The Kids Research Institute Australia

20/12/2025

✨ Step into a Christmas wonderland – and help change lives ✨

This festive season, more than 50,000 dazzling Christmas lights will illuminate the Dimasi family home in Beeliar, spreading joy while raising vital funds for Rett syndrome research.

For the fourth year in a row, Joel Dimasi and his family are lighting up their home in honour of their niece, Ava Ford, who lives with Rett syndrome – a rare neurological condition caused by an uncommon gene mutation.

Rett syndrome can lead to severe physical and intellectual disabilities, including seizures, breathing irregularities, spinal curvature and gastrointestinal issues. It affects around one in every 10,000 girls – roughly one child each year in Western Australia. There is currently no cure.

Our researchers are working to better understand Rett syndrome, improve clinical care, support families, and contribute to global efforts to find a cure.

🎄 By visiting the Dimasi family’s Christmas lights, you’re helping shine a light on hope for Ava, and for thousands of children like her.

Where: 17 Catspaw Avenue, Beeliar
Time: From 7.30pm to 10.00pm (until 25 December)

Donate to Rett syndrome research: https://fundraiseforthekids.raiselysite.com/dimasi-xmas-de-lights-2025

Dimasi Xmas DeLights

19/12/2025

Community is at the heart of everything we do at The Kids.

It guides our research, shapes our priorities, and inspires us to keep pushing for breakthroughs that change children’s lives.

That same community also lifts us up. Our researchers rely on the generosity of people who believe in a healthier future for every child — and every donation, big or small, makes a real difference.

Recently, two beautiful gestures reminded us just how powerful that support can be.

Two resourceful sisters held a cake stall to raise funds for the Institute, while another pair of siblings selflessly donated their pocket money to support the work happening here every day.

If you feel inspired to support our next breakthrough, you can learn more or make a donation here 👉 https://shorturl.at/xkPps

18/12/2025

💙 Dr Vincent Mancini features on the latest episode of Dads of the NICU.

The NICU journey can be overwhelming – especially for dads who are trying to stay strong while supporting their family. In this episode, Vincent, a Senior Research Fellow in our Human Development and Community Wellbeing team, speaks with compassion about why dads need support too, and how feeling seen and understood can make a real difference.

Recently awarded a three-year EMCR Fellowship, Vincent is leading the development of interventions to support the welfare of regional WA fathers and families who have children in the NICU.

Search “Dads of the NICU” on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to listen to the podcast, which was developed in partnership with Embrace at The Kids.

In our first episode of Season 2, brought to you by the The Kids Research Institute Australia and the Embrace Program, we are joined by Dr .

Dr Mancini is a Perth-based Senior Research Fellow with a PhD in Clinical Psychology, leading research at the intersection of masculinity, fatherhood, and children’s health and wellbeing. He is driven by the belief that every child deserves the opportunity to thrive, and that fathers and male caregivers play a pivotal role in shaping this potential.

His work explores how fathers and father figures influence child development, how work and family dynamics shape wellbeing, and the complex challenges faced by boys and young men. He has expertise across areas including fatherhood science, perinatal mental health in fathers, parent emotion regulation, Fly-In-Fly-Out (FIFO) work, men’s mental health, su***de prevention, grief and bereavement, mediation and conflict resolution, child maltreatment, children’s neurodiversity, young men’s engagement in sport gambling, and the prevention of gender-based violence.

Dr Mancini’s team at the Kids is leading the charge in shaping a new support initiative called NICU Dads, and today we discuss the importance of his work and how he is shaping the future of support for Dads on their NICU journey.

Search “Dads of the NICU” on Spotify or Apple Music to listen to the episode.

17/12/2025

Let’s celebrate our local heroes. ⭐ At The Kids, it’s important to us that our research reflects the needs of the community and those with lived experience.

Emily Saint, 7 (right), was diagnosed with early-stage type 1 diabetes in 2024. Her older sister Olivia, 10, also lives with type 1 diabetes.

Researchers from The Kids had been working with families like the Saints for years, and they noticed the gap in care for kids found to have early-stage type 1 diabetes.

So, a team at The Kids decided to undertake a co-design project with the community to create a new model of care to support families living with early-stage type 1 diabetes.

Emily and Olivia’s mum, Yvette, was involved in the co-design project – and this collaboration with our community has resulted in an Australian-first early-stage type 1 diabetes clinic.

Now, the Rio Tinto Children’s Diabetes Centre at Perth Children’s Hospital is providing a new model of care to kids with type 1 diabetes.

We extend a big thanks to families like the Saints, whose courage has supported our vision of happy, healthy kids.

Find out more about The Kids’ impact: https://shorturl.at/Psgei

16/12/2025

A huge thank you to the incredible students and staff at Narembeen District High School for hosting their recent Purple Day in honour of Lucy DeLuis, who tragically passed away at just two years old from influenza.

