Synopsis
Through a significant contribution from the RCH Foundation, the Clinician Scientist Fellowship program supports doctors, nurses and allied health professionals to undertake research up to 2 days a week for up to 5 years. The Fellowship enables talented, clinically qualified professionals who have gained a higher research degree to pursue academic research alongside clinical practice.
In this Grand Round you will hear from four of our campus Fellows who will share their passion for improving the lives of children and adolescents through research.
Speakers
Chair and panel member:
Associate Professor Adrienne Harvey – previously held a Clinician Scientist Fellowship; Senior Research Fellow and Team Leader, Neurodisability and Rehabilitation, MCRI; Associate Professor, Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne.
A physiotherapist by background, Adrienne’s clinical and research interests focus strongly on outcome measurement including measuring the effectiveness of interventions for people with cerebral palsy and embedding research into routine clinical care. She currently co-leads national research programs in dyskinesia in cerebral palsy and pain in people with cerebral palsy and other developmental disabilities.
Panel:
Dr Josh Osowicki – Clinician Scientist Fellow; Paediatric Infectious Diseases Physician, Infectious Diseases Unit, RCH; Research Officer, Tropical Diseases, MCRI.
Josh recently completed his PhD through The University of Melbourne, establishing a human challenge model of Strep A pharyngitis to accelerate vaccine development. Josh worked with a multinational team of investigators to select and characterise a human challenge strain, design the study protocol, and undertake an initial dose-finding trial to establish the safety and reliability of the model.
Associate Professor Kirsten Perrett – Clinician Scientist Fellow; Co-Group Leader, Population Allergy, MCRI; Deputy Director, Melbourne Children’s Trial Centre; Paediatric Allergist/Vaccinologist, RCH; Associate Professor, Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne.
Kirsten’s program of clinical trials research investigates novel strategies for the prevention and early treatment of food allergy and atopic disease. She is also involved in research exploring the immunological mechanisms underlying allergic disease pathogenesis, improving food allergy diagnosis and de-labelling children with vaccine allergy. She has been awarded over $30M in research grants and is a Chief Investigator of the NHMRC Centre for Food and Allergy Research.
Associate Professor Mark MacKay – Clinician Scientist Fellow; Consultant Neurologist, RCH; Honorary Research Fellow, Neuroscience, MCRI; Associate Professor, Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne.
Mark has over 10 years experience in paediatric stroke and epilepsy. He has established a dedicated paediatric stroke program; the first of its kind in Australia and is a major contributor to the International Pediatric Stroke Study. His stroke research interests include application of advanced MRI imaging techniques in childhood stroke and the development of strategies to reduce time to stroke diagnosis.