Supporting life-changing research for children around the world.
Murdoch Children’s Research Institute acknowledges the Wurundjeri people as the Traditional Owners of the land upon which we are located. We pay our respects to their Elders, past and present.
On behalf of everyone at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI), thank you for your generous contribution. Your support plays a critical role in addressing some of the most pressing challenges in child health today. As Australia’s largest child health research institute, MCRI ranks among the top three globally for research quality and impact. Your generosity helps us remain a leader in innovation and excellence.
Through our Philanthropic Funds, you provide essential funding to advance research, support talented researchers, address urgent health challenges and sustain child health research for the long term. These initiatives ensure researchers have the stability and resources needed to make meaningful progress.
At MCRI, our researchers, clinicians and innovators are dedicated to improving child health. Turning research ideas into real-world impact requires investment. Your support directly funds these efforts, helping to drive discoveries that improve children’s lives.
This report highlights how your generosity makes a difference, sharing the stories of researchers whose work has been made possible through our Philanthropic Funds.
Thank you for your support.
Professor Kathryn North AC Director, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
In today’s competitive research environment, securing traditional funding is increasingly difficult, creating critical gaps that risk slowing progress in child health. To overcome this challenge, our strategic funding initiatives provide researchers with the essential support they need to make transformative discoveries that improve children’s lives. By working together, we can address the most urgent child health needs, drive medical advancements and improve outcomes for children in Australia and around the world.
Your contributions to the Brilliant Minds Fund help MCRI retain exceptional talent in child health research. This essential initiative provides researchers with the support they need to stay focused on advancing life-changing treatments for children and shaping a healthier future.
The Director’s Fund provides flexible resources to address MCRI’s most urgent and important research priorities, enabling the Institute to respond swiftly to emerging challenges in child health and ensuring that critical research can progress without delay.
Thanks to generous support, the Discovery Fund provides researchers with the critical resources needed to pursue high-potential projects. This fund offers essential seed funding for promising early-stage research with the potential to transform child health.
Dedicated to the long-term sustainability of MCRI, the Future Fund supports pioneering discoveries and lasting advancements in child health research, ensuring continued leadership in medical science for generations to come.
The impact of your support has been extraordinary – not just in advancing research, but in shaping the future of child health.
Philanthropic Funds support vital research across 150+ childhood diseases and conditions, spanning from common allergies to rare genetic disorders.
In 2024 alone, MCRI researchers supported by the Philanthropic Funds went on to secure $7.9 million in competitive grant funding – driving advancements in diagnosis, treatment and prevention.
Your contributions have enabled researchers to continue their vital work without interruption, ensuring promising ideas are pursued and translated into real-world solutions
Your generosity has helped MCRI attract and retain top researchers, reinforcing our position as one of the top three child health research institutes worldwide for research quality and impact.*
*Clarivate Performance analysis and MCRI benchmarking report, November 2023
In 2024, the Brilliant Minds Fund invested in exceptional researchers committed to improving health outcomes for children. Meet some of the researchers supported by your generosity and explore the impact of their work.
At MCRI, trailblazing research is uncovering the hidden genetic factors behind childhood speech and language disorders, which affect thousands of Australian children each year.
Leading this pioneering work is Professor Angela Morgan, who leads research into the causes of severe speech and language disorders, such as stuttering. Working with a specialised team, she aims to uncover how genes and the brain contribute to these disorders to improve diagnosis, treatment and long-term outcomes.
“The impact of these disorders extends far beyond communication,” Professor Morgan explained. “They can affect a child’s education, social interactions and future employment opportunities. A speech or language disorder makes a child three times more likely to develop a reading disorder or dyslexia and any children with these disorders face learning difficulties, lower self-esteem and reduced life opportunities.”
Thanks to philanthropic support, the team has made remarkable progress. “The Brilliant Minds Fund enabled me to focus on early-stage research ideas and build a strong research program, driving major advances in our understanding of severe speech disorders. We have discovered that approximately one in three affected children have a genetic cause and identified over 30 genes linked to these conditions.”
“I am extremely grateful to our donors for their generous support, which has allowed me to explore new ideas and take my research in exciting directions.”
