The BrightSpark Foundation has a proud history of supporting researchers and clinicians through fellowships, grants, prizes and awards. Our BrightSpark alumni have made major contributions to improving child health in Western Australia, as well as globally.
Dr Renee Ng
BrightSpark/FHRI Fund/SPCF Fellow
The Kids Research Institute Australia and The University of Western Australia
Investigating the potential of phage combination therapies to improve antimicrobial stewardship and delay resistance development
WA Early-Career Researcher Fellowship
$251,672.71
2025-2027
Dr Sonia McAlister
BrightSpark/FHRI Fund/SPCF Fellow
The Kids Research Institute Australia and The University of Western Australia
Decoding infant antibody signatures after maternal immunisations
WA Early-Career Researcher Fellowship
$252,000
2025-2027
Dr Jacinta Saldaris
BrightSpark/FHRI Fund/SPCF Fellow
The Kids Research Institute Australia and The University of Western Australia
Mental health matters: Empowering children with intellectual disability and their parents
WA Early-Career Researcher Fellowship
$215,345.90
2025-2027
Dr Mohinder Sarna
BrightSpark/FHRI Fund/SPCF Fellow
Curtin University
Capturing the impact of respiratory syncytial virus infections and assessing the cost-savings of respiratory syncytial virus interventions
WA Early-Career Researcher Fellowship
$208,518.70
2025-2027
Dr Emily McLeish
BrightSpark/FHRI Fund/SPCF Fellow
Murdoch University
AI-Driven MRI Analysis for Early Detection of Inflammation-Mediated Brain Injury in Extremely Preterm Infants with Sepsis
WA Early-Career Researcher Fellowship
$252,000
2025-2027
Dr Ritika Kar Bahal
BrightSpark/FHRI Fund/SPCF Fellow
The University of Western Australia
Towards better respiratory health of children by understanding respiratory commensal biology
WA Early-Career Researcher Fellowship
$253,000
2025-2027
Dr August Mikucki
BrightSpark/FHRI Fund/SPCF Fellow
The University of Western Australia and The Kids Research Institute Australia
Novel probiotic candidates for the prevention of group A Streptococcus
WA Early-Career Researcher Fellowship
$252,000
2025-2027
Dr Blair Johnson
BrightSpark/FHRI Fund/SPCF Fellow
Fiona Wood Foundation
A novel model to understand heart disease in childhood burns
WA Early-Career Researcher Fellowship
$251,401
2025-2027
Dr Denby Evans
BrightSpark/FHRI Fund Fellow
Curtin University and Telethon Kids Institute
Investigating the airway epithelium as a novel treatable trait of preterm-associated lung disease
WA Early-Career Researcher Fellowship
$252,000
2023-2025
Dr Brittany Dewdney
BrightSpark/FHRI Fund Fellow
The University of Western Australia and Telethon Kids Institute
A new window of opportunity for children with brain cancer: An innovative model for evaluating the brain wound healing response and the paediatric immune micro environment after brain surgery
WA Early-Career Researcher Fellowship
$252,000
2023-2025
Dr Samantha Carlson
BrightSpark/FHRI Fund Fellow
The University of Western Australia and Telethon Kids Institute
Improving Childhood Vaccine Uptake in Western Australia
WA Early-Career Researcher Fellowship
$208,513
2023-2025
Dr Hannah Thomas
BrightSpark/FHRI Fund Fellow
Active listening: addressing community priorities and recommendations from the SToP Trial
Improving Childhood Vaccine Uptake in Western Australia
WA Early-Career Researcher Fellowship
$251,790
2023-2025
Dr Gizachew Tessema
Curtin University
Publication: Interpregnancy interval and adverse pregnancy outcomes among pregnancies following miscarriages or induced abortions in Norway (2008–2016): A cohort study
BrightSpark Research Prize
$5,000
2023
Dr Jessica Mountford
The University of Western Australia
Umea Centre for Molecular Medicine (UCMM)
Comparing genetic variance with environmental risk factors in early-onset myopia
BrightSpark Research Collaboration Award
$30,000
