Child Health Research Summer and Winter Research Projects

For the Summer program, students will be engaged for 6 weeks only.

Hours of engagement and delivery mode: For the Summer program, students will be engaged for 6 weeks only.

Engagement: 36 hrs per week. 12 Jan – 20 Feb 2026.

Delivery: Onsite.

Acquired brain injury (ABI) is a common and often devastating diagnosis for a child and family, impacting 1-2% of young Australians. It can have life-long neurological and psychological sequelae, including motor, cognitive and behavioural problems that impair learning and later job opportunities. Rehabilitation interventions are time- and resource-intensive with significant healthcare and family out-of-pocket expenses. Brain injuries are heterogeneous so that outcomes and response to interventions vary widely depending on the affected brain region/s (e.g. right motor cortex, thalamic, or brain stem injury can all cause left-sided weakness) which are likely to respond very differently to therapy. For these reasons, the choosing a therapeutic intervention that is tailored to the individual child is paramount. In order to achieve these, it is important to establish a methodological and clinical framework to understand the effects of the injury on the brain and not just behaviour so that we can get the most effective treatment for the “right” child at the “right” time. Understanding brain-behavioural correlations in childhood ABI t
rough brain connectivity analyses offers real potential to do this especially if this can be done easily in the clinic.

MRI is the staPlease reach out to Nathan with any questions (n.delang@uq.edu.au).ndard way to examine brain connectivity. Repeated MRIs, however, are expensive and often poorly tolerated in young people, especially after a brain injury. Newer point-of care techniques that can provide brain-based recovery/reorganisation information in addition to traditional neuropsychological assessments are needed. These could include high density electroencephalography (HD EEG) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).

This overall project aims to investigate the fundamental relationships between brain connectivity and common symptoms and behaviours that arise following ABI in children and youth during recovery. Using brain connectivity techniques, we will examine the relationship between brain connectivity and symptom/behaviour changes (i.e. brain-behaviour correlations) present in childhood ABI and establish identifiable brain-based markers of ABI recovery.

The student in the summer project will be involved in the preprocessing/analysis of HD EEG and fNIRS data from ABI and healthy control participants.

Learning outcomes:

• Understand how clinical research is conducted within a tertiary education and hospital environment
• Assist in the conduction of HD-EEG and fNIRS assessments
• Conduct preprocessing and analysis of HD-EEG and fNIRS data

Students may also be asked to present their learnings via oral presentation to the CHRC group at the end of their project.

Duration of project: 6 weeks from 12th Jan to 20th Feb 2025
Hours of engagement: 20 – 36 hrs per week
Location: Child Health Research Centre, Centre for Children's Health Research Building, South Brisbane and Queensland Children’s Hospital

Project will largely involve on-site work with possibility of partial remote hours.

The research project will involve examining the relationship between sleep and pain in children with rheumatological conditions by reviewing existing literature and conducting a small survey. Data will be collected on sleep patterns, pain severity, and daily function, and analysed to identify links that could guide future sleep-focused interventions in paediatric rheumatology. The student will have the opportunity to work alongsite a multidiscriplinary research team to acquire skills for both quantitative and qualitative analysis.

Expected learning outcomes and deliverables:

Scholars will gain skills in quantitative data analysis and survey data collection and analysis. Furthermore, there may be some opportunity for scholars to interact with patients and clincians on a research basis at Queensland Children’s Hospital. Scholars will engage in work which ultimately will be dessimnated through publications. Finally, scholars will also have the opportunity to undertake an oral presentation at the team research group meeting as well as other suitable settings.

Suitable for:

This project would be ideal for a student with a background in some form of basic anatomy, physiology and pathology. This would be suitable for most second year students studying any degree within the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Behavioural Sciences, including medicine, nursing, biomedical science and physiotherapy. Students considering a Higher Degree in Research would also be appropriate as this study has potential for expansion to further related work.

Primary Supervisor:
A/Prof Jasneek Chawla (Group leader of Kids Sleep Research Group)

Evidence of vaccination or non-susceptibility for vaccine preventable diseases will be required as any work in Queensland Children’s Hospital requires evidence before security access is provided.

Hours of engagement and delivery mode:

The student will be engaged for 32-36 hours per week over the 6-week Summer Research Program (12 Jan – 20 Feb 2026). The project would be predominantly on-site, with a hybrid arrangement available if necessary. Any on-site work is based at the Child Health Research Centre (CHRC), at the Centre for Children’s Health Research, South Brisbane.

Description:

Conducting paediatric critical care clinical trials is often challenged by fragmented data collection and inconsistent outcome measures, which makes it difficult to compare or combine findings across trials, reducing the translatability.

