Speeches
Thursday, 31 October 2024
Channel 7 Research Foundation of South Australia CRF Annual Research Grants and Awards
Rod and I are delighted, as joint patrons, to be with you for the fourth year of the Channel 7 Children’s Research Foundation awards and grants presentation.
The importance of research cannot be overstated. While the results may be some years away, all breakthroughs have beginnings.
Rod and I stand ready to support in any way we can the world-leading research that is being undertaken here in South Australia.
Today we celebrate South Australia’s remarkable researchers; those who are contributing to the quest to improve children’s health, education, and welfare.
As the evocative promotion currently screening on Channel 7 articulates: Research into things that shouldn’t be part of kids’ lives.
Whenever Rod and I visit medical and research facilities we are inspired by the dedication of our scientists to better diagnosing, treating and ultimately finding cures.
It is heartening to know that the Children’s Research Foundation now provides about $1.8 million in annual peer reviewed grants to support such quality research in South Australia.
Importantly, the foundation supports early career researchers to establish themselves in their chosen field and so builds research capacity in our State.
Impressively, since 1976, the CRF has funded more than 1,000 projects and allocated close to $50 million in today’s dollars.
The CRF website demonstrates the breadth of possibilities:
- tackling chronic illness
- research into virtual reality headsets which could open up a whole new world for people with intellectual disability
- new strategies to improve breast feeding outcomes in pre-term infants
- the benefits of Minecraft online gaming for pre-teens on the autism spectrum
- exploring the use of genetic models to guide clinicians to bring epileptic seizures under better, earlier control.
Rod and I thank those who generously support the foundation mission to bring these and other such stories of endeavour to reality.
And we are looking forward to hearing from some award researchers and CRF fellows shortly about their work.
Rod and I are aware of the competition for research dollars. We have often said that it is important that the community invests in that which it values.
And what could be more valuable than the health and wellbeing of our young people.
We congratulate the award and grant recipients and look forward to seeing how your research will “improve the lives of children tomorrow.”