These discoveries are already transforming lives. “Our research is helping families and clinicians gain a clearer understanding of the causes of speech and language disorders, leading to more accurate diagnoses and targeted treatments. This progress is just the beginning, as this work will pave the way for precision therapies that can improve speech and language outcomes.”
This support has also created a foundation for long-term success, positioning Professor Morgan’s team as a global leader in the field and opening doors to expanded collaborations and innovative research directions.
Her work has recently been recognised with a prestigious $2.8 million National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Investigator Grant to further identify genes that influence severe speech disorders and develop a world-first digital speech test. This innovative digital tool will advance detection, diagnosis and treatment for up to one in seven children impacted by speech and language disorders, many of whom are currently supported by the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
One in five Australian children start school with a speech or language disorder, with MCRI research showing that in some children this may have a genetic cause.
Adolescence is a crucial yet often overlooked period in global health discussions.
Professor Peter Azzopardi leads a team at MCRI focused on addressing the unique health challenges faced by young people, particularly in communities with fewer resources and greater health inequalities.
“My experiences as a paediatrician made me realise that adolescent health is largely neglected in policy and action. While often perceived as ‘healthy’, adolescents face a significant burden of preventable illness that impacts their wellbeing, their future as adults and the health of the next generation.”
This realisation drives Professor Azzopardi’s work, where his team identifies these challenges and develops evidence-based solutions to improve adolescent health. Recognising the need for global action, he recently co-chaired the Global Action for Measurement of Adolescent Health (GAMA), a World Health Organization (WHO) initiative that established international guidelines to ensure adolescent health is prioritised in policies worldwide.
At MCRI, his team focuses on mental health, sexual and reproductive health and the prevention of longterm diseases. They work closely with young people and communities to develop solutions that are both effective and equitable. Their expertise has also helped shape the upcoming Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health, which will launch at the World Health Assembly later this year.
Today’s 1.8 billion adolescents represent the largest such population in human history, with more than half living in the Asia Pacific region.
“The Brilliant Minds Fund has been instrumental in supporting this work, enabling me to support my team and build the deep relationships that drive our research. With 1.8 billion adolescents worldwide – more than half in our region – investing in this stage of life is one of the most effective ways to improve health outcomes for individuals and future generations.”
With growing support, including newly secured NHMRC funding, Professor Azzopardi and his team are empowered to expand their vital work.
Ensuring transgender and gender diverse young people receive the healthcare they need is central to the research of Associate Professor Ken Pang.
“Trans young people often face discrimination, social rejection and barriers to accessing appropriate healthcare and support,” Associate Professor Pang highlighted. “It is therefore not surprising that they frequently experience poorer physical, social, and mental health when compared to their peers.” However, research related to genderaffirming care is helping trans young people live more authentic, healthy and happy lives.
Historically, transgender health research has been significantly underfunded. “The Brilliant Minds Fund has allowed me to move into a full-time research role and expand our work and scope at MCRI’s Transgender Health Research Group, with a focus on supporting more trans-led research and greater youth involvement.”
This support has already driven major progress. Associate Professor Pang helped establish and now leads groundbreaking research through the Australian Research Consortium for Trans Youth and Children (ARCTYC), a national collaboration uniting more than 60 clinicians, researchers, and individuals with lived experience.
By combining rigorous research with clinical expertise and lived experience, his team is building a solid evidence base for models of care that will help trans young people thrive. One key achievement is the creation of the first standardised tool to measure ‘gender euphoria’ – the positive emotions linked to gender identity, expression and affirmation. This tool is quickly being adopted both in Australia and internationally, promoting holistic and strengthsbased care for trans youth.
Beyond improving care, this research is also deepening our understanding of gender development and identity, which benefits paediatric medicine as a whole.
The initial investment from the Brilliant Minds Fund also paved the way for sustainable funding, with the ARCTYC securing $5 million from the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF).
Learn more about transgender health research
While trans young people often face discrimination and barriers to care, research is supporting the delivery of healthcare that helps trans children, adolescents and families to thrive.
In 2024, the Discovery Fund supported promising research projects with the potential for major advancements in medical research. Learn more about the projects made possible through your support.
What if we could watch a baby’s brain develop and spot the earliest signs of potential challenges and ways to help? Professor Deanne Thompson is making that possible.
