Early-career researchers awarded scholarships to support research into child health

Sixteen Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) early to mid-career researchers have received funding to support their research into childhood health conditions.  

Murdoch Children's experts Chantal Attard, Monique Seymour, Toby Mansell and Julian Stolper, Jesse Shapiro and Wei Shern Lee were awarded Murdoch Children's Post-PhD Fellowships to advance research into blood disorders, genetic brain disorders, heart regeneration, immunology, stroke, and disability research.  

The inaugural early-career research fellowships provide up to $108,000 for up to a year, to support young Murdoch Children's researchers to transition from their PhDs into their postdoctoral work.  

The new awards were introduced to address the effects COVID-19 has had on PhD students, the ability to complete their PhDs and the implications of travel restrictions on moving into post-doctoral studies.  

RCH Drs Vanessa Clifford, Danielle Longmore, Vicki McWilliam, Elyse Passmore, Trisha Prentice, Rachel Conyers and Cathy Quinlan received Melbourne Children’s Clinician-Scientist Fellowships (CSF) to support their work, both in clinic with patients and research studies, on infectious diseases, obesity, food allergy, cerebral palsy, newborn bioethics, heart toxicity caused by chemotherapy, and kidney failure. 

RCH Dr Stacie Wang was awarded a Melbourne Children’s Bridging Award, which will help her write and publish papers for her doctoral thesis and lay the foundations for her postdoctoral research.  

The Melbourne Children’s CSF and Bridging Award schemes are supported by The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation, and the schemes are managed by Murdoch Children's.  

Murdoch Children's Dr Elena Tucker received the inaugural Suzi Carp Postdoctoral Scholarship which will provide her with $60,000 over 2021 and 2022 to support her research. Dr Tucker’s research focuses on better understanding the genetic causes of ovarian disease to improve outcomes for young women with reproductive disorders. 

The Suzi Carp Postdoctoral Scholarship was also awarded to Dr James McNamara, who received the Murdoch Children's Highly Commended Award for his research on modelling genetic heart diseases using pluripotent stem cells. 

The scholarship aims to support the most promising students and early-career researchers at Murdoch Children's to enable them to focus on their research and achieve their full potential.