To address this, initiatives such as development of a core minimum dataset, has been proposed by the international paediatric critical care clinical trials network (PICU-CONNECT).  

This project aims to develop a core minimum dataset and data dictionary for paediatric critical care trials, aligning with ongoing international initiatives. This involves standardising terminology, eligibility criteria, baseline characteristics, and interventions.

The student will build on work currently undertaken with key activities including reviewing existing published paediatric clinical trials, extracting and collating relevant variables, and assisting with the design and monitoring of consensus surveys.

The outcome will be a contribution towards a standardised dataset that can be applied in future PICU trials globally, ultimately facilitating research that is accessible, interoperable and reusable.

Expected learning outcomes and deliverables:

• Gain experience in literature/data extraction, collation, and descriptive data analysis.
• Develop practical skills in survey design, set up and monitoring.
• Improve knowledge of paediatric critical care trial methods and outcome measures.
• Contribute to research with international relevance.

Suitable for:
This project would be most suitable for students studying biomedical science or public health.  

Primary Supervisor:
Dr Trish Gilholm

Further information:
Dr Trish Gilholm
Research Fellow
Child Health Research Centre
p.gilholm@uq.edu.au 
https://child-health-research.centre.uq.edu.au/profile/3264/trish-gilholm

Hours of engagement and delivery mode:

Duration of project: 6 weeks from 12th Jan to 20th Feb 2025.
Hours of engagement: 24 – 30 hrs per week
Location: Child Health Research Centre, South Brisbane.

The project will largely involve on-site work with possibility of partial

Description:
This research project will focus on understanding how trauma exposure affects sleep architecture in refugee children, using a neuroscience-informed perspective. The project will begin with a systematic review of the existing literature, synthesising evidence on neurobiological mechanisms and contextual factors that shape sleep in this vulnerable population. Based on the findings of the review, the project will also explore potential pathways for designing sleep-focused interventions that are trauma-informed and appropriate for children’s developmental stages. Emphasis will be placed on identifying translational strategies that could support both clinical practice and community-based interventions for refugee children.

Expected learning outcomes and deliverables:

The student will have the opportunity to work alongside a multidisciplinary research team, gaining skills in systematic reviewing, critical evaluation of neuroscience and clinical evidence, and the conceptual design of interventions. This project offers training in both quantitative and qualitative research synthesis, while contributing to an emerging area of translational child health research.

Suitable for:
This project is suited to students in psychology, neuroscience, behavioural science, health sciences, medicine, or social sciences with an interest in child health, trauma, or sleep. It is particularly appropriate for students from second year onwards and is also well aligned for those considering a Higher Degree by Research.

Primary Suprervisor:
A/Prof Jasneek Chawla (Group leader of Kids Sleep Research Group)

Hours of engagement and delivery mode:

For the Summer program, students will be engaged for 6 weeks only.
Engagement: 20 - 36 hrs per week. 12 Jan – 20 Feb 2026.
Delivery: Hybrid.

Description:
The physical growth of infants, children and adolescents is fundamental to support optimal physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development. Diet, nutrition and eating behaviours are key factors influencing growth and are highly susceptible to change throughout childhood and adolescence.

Acquired brain injury (ABI), caused by trauma or non-trauma injuries such as stroke, infection, hypoxia, or other neurological insults, can result in a plethora of individual and lifestyle challenges that influence nutrition in the acute and chronic stages. Few studies have explored the intricacies of these factors and how they influence dietary intake and eating behaviours post ABI.

The aim of this project is to understand the variety of factors that can influence a child's dietary intake and eating behaviours following ABI.

Our team have already conducted semi-structured interviews with parents to explore this, and we are seeking an eager student to assist with the extrapolation of themes from these interviews.

The student will be involved in the thematic coding and analysis of interviews and have the opportunity to learn about the complex nature of dietary change post brain injury from leading experts in the field.

Learning outcomes:

• Understand how brain injury affects systems influencing diet and eating behaviours
• Develop practical skills in thematic coding and analysis of data from interviews
• Immerse yourself in a team of multidisciplinary researchers with a shared goal of improving the lives of children with brain injury
• Contribute to research with international relevance

Students may also be asked to present their learnings via oral presentation to the CHRC group and/or at the end of their project.

Suitable for:
This project is open to applications from students with a background in health and would suit students interested in nutrition and/or neuroscience.

Primary Supervisor:
Dr Nathan Delang, Post Doctoral Research Fellow, Acquired Brain Injury in Children (ABiC) Group, Child Health Research Centre.

Further information:
Please reach out to Nathan with any questions (n.delang@uq.edu.au).