Reproductive carrier screening – the past, present and future
Reproductive carrier screening involves testing individuals to identify risk of having children with autosomal an X linked recessive conditions.
Latest Posts
From rotavirus discovery to development of the RV3-BB vaccine to prevent rotavirus disease in babies from birth
The discovery of rotavirus as the most common cause of acute dehydrating diarrhea at the Royal Children’s Hospital and University of Melbourne in 1973 provided hope for prevention of a major cause of death in young children worldwide. Building from this discovery, MCRI researchers have dedicated 5 decades to understanding the rotavirus and to the development and implementation of rotavirus vaccines.
Mind the Gap: Accessibility, communication and patient wellbeing
This Grand Round highlights the experience of people with disability in healthcare. Drawing on her own journey and patient stories, Hannah explores the barriers created by inaccessible communication and bias, and the impact these have on wellbeing.
Behaviours of concern: An innovative wraparound approach
Children with developmental disabilities often present to hospital with behaviours of concern, creating complex challenges for emergency departments, inpatient units, and community teams. These behavioural crises can be distressing for patients, families and staff, and can strain hospital resources – yet they also offer powerful opportunities for system change.
The state of global child health in 2025
Professor Kim Mulholland will draw on four decades of working with the World Health Organization, and discuss the state of global health for children, and where it may go in the future.
WHY QI? Smarter care, improving patient outcomes in Cystic Fibrosis (CF)
Outcomes for patients with Cystic Fibrosis have improved dramatically over the years. The CF Team will share some of the quality improvement work that has resulted in significant improvements in outcomes for these patients at RCH.
The science of change enhancing evidence-based practice through Implementation Science
Significant time, effort and resources are spent developing rigorous evidence-based health care guidelines. Unfortunately, not enough of these endeavours result in patient benefit. Implementation science, the study of methods to promote the systematic, widespread uptake of research findings and evidence-based practices into routine care to improve health outcomes, offers an approach to optimise the uptake of evidence-based practice.
Vernon Collins Oration — Digital Dynamite: Technology is blowing up healthcare as we know it.
In this talk, Mike will look back at transformative digital changes of the past 10 years, explores what’s on the horizon, and considers how we might help shape the future of healthcare technology to benefit both patients and the people looking after them. Along the way, he’ll ask how our roles as clinicians might need to evolve in the new digital world.
Responding to challenging parental behaviour: An ethics perspective
In this Grand Rounds, we bring an ethical lens to the issue of how to respond to aggressive behaviour by parents towards staff. This is an issue that is receiving growing attention in the community, and within the hospital from a range of perspectives. Thinking about this issue in ethical terms brings to the forefront the potentially competing values that are stake and helps to explain why these decisions are complex and nuanced. We will consider some case scenarios, offer some practical suggestions to assist decision-making and have plenty of time for discussion.
The Comfort Promise: We do everything possible to prevent and treat pain. For Every Child. Every Time.
Data show that in both high-income and low-medium income countries, needle pain is consistently rated among the most painful and least well-managed medical experiences for children. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as many as 2 in 3 children and 1 in 4 adults suffer from a strong fear of needles. This fear, often rooted in negative experiences during childhood, leads to healthcare avoidance behaviours and is the leading reason for immunisation non-compliance.