Message from the Director
Dear Families and Collaborators,
The Queensland Cerebral Palsy and Rehabilitation Research Centre (QCPRRC) was established in 2007 through initial funding from its major donor, the Merchant Charitable Foundation (MCF). Continued philanthropic support from MCF via the Children’s Hospital Foundation and matching
funding from The University of Queensland have enabled and contributed to the QCPRRC’s successes in obtaining nationally and internationally competitive funding. Major funding sources include the NHMRC Cerebral Palsy Synergy Program (A$5M), Advancing Cerebral Palsy in Queensland (funded by the Advance Queensland Innovation Partnerships scheme, $3M), two joint Australian NHMRC and European Union Horizon programs – Born-To-Get-There (€3.7M) and AInCP (€6M), both with A$0.5M to support the Australian-arm of the programs. In addition, QCPRRC team has demonstrated a strong track record in achieving numerous MRFF project funds. 2023 was a very productive year for the QCPRRC team; where we have collaboratively published 47 journal articles and presented 55 research papers and workshops at national and international meetings. Most excitingly, QCPRRC team and collaborators have collectively achieved $13.2M new competitive project funds, with an actual income of $5.3M in 2023. The QCPRRC team has accomplished a Return on Investment (RoI) of 9.7 in 2023 based on the income received, leveraging from the $0.5M Merchant philanthropic support.
In 2023, the team has continued to extend our clinical trials across Australia, Europe and Southeast Asia working in the LEAP-CP trial with indigenous communities in regional and remote Queensland and now in the Northern Territory and supporting the EU Horizon Teams in Sri Lanka and Georgia in Eastern Europe. Leading the successful LEAP-CP program and as the Australian-arm of the international Born-To-Get-There, the project team has successfully recruited >196 infants for screening and 66 infants to the Early Intervention LEAP-CP clinical trial to date. We continue to engage with our Aboriginal Medical Services in QLD and NT to develop further capacity with our local community workers to upskill and translate our LEAP surveillance and early support program in urban, regional and remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
In 2023 we were successful in achieving a second EU Horizon Grant on Artificial Intelligence in Cerebral Palsy (AInCP) where with our colleagues Dr Alex Pagnozzi, Dr Jurgen Fripp at the Australian e-Health Centre at CSIRO and Professor Giusy Sgandurra at the University of Pisa where we will use Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning to combine MRI, clinical, and wearable sensor data to develop a diagnostic decision tool and an Upper Limb Action Observation training Platform for children with unilateral CP.
In 2023 we transitioned out of the COVID Pandemic and utilised new ways of working in the community, virtually and online. We transformed our way of research to telemedicine/health modes of delivery interventions delivered directly in families’ homes and the community. Use of efficient communications strategies and online platforms have enabled us to support consumer needs and adapting many of our interventions and assessments delivered using telehealth technologies via Zoom and The University of Queensland edX platform. We continue to be busy assisting our clinical colleagues with online screening using the BabyMoves App, as well as shifting to more home-based interventions, and providing additional mental health support to families. QCPRRC and our collaborators have collaboratively marked numerous milestones in 2023 – I hope you enjoy reading about some of the key achievements and highlights from our network, and - whether you are a network member, parent, researcher, clinician, or one of our many supporters – join our network as we would be delighted to work with you.
With warm regards,
Professor Roslyn Boyd
Professor of Cerebral Palsy Research, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland.
Scientific Director, Queensland Cerebral Palsy & Rehabilitation Research Centre
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