A leading neuroscientist at MCRI, Professor Thompson has pioneered advanced MRI techniques to study how early-life experiences shape brain development and long-term outcomes for vulnerable babies.
“In Australia, around 12,000 of 300,000 annual births have brain injury or maldevelopment leading to a higher risk of developmental challenges,” Professor Thompson explained. “We still don’t fully understand how the brain develops and what can go wrong.”
Professor Thompson’s research focuses on identifying critical changes in the brain around birth, uncovering the factors that contribute to these changes, and exploring how medical treatments can support healthier development. The goal is to improve early interventions and give at-risk infants the best possible start in life.
In 2024, when she narrowly missed out on federal grant funding, the Discovery Fund provided crucial bridge support.
“My work would not have continued without the Discovery Fund. It has allowed me to complete important research on preterm and fetal alcohol-affected children and explore future projects.”
This support is essential for a globally impactful research program. “My team was first in the world to produce transformational infantspecific brain atlases and MRI analysis software for the many infants who undergo MRI for suspected developmental problems.”
The impact extends far beyond her own research. Professor Thompson’s software and brain atlases are now used to assess the effects of multiple conditions on the infant brain and evaluate neurological markers in global clinical trials.
International developers have incorporated her atlases into widely used neuroimaging software and applied them in artificial intelligence projects.
With the sustainability provided by philanthropic funding, Professor Thompson has secured a NHMRCfunded Investigator Grant for 2026-2030, ensuring her work will continue with even greater impact.
“My team and I are enormously thankful and grateful for those who believe in scientific research to make a difference in improving the lives of children. Although I was very close to being funded in 2024, I just missed out and without donor support, the important work that my team and I have dedicated our lives to would have come to an end.”
“Our software and brain atlases have extensive global reach, being embedded in the daily operation of most major infant neuroimaging centres world-wide, unquestionably contributing to knowledge of brain injury and developmental conditions in babies.”
Image: Infant magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) software and atlases produced by the imaging team led by Professor Thompson at MCRI.
Childhood food allergies affect millions of families, with the constant worry of allergic reactions. Associate Professor Rachel Peters, lead of the epidemiology program in the Population Allergy Group at MCRI, is focused on understanding the causes and long-term health effects of these allergies through worldleading large, longitudinal studies.
“Food allergy has a substantial impact on the health and wellbeing of children and their families due to the constant vigilance required to avoid allergens and the ever-present risk of serious allergic reactions,” Associate Professor Peters outlined.
With support from the Discovery Fund, Associate Professor Peters has achieved significant breakthroughs. Her research discovered that higher exposure to air pollution as a baby increases the risk of developing peanut allergy. Additionally, she found that children with food allergies, even if they outgrow them, are more likely to develop asthma and have reduced lung function by age six.
These findings have practical implications for children’s health. Her team have significantly advanced our understanding of what causes food allergy, leading to new strategies to prevent one of Australia’s major public health challenges.
One in 10 babies and six per cent (one in 16) of primary school aged children have a food allergy in Australia – the highest rate globally.
Her research has also contributed to improved diagnosis of food allergies, leading to better access to care, and shown that more children outgrow food allergies than previously thought.
Looking forward, Associate Professor Peters is expanding her research. “The next phase of the HealthNuts Study will follow participants who were recruited as babies, into adulthood to understand the impact that childhood allergies have on adult health, and the challenges faced when transitioning from paediatric to adult allergy care.”
“I am deeply grateful to the Discovery Fund, which has allowed me to continue my research into understanding more about why children develop allergies, the longterm health consequences and how we can improve the prevention, prediction and management of these often life-threatening conditions.”
Image: Toby (pictured above with his mother) is participating in our VITALITY Trial, which aims to determine whether vitamin D supplementation can reduce food allergies.
Principal Research Fellow in Population Allergy
“Your investment is instrumental in advancing discoveries that improve the lives of children and their families.”
Associate Professor Rachel Peters is the National Allergy Centre of Excellence (NACE) Epidemiology Lead, and a Centre for Food Allergy Research (CFAR) Associate Investigator. Both national allergy research bodies are hosted at MCRI.
Dr Sam Manna Research Fellow in Translational Microbiology
Pneumococcus can cause severe infections but often lives harmlessly in the noses of healthy people. Dr Sam Manna, a microbiologist at MCRI, studies how this bacteria changes from harmless to harmful, focusing on its protective capsule, which is the target of current vaccines.
