CAHS researchers take centre stage at WA Child Health Research Symposium

Developments in research from across the Child and Adolescent Health Service (CAHS) took centre stage last week as part of the 2024 WA Child Health Research Symposium.

Built around the theme, Empowering futures; advancing child health, the event showcased some of the exciting and diverse advances that are taking place across WA’s child health research sector that are improving outcomes for children and young people.

Held over 4 days, the symposium had a focus on clinical trials and artificial intelligence and featured more than 170 oral and poster presentations (including 3 invited keynote speakers). It also incorporated workshops, panel discussions and a great debate.

The debate proved to be a popular new addition to the program – attracting a good turnout and lots of laughs as opposing teams sparred over whether artificial intelligence was revolutionising child health outcomes through research.

The negative team of Associate Professor Tina Carter and doctors, Giulia Peacock and Sam Brophy-Williams (pictured), took out the inaugural debate trophy, defeating their affirmative team counterparts, Professor Desiree Silva and doctors Robert Lethbridge and Matt Cooper.

The Symposium was presented by CAHS in partnership with the Kids Research Institute of Australia and sponsored by the Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation.

Prizes were awarded for the best presentations of the symposium with CAHS staff well represented among the recipients, collecting 9 of the 16 accolades.

The CAHS winners were:

• Best lightning presentation: Crystal Bourke for BRIGHT Cohort: Improving health outcomes for children with bronchiectasis lung disease
• Best poster presentation – People’s choice: Dr Nadia Tan for The SASSI Study: Suspected Abuse - Skeletal Surveys and other Investigations
• Best poster presentation – People’s choice: Runner-up: Dr Andrew Martin for FH in Kids (Finding and Treating Familial Hypercholesterolaemia in Young Kindreds)
• Best Oral presentation for Allied Health: Nadine Smith for A core outcome set of chronic pain assessment tools for young people with cerebral palsy: consensus from key stakeholders
• Highly commended oral presentation for Allied Health: Jizelle Kenworthy-Groen for Behaviour change interventions to target sputum sample collection in children with cystic fibrosis
• Best Nursing presentation: Dr Helen Nelson for Co-design of a facilitated playgroup to build relationships and access to specialist health support in the early years
• Best Child and Adolescent Mental Health presentation: Zoe Young for Differences between anorexia nervosa and atypical anorexia nervosa in adolescents
• Best Child and Adolescent Community Health presentation: Dr Stephen Paull for Aboriginal community perspectives on adapting a healthy lifestyle program for Perth, WA
• Best lightning presentation – Child and Adolescent Community Health: Anne Welch for Evaluation of 'behaviourally-informed’ (BI) SMS appointment reminders in Community Health.

The other award recipients were:

• Best lightning presentation runner-up: Nivedithaa Divakara for The role of colostrum in skin development
• Best lightning presentation runner-up: Tiffany Bradshaw for Identifying phenotypes and treatable traits of lung disease following preterm birth
• Best presentation by an early-career researcher: Anita Williams for Not Little Adults: Differences in AMR in Bloodstream Isolates between Children and Adults
• Best presentation by an early-career researcher: runner-up: Jess Keeley for A grey literature scoping review of online health literacy resources for people with intellectual disability
• Best presentation by an early-career researcher: runner -up: Dr Robyn Choi for Exploratory research into the effects of exercise, rhythm, and music on Central Auditory Processing Disorder in children
• Highest scoring abstract – Poster presentation: Chloe Buckingham for The synergistic potential of DNA damage response inhibitors and radiation for the treatment of atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumours
• Highest scoring abstract – Oral presentation: Fiona Giannini for Modelling the impact of WA's first RSV immunisation program for all infants.