MCRI

Healthy Trajectories: A Child and Youth Disability Research Hub

Our Healthy Trajectories research is done in partnership with consumers, clinicians, and researchers with diverse disciplinary expertise. Our goal is to contribute evidence to rapidly improve the health, wellbeing, and participation of those with child-onset disability and their families. We will only be able to ensure that people with disability can participate as equal members of society if we collaborate effectively across disciplines and sectors: we invite your involvement.

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International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day (IWD) is an annual global campaign, marked on 8th March, which celebrates the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality. Each year the IWD campaign has a new theme, and in 2023 the theme is #EmbraceEquity.  https://www.internationalwomensday.com/theme

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Life as a clinician-scientist in General Medicine: Choose your own adventure

Interested in combining research with your clinical work? This Grand Round features clinician scientists from the Department of General Medicine. You will hear about their diverse career pathways and research programs, as well as how they balance research with their clinical work and other commitments.

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Clinical and genetic challenges of mitochondrial disorders. What does Maeve’s Law offer?

The primary mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation disorders are characterized by clinical and genetic heterogeneity, limited treatment options, and poor outcomes.  Part of the complexity is because both the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes may be involved.  Mitochondrial DNA is maternally inherited.  From a reproductive counselling perspective, couples with a family history of mitochondrial DNA disease often have limited reproductive options available to them.

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Generation Victoria (GenV): Every baby. Every parent. Everybody.

Very large, truly population-representative pregnancy cohorts are rare internationally. Generation Victoria (GenV) is a whole-state cohort targeting all newborns (~150,000) and their parents over 2 full years. Components include (i) families recruited soon after birth, (ii) biospecimens from pregnancy onwards, (iii) extensive data linkage supplemented by (iv) minimal GenV collected data, all enabling (v) many additional integrated research studies, both observational and interventional.

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3.6 million and counting: Victoria’s Newborn bloodspot screening program – recent innovations and future directions

Victoria’s newborn bloodspot screening (NBS) program commenced in 1966 with screening for phenylketonuria, and from the early 1970’s close to 100% of newborns were being screened. Improvements in analytical and genetic testing technologies saw the successive introduction of screening for congenital hypothyroidism, cystic fibrosis and 22 metabolic conditions. Today, Victoria’s NBS program detects about 80 babies per year with these conditions, preventing life-long debilitating outcomes and even death.

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COVID-19: An Update: What have we learnt over the last 12 months?

Never in the field of health was so much learned by so many in so few months. This Grand Round will recap the lessons from last year, take stock of where we are in February 2022, describe the complex situation with vaccines, and look to what the year might hold for the pandemic and children in Australia and countries around the world. 

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Double agents: adventures as a clinician and scientist

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.

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