Get involved in research

 

Listed below are the projects currently recruiting from the general public. If you would like to be invovled in the research or want further information, please use the contact details provided.

 

Vaccine trials
There are several vaccine trials currently recruiting. Please click here to see a current list of Vaccine Trials Group studies.

Contact: Phone 08 9340 8542 or email vtg@ichr.uwa.edu.au

 

There is growing evidence in adults that a lack of key nutrients may lead to a decrease in the health of our DNA, which in turn leads to more serious health problems. As yet, there is no research or information available about these links in children.
How can you help?  The nutrition and genome health study aims to recruit 450 children over a 2 year period from 2009 to 2011.  We are currently recruiting children aged 3, 6 or 9 years old who have never been diagnosed with asthma, cancer, diabetes, arthritis or epilepsy. If any of your children are of the required age (or close to it), we would like to invite you and child to be part of this study. Your participation is completely voluntary.
If you take part, you will be asked to provide information about the foods your child eats, and to give your permission for two saliva samples as well as a small blood sample (1 tablespoon) to be collected, so that the micronutrients in your child’s blood and the health of their DNA can be assessed.  At the end of the study, you will be offered a brief summary of your child’s nutritional status, as well as general advice from our dietitian about how your child’s diet could be improved, if needed.
If you are interested in hearing more about this study, please contact the project coordinator, Meg McHugh on (08) 9489 7784 or email mmchugh@ichr.uwa.edu.au
 

The Family Study of Ear Infections in Western Australian Children
Ear infections in childhood are very common. Many children will have at least one middle ear infection whilst they are young but some children get recurrent ear infections which can lead to hearing loss and may affect a child's language development and performance at school. The family study of ear infections in Western Australian children will use genetics to try and understand why some children suffer from recurrent middle ear infections.

Volunteers: We are looking for children with a history of recurrent ear infections who have had grommets inserted or recommended by the doctor before their third birthday to take part in the study. We are also asking for their parents to get involved as well. Participating in the study is easy; we will ask your family to complete a simple questionnaire and to provide a small sample of saliva (or spit) from which DNA will be extracted. There will be no needles and no-one will ask you for a blood sample.

Contact us: If your family would like to participate in this study or if you would like more information about the study then please contact us either by e-mail at om@ichr.uwa.edu.au or by phone (08) 9489 7995.

 

AUS-CBT Get Involved In Research
The Australian Study of Childhood Brain Tumours (AUS-CBT) is a national case-control study which aims to investigate the causes of brain tumours in children. The study involves families of children (aged 0-14) diagnosed with a brain tumour since 2005 (our ‘Cases’), as well as families of children the same age who have not been diagnosed with a brain tumour (our ‘Controls’). Recruitment for the study commenced in 2006, and by the end of 2010 we hope to have recruited 350 case families and 700 control families.
How can you help?  Control families are randomly selected from the whole Australian population. If you receive an invitation to take part in AUS-CBT, we would really appreciate your consideration. Participating in the study involves completing questionnaires about environmental exposures and diet, and a telephone interview. It also involves collecting a DNA sample from all case families and some control families.  The more families who agree to participate in the study, the more meaningful our research results will be.
Contact: If you would like some more information on this study please click here or please contact the Project Coordinator at: aus-cbt@ichr.uwa.edu.au , or on 08 9489 7949.
 

 

International Study of Embryonal Tumours
We have been conducting a population-based case-control study and we are working with 9 children’s hospitals across Australia. The families of children diagnosed with either neuroblastoma or Wilms’ tumour during 2008 have been invited to participate in our research. We have also written to families with healthy children and asked them to be our control participants. Participating parents have been interviewed over the phone about a range of topics including their alcohol and tobacco use, any medication they take, their employment history and the family health history of their extended family.  Click here for more information.

 

The STAR Project – Solids Timing for Allergy Reduction
This research trial specifically focuses on egg allergy. Egg allergy is the most common food allergy affecting children in Australia.  With no treatment currently available for established food allergies except avoidance, the burden on family life is often considerable. It is now increasingly evident that avoidance is not the answer, as it may be unsuccessful, or even detrimental in allergy prevention. Instead, there is a mounting body of evidence to indicate that immune tolerance to “allergy-causing” foods can be achieved through early, regular exposure to such foods. This study will determine whether early and regular feeding of egg will reduce the risk of infants developing egg allergy. Babies with eczema are at high risk of developing food allergy so we are looking for infants under the age of 5 months to participate.
Volunteers: Babies under the age of 5 months with moderate to severe eczema.
Contact: Phone - (08) 9340 8834 or Email - snicholls@meddent.uwa.edu.au