Researchers honoured at the Hunter Children's Research Foundation awards on Thursday night are hoping to make progress in treatments for bronchiolitis, stuttering and immunity errors.
Among them were three academics who each received $30,000 research grants as their prize.
Dr Gabriela Martins Costa Gomes is working on "predicting bronchiolitis", Dr Rachael Unicomb is examining the mental health of young children who stutter and Dr Kirrily Pursey is studying adolescents with "inborn errors of immunity".
Dr Gomes' work aims to detect "irregular lung function" before the onset of bronchiolitis, a leading cause of hospitalisation and death in infants and young children.
Dr Unicomb's work follows concern that about 60 per cent of people who stutter are diagnosed with a mental health disorder.
A quarter of schoolchildren who stutter are diagnosed with social anxiety disorder and face an increased risk of bullying, negative classroom experiences and suicidal thoughts.
Dr Pursey investigates diet and nutrition in adolescents with immunity errors, as they're more likely to become severely ill. This can lead to permanent physical or intellectual disability, and potentially death, without proper treatment.
The researchers are with Hunter Medical Research Institute and University of Newcastle.
The other winners were: Dr Heather Burnett [research mentor of the year], Dr Megan Freund [achievement in research], Dr Elizabeth Percival [encouragement for research], Alison Marshall and A/Prof Elizabeth Cotterell [achievement in quality improvement].
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