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The Institute farewelled one of its most treasured employees this year, as The Kids Cancer Centre research officer Jette Ford closed the door on a quietly stellar 37-year career which has helped to change the face of cancer research in WA and around the world.

Could a vaccine help fight food allergies?

A dramatic rise in food allergies over the past 20 years had Australian medical professionals scratching their heads, with three in every ten babies born each year developing food-related allergy or eczema.

Auditory-cued exercise therapy (ACET) in 7–12-year-old children with listening difficulties–a feasibility and pilot trial protocol

(Central) Auditory Processing Disorder ([C]APD) is an umbrella term for children who have difficulty with listening, despite normal hearing. Children with (C)APD frequently experience academic, behavioural, emotional, cognitive and social difficulties, and lack accessible, long-lasting wholistic treatments. Hence, a transdisciplinary intervention has been developed – Auditory-Cued Exercise Therapy.

Australian Aboriginal Otitis-Prone Children Produce High-Quality Serum IgG to Putative Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae Vaccine Antigens at Lower Titres Compared to Non-Aboriginal Children

Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) is the most common bacterial otopathogen associated with otitis media (OM). NTHi persists in biofilms within the middle ears of children with chronic and recurrent OM. Australian Aboriginal children suffer exceptionally high rates of chronic and recurrent OM compared to non-Aboriginal children.

Zika Virus Changes Methylation of Genes Involved in Immune Response and Neural Development in Brazilian Babies Born With Congenital Microcephaly

The recent increase in babies born with brain and eye malformations in Brazil is associated with Zika virus (ZIKV) infection in utero. ZIKV alters host DNA methylation in vitro. Using genome-wide DNA methylation profiling we compared 18 babies born with congenital ZIKV microcephaly with 20 controls. We found ZIKV-associated alteration of host methylation patterns, notably at RABGAP1L which is important in brain development, at viral host immunity genes MX1 and ISG15, and in an epigenetic module containing the causal microcephaly gene MCPH1. Our data support the hypothesis that clinical signs of congenital ZIKV are associated with changes in DNA methylation.

A flexible computational pipeline for research analyses of unsolved clinical exome cases

Exome sequencing has enabled molecular diagnoses for rare disease patients but often with initial diagnostic rates of ~25-30%. Here we develop a robust computational pipeline to rank variants for reassessment of unsolved rare disease patients. A comprehensive web-based patient report is generated in which all deleterious variants can be filtered by gene, variant characteristics, OMIM disease and Phenolyzer scores, and all are annotated with an ACMG classification and links to ClinVar.

Bacterial Reservoirs in the Middle Ear of Otitis-prone Children Are Associated With Repeat Ventilation Tube Insertion

Presence of bacterial otopathogen in the middle ear during ventilation tube insertion was a predictor of children at-risk of repeat ventilation tube insertion

High concentrations of middle ear antimicrobial peptides and proteins are associated with detection of middle ear pathogens in children with recurrent acute otitis media

Elevated antimicrobial proteins and peptides and cytokines in middle ear effusion are a marker of inflammation and bacterial persistence

Personalised analytics for rare disease diagnostics

Here we focus on the problem of prioritising variants with respect to the observed disease phenotype

Pcv7-and pcv10-vaccinated otitis-prone children in new zealand have similar pneumococcal and haemophilus influenzae densities in their nasopharynx and middle ear

PCV10 did not reduce NTHi density in the nasopharynx or middle ear, and was associated with increased pneumococcal nasopharyngeal density