Bloom Research Program

Creating a family is an incredibly precious time, nurturing new life through pregnancy and beyond. However, the path to healthy, thriving babies and children is not always a smooth one. From challenges conceiving, complications during pregnancy resulting in babies entering the world before they’re due, through to chronic childhood diseases and conditions – how do we ensure mums, babies and their families flourish?

Bloom Research Program is an initiative of the Women’s & Children’s Hospital Foundation, supporting research that delivers big thinking for the health and wellbeing of South Australia’s little people and their mums.

With big thinking comes big outcomes

We’re investing $10 million into medical research over the next five years so that the Bloom Research Program can nurture collaboration, increase research capacity and lay a solid foundation from which new ideas are tested, knowledge is gained and practices can grow.

At the heart of the Bloom Research Program is collaboration and uniting like-minded researchers with common goals to open greater possibilities for research outcomes to foster healthier mums, children and their families.

Each year, applications will be sought for research projects targeting priority areas selected on independent assessment of the burden of disease and the potential for the research outcomes to influence positive change and have a genuine impact.

We all aspire—and deserve—to live healthy and happy lives. Through supporting critical health and medical research enabled by the Bloom Research Program, we will play our part in nourishing the health and wellbeing of mums, children and their families for generations to come.

Find out more about our Bloom Research Program from our Research Program Manager, Dr Chelsea Mauch, and Head of Mission, Verity Gobbett.

For information about the Bloom Research Program Grant round opening and closing dates, see our Research Funding Opportunities page.

FAQ's

  • Our goal is to improve the health and wellbeing of women, children and families who receive care from the Women’s and Children’s Health Network (WCHN). One way we can achieve this is by supporting evidence-based health and medical research that will further enhance the quality healthcare provided by WCHN to South Australian women, children and families.
  • From 2023, we  will invest $10 million over five years to research projects that deliver big thinking and genuine impact on the health and wellbeing of South Australian families.

The Bloom Research Program will support research that delivers tangible outcomes to reduce the burden of maternal and paediatric disease in South Australia. Grants will be distributed to research that focuses on at least one of our Priority Research Areas:

  • Healthy mums, flourishing bubs by reducing pre-term births and/or low or high birthweights;
  • Healthy body, healthy mind for little people by investigating the prevention, early detection or intervention, and/or enhanced treatment of childhood diseases and conditions such as preterm birth and/or low birthweight; anxiety, depression and suicide prevention; brain and central nervous system cancers; cardiovascular defects and diseases, and asthma.

The WCH Foundation commissioned an independent assessment of the burden of disease in South Australia and the potential for research outcomes to have a genuine, positive impact to ensure WCH Foundation-funded research delivers tangible health outcomes for South Australian mums, children and their families.

The Bloom Research Program is made possible by the generosity of  families and businesses who share our goal to improve the health and wellbeing of women, children and their families.

Donations can certainly be made to the WCH Foundation and directed to the Bloom Research Program. We welcome —and are very grateful for —the support of the community to help us deliver big thinking and big outcomes for little people and their mums.

  • Expressions of Interest can be lodged by researchers at any stage of their careers, including those working for WCHN, University of Adelaide, SAHMRI, Flinders University, University of South Australia and Torrens University.
  • The Bloom Research Program aims to encourage collaboration and capacity building within WCHN. All proposals must demonstrate an affiliation with, and involvement of, WCHN.

With so much incredible research underway in South Australia and strong competition for funding, we expect the Bloom Research Program to draw strong interest from the research community.

A rigorous application process has been developed to ensure the Bloom Research Program supports high calibre projects that can create tangible outcomes for mums, babies and children. Applications will be assessed by an independent Research Grants Committee comprising experienced peer reviewers with relevant expertise, against criteria modelled on National Health and Medical Research Council peer review guidelines.

Look out for updates from the Bloom Research Program and the important work of our researchers on our WCH Foundation website, newsletter and social media.

Get in Touch

For any further queries, or if would like to know more about the Bloom Research Program, you can call (08) 8464 7900 during business hours or email us.

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