Projects

What is the Healthy Hearts @ School Study? The number of children with high blood pressure is continually increasing. Having a high blood pressure increases the likelihood of poorer heart health in later life. By checking children’s blood pressure, we can identify these children earlier and help them and their families manage that risk. The aims of this study are to: determine how best to screen children’s blood pressure through a primary school-based screening program and develop and test a heart health education program. What is the heart health education program? The heart health education program will include age-appropriate interactive educational sessions about heart health for students in Grades 3-6. Topics covered may include understanding the structure and function of the cardiovascular system, blood pressure and effective ways to maintain a healthy heart. The package will be co-designed with primary school teachers, PE teachers and researchers at the Murdoch Children’s ...

Complete the participant eligibility form HERE What is the CEPI COVID-19 Booster Study? To protect against COVID-19, most Victorians over the age of 12 years have received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine (known as the primary vaccine course), mostly receiving the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccines. It is becoming clear that the level of protection from COVID-19 infection following a primary course of any of the COVID-19 vaccines reduces after several months. A booster dose is currently recommended for all adults in Australia. Early reports from Israel and the US show that a booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine is effective but it is currently unclear what schedule will provide the best immune responses and safety profile. Fractional doses (reduced dose) have been shown to produce similar boosting results as the standard dose in a few preliminary studies. Fractional doses could likely produce fewer side effects and it would also save ...

Low Dose Multi-Nut Oral Immunotherapy in Pre-schoolers (LMNOP): a pragmatic randomised controlled trial of low dose multi-nut oral immunotherapy versus standard care for the treatment of multi-nut allergies in young children What is LMNOP? LMNOP is looking at whether over a period of 18 months, children undergoing low dose, multi-nut oral immunotherapy (OIT) treatment can safely achieve sustained unresponsiveness (participant is able to pass an oral food challenge after having paused treatment for several weeks) at a higher rate than children under standard care (avoidance of allergic nuts) develop natural tolerance. OIT involves parents giving their child small amounts of two nuts they are allergic to daily at home, over 18 months. Who may be eligible to take part? Children between the ages of 18 and 36 months Children who have a doctor diagnosed allergy to 2 or more of: Peanut, Almond, Cashew, Hazelnut or Walnut Living in Greater Melbourne, ...

Becoming a parent is a special time, but it can also be challenging at times. There are lots of things to adjust to, including changes in roles and relationships, managing time for work and family, increased money pressures and having less time for yourself. This can be stressful and can have an effect on family relationships. Family Foundations was developed to support parents with the stress and challenges during pregnancy and after having a baby. Family Foundations is a 10-session program, which covers topics such as: managing stress; supporting each other as parents; ways to manage conflict and other problems that may come up; and ways to strengthen family relationships including parent-child relationships. Our researchers are partnering with Merri Health to evaluate the Family Foundations program. This will help us understand what it is like to participate in Family Foundations and how it helps families in areas of health, wellbeing, ...

PEAChY-M: Pharmacological Emergency Management of Agitation in Children and Young People – A Randomised Controlled Trial of IntraMuscular Medication This study is now recruiting About PEAChY-M The goal of PEAChY-M is to determine whether IM olanzapine is more effective than IM droperidol for the management of acute severe behavioural disturbance (ASBD) in children and adolescents presenting to Emergency Departments (EDs). Both medications are currently commonly used to manage ASBD, but we do not yet know which is more effective for use in the paediatric population. PEAChY-M is a pragmatic clinical trial, which means that the study conditions mimic “real life” as much as possible with simple inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria, and very few elements of care that are different to current Australia-wide practice guidelines. PEAChY-M will enrol 348 children with ASBD in 7 paediatric EDs around Australia. Study Population PEAChY-M will enrol children from 9 years to less than ...

Pediatric Evaluation of Emotions, Relationships and Socialisation Digital tool to assess social skills and identify social problems. PEERS is a novel commercial product that can assess, describe and diagnose social impairment in children and young people. Currently there are no comprehensive, well-validated tools available to detect social impairment, which limits our ability to identify those in need of intervention. The PEERS tool will address this substantial unmet need and provide us with the opportunity to lead the field internationally by designing the first comprehensive social assessment tool. PEERS is an individually administered computerised iPad application. It includes 3 ‘cognitive’ subscales (attention-executive, social cognition, communication), which contribute to social function, organised into 2 levels: basic and complex. It utilises ‘social’ stimuli, such as videos, audio clips, and photos of real life social scenarios. Get involved! We are currently looking for teenagers who are living in Melbourne and are between the ages ...

Pharmacological Emergency Management of Agitation in Children and Young People A Randomised Controlled Trial of Oral Medication This study is now recruiting About PEAChY-O The goal of PEAChY-O is to determine whether oral olanzapine is more effective than oral diazepam for the management of acute severe behavioural disturbance (ASBD) in children and adolescents presenting to Emergency Departments (EDs). Both medications are currently commonly used to manage ASBD, but we do not yet know which is more effective for use in the paediatric population. PEAChY-O is a pragmatic clinical trial, which means that the study conditions mimic “real life” as much as possible with simple inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria, and very few elements of care that are different to current Australia-wide practice guidelines. PEAChY-O will enrol 348 children with ASBD in 7 paediatric EDs around Australia. Study Population PEAChY-O will enrol children from 9 years to less than 18 years ...

What is the DOVES HPV study? Despite the profound and measurable health benefits of immunisation programs in Australia, research shows that programs are significantly less likely to reach and vaccinate young people with disability. People with a disability face additional barriers to cervical screening and access to cancer treatment, thereby receiving the HPV vaccination is important as it provides a crucial safety net against HPV related cancers. A study in Victorian specialist schools found that HPV vaccine uptake was 17-22% lower in young people with disability than their typically developing peers. Young people with disability have unique health care needs and may benefit from disability-inclusive immunisation services that would more fully address their needs in a supportive, inclusive, and accessible manner. The DOVES HPV study was developed to address these issues and will roll out in Victoria. This study operates within an inclusive research approach, prioritising and valuing the experiences ...

Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) were pioneered in Victoria and therefore people conceived by IVF are now up to 40 years of age. There is a widely held belief that common adult onset disorders (particularly cardiovascular and respiratory diseases) begin in early life, possibly even before birth. Children born following the use of ART might therefore be in a specific risk category because of the techniques used to enable successful pregnancies. The aim of our research into young adults conceived by ART has been to investigate their long-term health outcomes. By undertaking surveys, various clinical assessments and epigenetic analyses, we have addressed a shortfall in knowledge. 1. Clinical review of the Health of 22-33 year olds conceived with and without ART (CHART study). Stage one of the study was called “Comparison of health and development of young adults aged 18 years and older, conceived with and without ART” and was conducted ...

Recruitment for LongSTEPPP is now open. What is LongSTEPPP? LongSTEPPP stands for the Longitudinal Study of Teenagers with Endometriosis, Period and Pelvic Pain in Australia and is a 5-year study starting in 2022. We believe that periods shouldn't ruin your life. We are trying to find out how to best care for young people experiencing period or pelvic pain and endometriosis. Most young people who have periods will experience some pain. For some people, this is manageable and will not change normal everyday activities. For others, the pain they experience will stop them from doing everyday activities and may impact their quality of life and mental health. We believe that period and pelvic pain can be managed to prevent chronic pain and endometriosis. We want to measure and track, periods, pain, quality of life and mental health in young people affected by period or pelvic pain and endometriosis. The LongSTEPPP ...