“My research aims to tackle the health challenges posed by pneumococcal disease, especially in low and middle-income countries where these infections are a major cause of illness and death.” By studying pneumococcus genetics, he hopes to identify what triggers the shift from harmless presence to dangerous infection.
When Dr Manna’s team narrowly missed securing government funding, the Discovery Fund provided critical support. “With these funds, we were able to undertake important experiments to demonstrate the feasibility of our project,” he explains. This support led to a successful $1.28 million NHMRC Ideas grant in the next round.
“We narrowly missed out on securing Government funding. With the Discovery Fund we were able to undertake important experiments. This then led to a successful funding application of $1.28 million in the next funding round.”
The funding enabled further experiments and innovative genomic technology to investigate how a strain’s genetic makeup influences disease development. This work led to a breakthrough that challenged the way we thought about the bacteria.
“A lot of research in the pneumococcal field focuses on that outer protective layer called the capsule. But interestingly, we found the story is more complicated. We were able to show that even with the same capsule type, different pneumococcal strains can differ in their potential to cause disease, proving capsule is not the only factor involved.”
This discovery opened a new research direction with significant implications for future vaccine development. “Our findings will be critical to understanding why some strains cause disease and others do not. This knowledge will prove vital to informing the design of new vaccines so that we can best target the strains that cause more disease.”
“Without donors’ support through the Discovery Fund, none of this would have been possible. We are deeply grateful not only for supporting our child health research but also for their investment in my career, which allows me the privilege of being able to give back by mentoring the next generation of child health researchers.”
Image: Dr Manna working in an MCRI lab to grow pneumococcal bacteria isolated from children with pneumonia.
Pneumococcus is a bacteria that can cause severe infections like pneumonia and meningitis in young children. It poses a serious health risk, especially for those with weakened immune systems, and is a leading cause of illness and death in children worldwide.
Image left: Colonies of pneumococcal bacteria growing on an agar plate.
Balcon Group
Stuart and Jillian Bales
Maureen Barden
Ariane and Angus Barker
Norma Beaconsfield
Bradley and Colleen Bell
Janet Bell
Garry and Sophie Bromham
Cameron Foundation
Steven Casper and Ilana Wald
Sandra Clark
Ronda and Ernest Clarke
Associate Professor John Collins AM and Mandy Collins
D.D.K. Holdings Pty Ltd
Gerry Davies and Jessica Mariani
Charles Day and Elise Everest
David and Veronica De La Coeur
Fiona Devilee
Annette Domanti
Joan Fell
John and Gaye Gaylard
Andrew and Bev Gelbart
Sonia Gilderdale
Gourlay Charitable Trust
Gras Foundation Trust
Handbury Foundation
Geoffrey Heeley
Raymond Hemphill
Heather Henderson
The Isabel & John Gilbertson
Charitable Trust
Ian Kennedy AM and Dr Sandra Hacker AO
Yvonne Le Fort
Peter Lemon
Judy Matear
Christine and Denis McConnell
Georgia McElvaney
Doug McIver
The McKenzie Family
McMeckan Family Foundation
The McPhee Charitable Fund
Philip Myles Neri
The Orloff Family Charitable Trust
Rowly and Judy Paterson
Lady Primrose Potter AC
Renzella Foundation
Judy Roach, Richard Roach, and Sally Gough
Judith Robinson
Michael and Rita Shearer
Leon Skaliotis
Colin and Jan Smith
Grant and Terri Stephenson
Rosemary Stipanov
The Stocks Family Foundation
Supernormal
Robin Syme
Anita Thomas
Sarah Vaughan
Anonymous (5)
Donations received of $1,000 or more to MCRI’s Philanthropic Funds
With heartfelt appreciation, we thank the following for their thoughtful and generous bequests, which have supported our Philanthropic Funds.
Estate of Annie Dick Williams
Estate of Lino Corsano
Margaret and John Houston, Yarra Glen
Your contribution to MCRI’s Philanthropic Funds is an investment in the future of children’s health. Together, we can ensure that the brightest researchers have the resources they need to pursue their groundbreaking work, improving the health and wellbeing of children everywhere. Join us in making a difference for children around the world.
