Three Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) postgraduate students have been awarded funding to advance Strep A vaccine research, improve lung care for extremely preterm babies and identify any links between infection and food allergy in babies.

Dr Kimberly Davis, Dr Kristin Ferguson and Miranda Starr have received three-year NHMRC Postgraduate Scholarships for their respective projects.

Dr Davis has received $114,000 to investigate how the immune system responds to Strep A bacteria, using an existing human challenge model created by MCRI researchers.

Image: Dr Kimberly Davis

Dr Davis said her team would use this world-first model to examine the immune response to a different strain of Strep A often associated with more serious infections.

“MCRI’s innovative human challenge model has been a game-changer, expanding our understanding of how Strep A affects our immune system, which will pave the way for further research,” she said.

“We will use this model to gather rich new data and get one step closer to developing a vaccine against this deadly bacteria.”

Dr Ferguson has received $157,000 to study the best way to deliver respiratory support to extremely preterm babies.

Image: Dr Kristen Ferguson

Over 500,000 babies are born before 28 weeks’ gestation globally each year, often resulting in lifelong impacts to breathing, motor skills and cognition.

Dr Ferguson said she would establish the ideal gas flow settings to improve the care for this group of children and help them breathe better.

“Babies born extremely preterm often require lifesaving breathing support, but these treatments can also damage their fragile lungs,” she said.

“We still don’t know what the optimal gas flow to deliver air and oxygen to their lungs is, but this study will attempt to answer this important question.

Dr Ferguson hopes the results could help improve the respiratory outcomes of extremely preterm babies across the globe.

Ms Starr has received $157,000 to investigate potential links between infection and food allergy in early life and whether vitamin D can play a role in prevention.

Image: Miranda Starr

Her team will look at whether an increased number of early childhood infections could lead to a higher risk of food allergy and how an overly sterile environment may also impact the developing immune system.

Ms Starr said that the study would help determine whether vitamin D supplementation could help reduce the severity of infections in babies and toddlers.

“This funding will allow us to look at the data of these children from birth to 12 months and establish whether vitamin D has a role to play in their developing immune system,” she said.

“We will lean on the data of over 2,700 babies enrolled in the existing VITALITY trial and hopefully see our findings translated into new recommendations around vitamin D supplementation for young children.”

Read more about MCRI’s Strep A, neonatal and population allergy research.

*The content of this communication is the sole responsibility of Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) and does not reflect the views of the NHMRC.