The Cause Of Undescended Testis And Inguinal Hernia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$743,848.00
Summary
This study aims to define in both animal models and children how the testis descends from the abdomen to scrotum, and how undescended testis and inguinal hernia are likely to be caused by defects in the same, very indirect signalling pathway. The results will demonstrate where to look for genetic causes and proof of principle for possible future medical treatments for the 3 commonest major operations in children for congenital and acquired undescended testis and inguinal hernia.
Does Bovine Lactoferrin Prevent Death Or Disability In Very Low Birthweight Infants? Childhood Follow Up In The NHMRC LIFT Study
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,474,012.00
Summary
Our international consortium of investigators proposes to undertake follow up in survivors among 1,500 very low birth weight preterm infants enrolled in the NHMRC Lactoferrin Infant Feeding Trial, which is designed to evaluate whether low-cost oral lactoferrin supplementation reduces death and disability in early childhood.
Improving The Design Of Pragmatic Clinical Trials In Children
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$128,224.00
Summary
Whilst clinical research is designed to investigate interventions that improve patient health, to date, patients (including children) and their families have had no say in deciding what health outcomes matter most to them. The voices of patients and their families must be heard and used to inform how studies are designed if we are to achieve an improved model of health care and health service delivery. We propose to investigate and provide recommendations as to how this is best achieved.
I am an orthopaedic surgeon and clinician-scientist based at Sydney’s largest children’s hospital. My goal is to improve treatments for children with traumatic injuries and bone deformity. I have worked in bone research for over 20 years. My current research interests are finding new treatments for drug-resistant bacterial infections, treating genetic bone disease, and developing new medical devices to help children’s bones grow straight.
Nitric Oxide On Cardio Pulmonary Bypass In Congenital Heart Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,878,889.00
Summary
Children undergoing open heart surgery on a heart lung machine can experience serious side effects from the exposure to the artificial circulation during surgery and may have either prolonged need for life support in intensive care or even may suffer from long term complications. In this study we investigate the use of a new approach using nitric oxide, a anti-inflammatory gas, during surgery to reduce these side effects.
Surgical Management Of The Pulmonary Circulation In Children
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$114,328.00
Summary
Congenital disorders of the lung circulation are rare. These children often present during infancy with symptoms of heart failure and require surgery to correct these defects. Without surgery, the prognosis of these conditions are poor. Our understanding of these conditions are limited. The proposed study aims to review all patients who underwent surgical repair of abnormalities of lung arteries and veins at the Royal Children’s Hospital.
Does Remote Ischemic Preconditioning Induce Protective Mitochondrial Function In Congenital Heart Defect Repair Surgery?
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$142,759.00
Summary
The body's own protective mechanism against injury due to reduced blood flow (ischemic preconditioning) has been studied for over 2 decades, yet the clinical benefits have not been realised until recently . We have previously shown that this innate protection can be induced without drugs in children having heart surgery. We will extend these findings to determine the mechanism of protection, develop a method to monitor this in blood cells and see if this is related to post-operative outcomes.
Novel Cell Therapy For Hirschsprung Disease: From Patient IPS Cells To Large Animal Trials
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,011,764.00
Summary
In Hirschsprung disease the lower bowel has no nerve cells. It does not function so it is surgically removed but quality of life is poor. A new idea is to replace the missing cells with new ones. Human infants are very large so we will use new stem cell technologies to create large numbers of cells. We will use polymer chemistry to devise a method of getting the cells into such a large organ as the bowel, and trial these on a model, the piglet, which closely resembles in size the human baby.