Congratulations to Dr Alec Truswell, Dr Tamara Veselinović, Dr Anastasia Phillips, and Dr Wenna Lee for being awarded Seed Funding through the Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines & Infectious Diseases (WCVID), each valued at up to $25,000, and to Dr Sonia McAlister, the recipient of the 2026 Riley Hughes Memorial Award in Pertussis Research (RHMA), funded by the Immunisation Foundation of Australia.
The grants are designed to contribute to WCVID Flagships Programs dedicated to accelerating Aboriginal health equity, safeguarding the early years through infection identification and prevention, recognising and responding to life-threatening infections, and combatting antimicrobial resistance.
Dr Alec Truswell will utilise his grant to advance the next stage of research into Spritz-OM, a nasal spray being developed to prevent ear infections in children.
Spritz-OM is designed to reduce ear infections by using a harmless bacterium to outcompete the harmful bacteria that cause infection.
The project will develop new tracking technology to more precisely monitor Spritz-OM during early human trials, helping researchers confirm how long it persists in the nose and strengthening safety data as the work progresses towards paediatric studies.
Dr Tamara Veselinović will examine how early learning environments may affect ear health and development in young children.
The project will assess noise levels across six Perth early learning centres and offer ear health and developmental checks for enrolled children, with a focus on otitis media, which disproportionately affects Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Findings will inform practical, non-medical approaches to improve early childhood health and development.
Dr Anastasia Phillips is seeking to improve immunisation rates for Aboriginal children in Western Australia.
The project will evaluate the Boorloo Public Health Unit’s Moorditj Start program, which provides reminders, information and practical support such as home vaccination to help families stay up to date with childhood immunisations.
Using program data, immunisation records, surveys and focus groups with families and health workers, the study will identify which approaches are most effective, acceptable and practical. The findings will help guide community-led improvements to better support timely vaccination.
Dr Wenna Lee was awarded funding to improve how research into rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is communicated with communities.
Her project seeks to co-design clear, culturally appropriate resources with Aboriginal stakeholders to support understanding of the HEARTS study, which utilises donated heart valve tissue to investigate how RHD develops. The aim is to improve informed consent, strengthen trust in research, and support better long-term outcomes for diagnosis and treatment.
Dr Sonia McAlister will use the RHMA to advance work on how maternal vaccination shapes infant immunity.
The project aims to further explore “immune interference”, where antibodies passed from mother to baby may influence how well infants respond to their own vaccines later in life. While pregnancy vaccination is highly effective at protecting newborns, current tests don’t measure how well those antibodies function.
The award will support bringing new laboratory techniques from the European Plotkin Institute for Vaccinology to Australia, improving how researchers assess vaccine effectiveness and informing future maternal vaccine strategies, including an upcoming clinical trial of a pertussis-only vaccine.
WCVID extends its gratitude to the Grant Review Panel (GRP), comprising Alec Truswell, Emily McLeish, Evelyn Tay, Jacqui Hume, Jua Iwasaki, Julie Marsh, Kate Summer, Sharon Clark, Shaun Wright, Tamara Veselinović, Tim Pesch and Wenna Lee. Special thanks are extended to GRP Chair David Martino for his leadership and guidance at the GRP meeting.
We also wish to acknowledge the valuable contributions of Vaccines & Infectious Diseases Advisory Group representatives on the GRP, Barbara Daniels and Melanie Andrew.
First published Friday 22 May 2026.
View all news articles