35 years of kids’ health research,
THE KIDS RESEARCH INSTITUTE AUSTRALIA
With
Professor Jonathan Carapetis AM,
Paediatrician & Executive Director
The Kids Research Institute Australia
RESEARCH IMPACT
Filmed in Perth, Western Australia | January 2026
The Kids Research Institute Australia is one of the largest and most successful medical research institutes in Australia. The Institute has created a blueprint that brings together community, researchers, practitioners, policy makers and funders, who share our vision to improve the health and wellbeing of children through excellence in research.
The Institute is headed by leading paediatrician and infectious diseases expert Professor Jonathan Carapetis, with Founding Director Professor Fiona Stanley now Patron.
The Kids is independent and not-for-profit. The majority of funding comes from our success in winning national and international competitive research grants. They also receive significant philanthropic support from corporate Australia and the community.
In November 2025, The Kids Research Institute Australia celebrated 35 years of bold ideas, groundbreaking research, and the people who find answers to the big questions about better health outcomes for children and families.
Since his appointment in 2012, Professor Carapetis has guided The Kids through a period of significant scientific achievement, organisational growth, and increased impact — all anchored to the Institute’s vision of ensuring happy, healthy kids.
During his tenure, Professor Carapetis oversaw major advancements in child health research, including discoveries that have influenced policy and practice, such as the recent adoption of RSV vaccinations.
He led the Institute through key milestones including the transition to new headquarters at Perth Children’s Hospital, the development of the Research Reimagined strategic plan, and the creation of a new, fresh brand.
Under Professor Carapetis’ leadership, The Kids strengthened its position as a national leader in child health research, building collaborations across Australia and internationally, supporting researchers and WA families through the COVID-19 pandemic, and driving a culture that has evolved traditional models of research, to accelerate and amplify impact, for children and their families.
Also announced in November 2025, was the news that Professor Carapetis will step down as Executive Director in July 2026, after 14 years of distinguished leadership.
Source: Adapted using The Kids Research Institute Australia news stories
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Biostatistics in Clinical Trials
As a biostatistician working in research and clinical settings, Kate Francis plays a vital role in ensuring all projects adhere to best practice guidelines and are transparently reported. She has served as the lead statistician for the analysis of clinical trials across a broad range of subject areas, including neonatal resuscitation, BCG for allergy and infection, convulsive status epilepticus and her work has been published in the top journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, and The Lancet. Most recently she was awarded the 2025 Excellence in Trial Statistics Award for her work on the PLUSS trial.
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Hormone receptor positive breast cancer and therapy resistance
Prof Elgene Lim is a medical oncologist at St Vincent’s Hospital and Head of the Connie Johnson Breast Cancer Research Lab at the Garvan Institute. Following his PhD at the Walter & Eliza Hall Institute where he identified the aberrant cells in carriers of the BRCA1 mutant gene, a hereditary breast cancer syndrome as the culprit cells giving rise to breast cancer, he furthered his research and clinical training at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School. He was awarded the National Breast Cancer Foundation Practitioner Fellowship in 2014 and returned from Boston to Australia. In 2017, he was awarded the inaugural National Breast Cancer Foundation Endowed Chair, and subsequently appointed the Principal Cancer Theme Lead at UNSW.
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Next generation nanomedicine and radiopharmaceuticals to treat cancer
Finding better ways of treating cancer, aside from finding a cure, aim to provide a better quality of life for those who suffer from it.
Professor Thurecht’s work focuses on nanomedicine and spans across the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology and the Centre for Advanced Imaging, at the University of Queensland in Australia.
