Did you know that around one million Australian children live with serious respiratory diseases? More than 110,000 of these children live in WA.
The Wal-yan Respiratory Research Centre aims to make a significant impact on this health challenge, by improving the lives of millions of children with respiratory illness, not just in Australia, but around the world.
As the Wal-yan Respiratory Research Centre turns three, we celebrate our achievements, and say thank you to our amazing community.
The Wal-yan Centre is a powerhouse partnership between The Kids Research Institute Australia, Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation and Perth Children’s Hospital.
Since the Wal-yan Centre was officially launched on 11 August 2020, the Centre has continued to bring together clinicians, scientists and community members from across the globe with a united goal – to prevent childhood respiratory illness and ensure that all children have healthy lungs for life.
The Centre has become a global epicentre for paediatric respiratory research and is informing clinical practice and driving a new research agenda for childhood lung health.
Some of the Centre’s research highlights over the past year include:
- in a world-first discovery, we have provided evidence that not all biodiesel fuels are equal - our research has shown that the exhaust from certain biodiesel types can produce more toxic health effects than others
- we have accelerated our research efforts in developing an innovative treatment solution for childhood wheezing and asthma
- two long-standing international trials have resulted in new early intervention options that hold great promise for reducing progressive lung damage in kids living with cystic fibrosis
- we have shown the effectiveness of a common asthma drug for very premature babies who go on to suffer from lung complications - by expanding our understanding of treatment options, we can provide better care and outcomes for these vulnerable infants
- our regional wet cough work has made significant advancements, focusing on the prevalence and management of chronic wet cough in Aboriginal children to improve their long-term lung health
- we have continued to develop a clinical program for implementing phage therapy, a program which specifically targets bacterial infections resistant to antibiotics, including lung infections in children living with cystic fibrosis
- a significant milestone was reached in our 20-year MAVRIC study by recruiting our 1000th participant - this study aims to understand and predict why particular children are susceptible to respiratory exacerbations, while also developing new treatments to reduce the likelihood of asthma development, and
- we have embarked on a new additional research direction — investigating the impact of climate change on children's respiratory health in Australia.
None of this work would be possible without our incredible researchers, the people who take part in our studies, their families, and our supporters.
On behalf of all children who live with serious respiratory conditions and their families, we say thank you!
You can find out more information about the Wal-yan Centre’s achievements in 2022-2023 in our Annual Report here.