2023
Dr Cele Richardson
The University of Western Australia
Goodnight, Poor Sleep: Evaluating a Low-Barrier Solution for Youth Sleep and Mental Health
Raine Priming Grant
$470,896
2023
Dr David Preece
Curtin University, Curtin enAble Institute & School of Population Health
Addressing the Loneliness Epidemic in Young People: Bridging Affective and Clinical Science
Raine Priming Grant
$237,165
2023
Dr Archita Mishra
Telethon Kids Institute
Microbial-immune priming in early life: Implications in pre-term infections
Raine Priming Grant
$229,653
2022
Dr Tao Wang
Telethon Kids Institute, UWA
Developing effective RNA-based cancer immunotherapy
Raine Priming Grant
$229,943
2022
Dr Amanuel Gebremedhin
Curtin University
Norwegian Institute of Public Health
Development of a New DNA Methylation-based Maternal Epigenetic Age Estimator as a Predictor for Perinatal Morbidity
BrightSpark Research Collaboration Award
$29,607
2022
Dr Lisa Stinson
The University of Western Australia
Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute
Short chain fatty acids in human milk: Implications for infant health
BrightSpark Research Collaboration Award
$27,039
2022
Dr Mary Abraham
Perth Children’s Hospital
Publication: Effect of a Hybrid Closed-Loop System on Glycemic and Psychosocial Outcomes in Children and Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Pediatrics. 2021 Dec 1;175(12):1227-1235
BrightSpark Research Prize
$5,000
2022
Dr Akila Rekima
Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia
Collaborating Institution: Amsterdam University Medical Center
Influence of early life diet on intestinal epithelial cell development and function
BrightSpark Research Collaboration Award
$29,986
2022
Dr Henry Hui
The University of Western Australia
Collaborating Institutions: Macquarie University and Wise Realities Institute for Healthcare Emerging Technologies Research
Improving survival in childhood leukaemia
BrightSpark Research Collaboration Award
$29,864
2022
A/Prof Christopher Brennan-Jones
Telethon Kids Institute, Curtin University
Publication: Topical antibiotics for chronic suppurative otitis media, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2020; Issue 1.
BrightSpark Research Prize
$5,000
2021
Dr Rachael Zemek
Raine/BrightSpark Fellow
Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia
Leveraging the surgical wound healing immune response to stimulate local cancer eradication
Raine Priming Grant
$244,360
2022-2023
Dr Nelly Amenyogbe
Raine/BrightSpark Fellow
Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia
Harnessing innate immune metabolism to save newborns from infectious death
Raine Priming Grant
$242,793
2022-2023
Dr Julie Ji
Raine/BrightSpark/Cockell Fellow
School of Psychological Science, The University of Western Australia
Predicting self-injurious behaviour in young people – a novel cognitive science approach
Raine Priming Grant
$227,542
2021-2022
Dr Jess Reynolds
UWA Centre for Child Health Research, Telethon Kids Institute
Garvan Institute of Medical Research, New South Wales
Challenging the core autism phenotype – investigating motor impairments in children on the autism spectrum using whole genome sequencing
BrightSpark Research Collaboration Award
$30,000
2021
Dr Lieke van den Elsen
School of Molecular Science, The University of Western Australia
South Australian Health & Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI)
Does lack of colostrum feeding in neonates lead to impaired growth and immune development, and enhanced disease susceptibility in later life?
BrightSpark Research Collaboration Award
$29,296
2021
Dr Akila Rekima
The University of Western Australia
Publication: A role for early oral exposure to house dust mite allergens through breast milk in IgE-mediated food allergy susceptibility. The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology (JACI). 2020.