Purple was Lucy’s favourite colour. Her siblings attend District High School, and the whole community embraced Purple Day – from the school bus decked out in purple to locals joining in the spirit around town.

Through their efforts, the school raised $531 to support life-saving research into flu prevention for children. Thank you, Narembeen, for helping us continue vital research to protect kids from flu.

Do you want to host a community fundraiser of your own to help support happy, healthy kids? https://shorturl.at/Wypwj

11/12/2025

Your questions about autism, answered!

Two of our leading autism researchers – Professor Andrew Whitehouse, Deputy Director of Research at The Kids and Director of CliniKids, and Professor David Trembath, Head of Autism Research, Senior Principal Research Fellow, CliniKids – recently hosted a community webinar exploring the latest developments in autism research.

They answered community questions on everything from early supports and neurodiversity to communication and practical ways to better support parents and carers of autistic children.

🎥 Watch the full webinar here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRWnar9nDq8

CliniKids

11/12/2025

Co-Head of Brain Tumour Research at The Kids, Professor Nick Gottardo, recently spoke with Cancer Council Western Australia about his research into finding kinder and more effective treatments for kids with brain cancer.

In this piece, Professor Gottardo discusses how his research project has found several new drugs that will soon be used in clinical trials to support happier, healthier kids. 💛

“The beauty of collaboration is that discoveries made in Perth can help children both here and all around the world.”

We spoke with Professor Nick Gottardo from The Kids Research Institute Australia about his research into finding new ways to make current childhood brain cancer treatments kinder and more effective.

To read more about Professor Gottardo's work, visit the link below.
https://bit.ly/4pnzv73

10/12/2025

Social media restrictions for under-16s come into effect today – and for families of young people, this means some big changes.

So, we asked one of our researchers for expert advice on navigating the digital world with young people, especially as many of them are still using technology.

Professor Kathryn Modecki, Head of Developmental Science of Mental Health at The Kids, Future Health Research Infrastructure (FHRI) Distinguished Fellow and Professor of Psychological Science at The University of Western Australia, has been streaming data from adolescents’ phones for over 10 years.

She has three tips:
📱 Build communication with your child
📱 Chat about privacy
📱 Boost your digital literacy

Beacon is an evidence-based tool designed for parents and carers to help their children around technology use: https://beacon.thekids.org.au/

09/12/2025

Are you ready to take a deep dive into the challenges facing teens in a digital world?

While Australian Government restrictions will limit social media access from tomorrow, kids will still be online and confronting issues not faced by previous generations.

Join parenting expert and The Kids ambassador, Maggie Dent, as she chats with our Head of Youth Mental Health, Associate Professor Yael Perry, about how parents and caregivers can support their teens to thrive in this challenging landscape.

This special podcast episode is now available for everyone to download via this link: https://shorturl.at/czvdK

05/12/2025

🌟 Happy International Volunteer Day! 🌟

Today, we’re celebrating the incredible volunteers who help bring our vision of happy, healthy kids to life.

From coordinating activities in our Discovery Centre to supporting our schools and outreach programs, our volunteers continue to show up with passion, expertise and generosity.

Their impact across the year has been extraordinary, and we’re so proud to share just how much they’ve contributed to our cause.

To every volunteer: thank you. Your time, energy and heart make all the difference. 💛

04/12/2025

🌟 $1.5 million funding to advance translational research outcomes in early childhood and family health.

ORIGINS, Australia’s largest longitudinal cohort study of its kind, has received funding from the Minderoo Foundation to support postdoctoral research positions leading interventional studies, a unique feature of ORIGINS which enables real-time feedback to families.

Dr Jackie Davis, ORIGINS Co-Director, said the funding will be pivotal in enabling expert researchers to navigate and harness more than 400,000 biological samples from the ORIGINS Biobank and 30 million data points within its Data Catalogue to deliver meaningful research outcomes that improve the lives of Australian families.

“By embedding interventional research at the heart of ORIGINS, our vision is to empower every child and family with the strongest start in life, creating healthier communities and shape lifelong flourishing for generations to come,” Dr Davis said.

Learn more here: https://shorturl.at/guzHJ

Ramsay Health Care | Joondalup Health Campus Public & Private

04/12/2025

The teenage years can be particularly challenging for boys, according to parenting expert and Kids ambassador Maggie Dent.

And the digital world has brought with it a whole host of new challenges, especially for our younger teens who are in the thick of huge brain and body changes.

With the pending social media ban delay for under 16s Maggie recently partnered with The Kids to record a special podcast with our Head of Youth Mental Health, Associate Professor Yael Perry, about the challenges our teens are facing, and how we can help them thrive.

You can listen to the insightful conversation right now by subscribing to The Kids newsletter: https://www.thekids.org.au/events/helping-teens-thrive-in-a-digital-world-register