Research

Children having tests, treatments, examinations and interventions; proposing an approach to minimise anxiety, distress, restraint and harm

This Grand Round will provide a critical overview of what we know about holding children for clinical procedures, considering the child, parent, health professional and system factors which can influence procedural practice. Lucy will discuss an approach to challenge accepted narratives within practice and adopt a more child-centred rights-based approach to reduce harm and the use of restrictive practice during procedures.

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100 years of insulin at The Royal Children’s Hospital – pigs, pumps and pluripotent potential

One hundred years ago the first insulin injection was given at RCH. Overnight, type 1 diabetes went from a fatal to a ‘manageable’ condition. Since that time, diabetes management has developed and evolved to a point where in the near future it is hoped that exogenous insulin will represent a treatment failure rather than a therapeutic mainstay. This Grand Round will trace the history of insulin therapy and diabetes management at RCH, and discuss the likely direction of new therapies in the upcoming decades.

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Exploring the role of rehabilitation services in the management of Functional Neurological Disorders

The approach and attitude towards Functional Neurological Disorders (FND) has changed over the last decade and anecdotally at least, we seem to be seeing more cases in our day-to-day practice.  Patients with functional symptoms present to many disciplines and functional symptoms can co-exist with organic pathology. There is now evidence to show earlier diagnosis and treatment can lead to more positive outcomes.   

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The impact of a rare disease program on the Melbourne Children’s campus

Rare Diseases Now (RDNow) was established in 2019 with funding from The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation to provide an advanced, clinically integrated diagnostic pathway for children with rare diseases (RD). We have delivered value to children and families by providing access to frontier multi-omics technologies, working on solutions to optimise rare disease care and upskilling the workforce.  In this Grand Round we will describe the impact of our work at the individual, team and national levels and show how the Melbourne Children’s Campus is positioned as a global leader in rare disease care.​

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reNEW: Transforming lives with stem cell medicine

Scientific advances now allow researchers to identify, isolate and engineer stem cells. reNEW aims to deliver treatment outcomes across the breadth of stem cell medicine – new drugs based on human stem cell models, new tissue therapies, and new cell and gene therapies. We look forward to presenting how stem cell medicine and reNEW are advancing treatments for delivery into the clinic across many currently untreatable diseases.

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Medicines for ADHD: They work, but are they safe?

Meta-analyses show that medication is an effective treatment pathway in children and adolescents diagnosed with ADHD. These medications are also commonly associated with a number of side effects and risk factors for other conditions, which are less well understood by practitioners. This Grand Round intends to balance understanding of the efficacy of ADHD medication with the potential risks, and provide evidence for the safety of ADHD medication prescription in clinical practice.

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Mentally healthy primary schools: A state-wide initiative to increase the capacity of schools to support children

In recent years there has been increasing policy attention paid to child mental health, at a state and national level, given the marked increase in mental health problems in children. In addition to causing distress for children and families, when mental health difficulties are not addressed in a timely way, they can become entrenched and have serious effects into adult life.

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