Meet some of the kids of the Children's Research Centre

Nine-year-old Jon

Jon suffers from Eosinophilic oEsophagitis (EE), an allergic condition of the oesophagus, which causes the body to confuse food with infection and attack the body's own tissues whenever Jon has a meal. As a result of his condition, Jon is prevented from eating all but ten foods for the rest of his life. Any prohibited foods cause throat blockages, vomiting, stomach pain and loss of appetite. Researchers at the Children's Research Centre are working to help Jon and other children like him by trialling the early introduction of known food allergens during babyhood, instead of avoiding them as traditionally prescribed. It is hoped that this reverse strategy will prove more effective in protecting infants from developing food allergies in later childhood, and that the growing rate of food allergy among Australian children can be significantly reduced.

Read more about our work in allergy here.

Five-year-old Ella

Ella suffers from cystic fibrosis (CF) and must undergo a daily regimen of physiotherapy to maintain her lung capacity and slow damage to her organs. This includes chest and upper abdomen patting, bubble peps, peri peps, and inhalation of hypertonic saline solution through a ventilated mask. Researchers at the Children's Research Centre and the Cystic Fibrosis Gene Therapy Group at the Robinson Institute are working to help Ella and other children like her by correcting the basic cellular defect that causes CF lung disease. By inserting healthy genes into the defective, disease-causing cells that line the airways, they hope to correct the faulty genetic information that gives rise to respiratory illness.

Read more about our work in cystic fibrosis here.

Ten-week-old Stavroulla

Stavroulla was one of the many babies admitted to the Women's and Children's Hospital during the recent whooping cough (pertussis) epidemic. She experienced violent coughing fits, breathlessness and vomiting and was given supplemental oxygen to restore her to health. Researchers at the Children's Research Centre and the Vaccinology and Immunology Research Trials Unit are working to prevent babies like Stavroulla from enduring this life-threatening condition.

They are leading the South Australian component of a nation-wide study in which babies are given the pertussis vaccine within five days of birth, instead of the conventional age of six weeks. It is hoped that this will lead to an earlier vaccine schedule that closes the current window of risk and better protects babies from hospitalisation and death caused by whooping cough.

Read more about our work in infectious diseases like pertussis here.

12-year-old Sharyce

Sharyce suffers from Psoriatic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) and often experiences pain, swelling and stiffness in her joints and has permanently reduced movement in her wrists. She has difficulty writing at school for long periods and often experiences pain when playing sport. Children with the same subtype of JIA don't always respond equally well to treatment and are at risk of long-term joint damage. Researchers at the Children's Research Centre are focusing on finding "biomarkers" which can predict disease activity and natural history more accurately than we can do at present. In this way, we hope to be able to plan treatment on a more individualised basis.

Read more about our work in JIA here.