BrightSpark Research Prize
$5,000
2021
Dr Emma de Jong
Raine/BrightSpark Fellow
UWA Centre for Child Health Research, Telethon Kids Institute
Predicting asthma disease trajectories through systems-level analyses of immune memory
Raine Priming Grant
$215,000
2020-2021
Dr Amy Finlay-Jones
Mental Health and Youth Telethon Kids Institute/CCHR, The University of Western Australia
Brain and Body Lab (BABLab), The University of California (Los Angeles, USA)
Beyond brain and behaviour: Understanding the role of the gut microbiome in infant and child mental health
BrightSpark Research Collaboration Award
$29,433.42
2020
Dr Naomi Scott
Stewart/BrightSpark Fellow
Telethon Kids Institute
Attenuation of maternal inflammation to promote normal offspring neuro-immune development
Raine Priming Grant
$150,000
2019-2020
Dr Diana Tan
School of Psychological Science, The University of Western Australia
The University of Cambridge, UK
Investigating biological markers of autism using longitudinal cohort studies in the UK and Australia
BrightSpark Research Collaboration Award
$7,600
2019
Dr Tara Richman
Raine/BrightSpark Fellow
Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, The University of Western Australia
Modelling mitochondrial dysfunction in disease
Raine Priming Grant
$200,000
2018-2019
Dr Annette Regan
School of Public Health, Curtin University
Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute
An international cohort study measuring child health following maternal immunisation
BrightSpark Research Collaboration Award
$5,000
2018
Dr Nathanael Yates
School of Human Sciences University of Western Australi
University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Developing Preterm Infant Nutrition Research Capacity
BrightSpark Research Collaboration Award
Declined Award
2018
Dr Melissa O’Donnell
Raine/Stewart/BrightSpark Fellow
Telethon Kids Institute
Alcohol-related harm in young people: developing a longitudinal evidence base
Raine Priming Grant
$197,128
2017-2018
Dr Laurence Cheung
Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia
Children’s Cancer Institute, University of NSW
Identification of novel drug combinations to cure high-risk infant leukaemia
BrightSpark Research Collaboration Award
$8,988
2017
Dr Laurens Manning
Honorary Raine/Stewart/BrightSpark Fellow
Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, Fiona Stanley Hospital, The University of Western Australia
Better management of childhood malaria in areas with multiple Plasmodium species
Raine Priming Grant
Declined Award
2017
Dr Gavin Pereira
Curtin University
UWA, Telethon Kids Institute
Heatwaves and Perinatal Morbidity – a combined observational and experimental study
BrightSpark Research Collaboration Award
$9,868
2017
Dr Ruth Thornton
University of Western Australia
Improving treatment and developing preventative strategies for chronic ear and lung diseases in children
BrightSpark Fellowship
$322,111
2015-2017
Dr Holly Clifford
Telethon Kids Institute
Environmental dust particles, bacterial infections and the lung, impact in remote Aboriginal Australian Communities
BrightSpark Fellowship
$381,122
2014-2018
Dr Siobhan Reid
The University of Western Australia
Hitting the right spot: Optimising treatment with Botulinum Neurotoxin Type A in children with Cerebral Palsy
BrightSpark Fellowship
$278,160
2014-2018
Dr Anthony Bosco
Telethon Kids Institute
Deficient activation of IRF7 gene networks underpins rhinovirus-induced airways disease
BrightSpark Fellowship
$352,006
2013-2016
Dr Guicheng Zhang
Curtin University
Gene and environment interactions and epigenetics on asthma and allergies in infants
BrightSpark Fellowship
$354,952
2011-2014
Dr Shelley Gorman
Telethon Kids Institute
Investigating the effects of vitamin D deficiency in utero and early life in modulating allergic skin and lung disease
BrightSpark Fellowship
$363,670
2011-2013
Dr Louise Naylor
University of Western Australia
Can exercise improve microvessel function in adolescents with Type 2 diabetes
BrightSpark Fellowship
$290,924
2011-2013
Dr Sarra Jamieson
Telethon Kids Institute
The Genetics of Otitis Media in WA Children
BrightSpark Fellowship
$233,848
2009-2011