health Network (WCHN), the University of Adelaide, the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), Flinders University, the University of South Australia or Torrens University.

Prospective applicants must register to attend a Round Table event by 11:59pm Sunday 25 February.

For more information about the Bloom Research Program visit the WCH Foundation website.

WCHN Mini Mentor Program

Organised by the WCHN Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) team, the Mini Mentor Program is designed to assist novice researchers at WCHN with research proposals and submissions to the WCHN HREC by linking them with more senior researchers with experience in specific areas.

If you would like to find out more or are interested in participating as a mentor or mentee, please read more on our website. 

For more research training and funding opportunities, please visit the WCHN website for more information about training and funding.

Rheumatoid arthritis drug could delay progression of type 1 diabetes 

Professor Jenny Couper from the Department of Endocrinology collaborated on a trial led by St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research (SVI) in Melbourne that showed that a commonly prescribed rheumatoid arthritis drug has promise to suppress the progression of type 1 diabetes in people newly diagnosed. 

Read about the research here: Baricitinib and β-Cell Function in Patients with New-Onset Type 1 Diabetes

Researchers identify 3 genes that cause neurodevelopmental disorders

Dr Jane Rosser (Department of General Medicine) and Dr Mark Corbett (Paediatric and Reproductive Genetics Unit) were part of an international team of researchers that identified how three novel genes -- U2AF2, PRPF19, RBFOX1 -- cause neurodevelopmental disorders, particularly developmental delay, intellectual disability and autism.

Read about the research here: Spliceosome malfunction causes neurodevelopmental disorders with overlapping features

Follow-up study finds supplementing preterm infants with DHA has no effect on neurodevelopment

Dr Andy McPhee (Department of Neonatal Medicine) collaborated on a follow up study led by Dr Jacqueline Gould from SAHMRI Women’s and Kids at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital, that found that supplementing infants born at less than 29 weeks gestation with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) has no impact on behavioural functioning at 5 years of corrected age.

Read about the research here: High-Dose Docosahexaenoic Acid in Newborns Born at Less Than 29 Weeks’ Gestation and Behavior at Age 5 Years

What are you currently researching? 

My research explores ethical issues for artificial intelligence in healthcare. This work looks at three main questions: 1) what constitutes ‘good evidence’ to justify testing and integrating AI tools in healthcare? 2) what strategies can we use to prevent inequity and, ideally, improve equity when applying AI tools? And 3) what is important to youth consumers about how we use AI in healthcare?

What attracted you to this area of research? 

I love empirical research in bioethics because it combines philosophy, medicine, and science in a really unique way. It has been an avenue for me to identify issues that are important to stakeholders – whether consumers, clinicians, or AI scientists – and develop a good research strategy to answer those questions.

How are you researching this?

Empirical research in bioethics is a field that uses both quantitative and qualitative methodologies to address important normative questions. These are ‘should’ questions – e.g., what should we do about bias? – that go beyond gathering facts about a situation and apply ethical analysis, theories, policies, and/or laws to help identify the ethical strengths and vulnerabilities of the potential options. 

What real life impact are you hoping the research will have? 

What I really love is being able to answer patients’ questions. For example, early on in my career I spoke to the Children’s Council at SickKids about AI and their first questions were things like “how do you test AI?” and “what are the standards you use to know if it works or not?” These are big, important questions, and I have kept them in my mind throughout my career. The impact of my work has been the ability to answer those questions in a way that reassures people that AI tools that may be used to help care for patients have been thoroughly tested, are safe, and are implemented with patients’ values at the forefront.

In 1 sentence, what is your ultimate dream for your research? 

My dream is to have frameworks in place for the safe, reliable, and ethical development, testing, and integration of AI tools that benefit South Australian patients, staff and the healthcare system.

Melissa’s research is currently funded by the Canadian Institutes of Healthcare Research (Canada), National Institutes of Health (USA), and National Health Services (UK) and is supporting work that will continue and expand here in Adelaide.

Describe your role and how you support researchers

My role as WCHN RGO involves performing a governance review also known as a Site-Specific Assessment (SSA) before a research project can be authorised at the WCHN. The governance review process ensures that the research conducted at the WCHN is compliant with relevant policies, procedures and legislation and considers the following:

• The suitability of the site/resources to conduct the research (including departmental support)
• The identification of actual and in-kind resources required to conduct the research
• Review and execution of research agreements, indemnity, insurance
• Scientific and ethical approval of the research project.

My day-to-day role also involves providing support and advice to researchers and study team members to successfully submit ethics and governance applications in the SA Health Research Management Platform, Research GEMS. In addition to the review and authorisation processes, I am also responsible for reviewing and approving post-authorisation project activities such as progress reports, amendments as well as preparing activity reports for SA Health and the WCHN Research Advisory Committee (RAC).

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