40 years of Telethon Trust Research Fellows
Research that became world-class care
For almost four decades, the Telethon Trust Research Fellowships have been a launchpad for clinicians with bold questions and even bolder ideas. What began as seed funding for early career researchers is now a legacy running right through Western Australia’s paediatric care — turning discovery into protocols, pilots into programs, and promising talent into leaders who shape how the sickest children are treated. This is a celebration of that journey — from the first who lit the path, to the trailblazer who scaled it, and to a new fellow now charting the next horizon.
Professor Timothy W. Jones AM
(awarded in 1986) The First Fellow
When Tim Jones received the very first Telethon Fellowship, followed by a Telethon international scholarship to study at Yale, he didn’t just study childhood diabetes, he reimagined how we care for those with it.
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That opportunity, he says, “launched a research career” that would transform the field.
For nearly two decades, Tim led Endocrinology & Diabetes clinics at Princess Margaret Hospital and Perth Children’s Hospital, co-directed WA’s Children’s Diabetes Centre, and helped to establish the only paediatric service in the country recognised as a Centre of Excellence by the National Association of Diabetes Centres.
From hypoglycaemia and exercise physiology to closed-loop insulin technologies, Professor Jones led and contributed to national trials that brought precision, safety, and confidence into daily life for children and families living with diabetes. He also modelled a way of working that became the hallmark of WA paediatrics: integrated teams, clinician scientists at the bedside, and research that moves quickly into practice.
As the first Fellow, he didn’t just launch a program — he set the standard for all who followed, proving that investing in people leads to a lifetime of better care.
Today, as Director of Research at Child and Adolescent Health Services, he continues that legacy by equipping future fellows to drive the next generation of paediatric discoveries.
“The only way you can improve things is through research… It raises the standard of care across the hospital. The families like to know that they’re going somewhere that’s doing the latest, because they feel they’re getting the best.” — Prof Jones
40 years of Telethon Trust Research Fellows
Research that became world-class care
For almost four decades, the Telethon Trust Research Fellowships have been a launchpad for clinicians with bold questions and even bolder ideas. What began as seed funding for early career researchers is now a legacy running right through Western Australia’s paediatric care — turning discovery into protocols, pilots into programs, and promising talent into leaders who shape how the sickest children are treated. This is a celebration of that journey — from the first who lit the path, to the trailblazer who scaled it, and to a new fellow now charting the next horizon.
Professor Timothy W. Jones AM
(awarded in 1986) The First Fellow
When Tim Jones received the very first Telethon Fellowship, followed by a Telethon international scholarship to study at Yale, he didn’t just study childhood diabetes, he reimagined how we care for those with it.
READ MORE
That opportunity, he says, “launched a research career” that would transform the field.
For nearly two decades, Tim led Endocrinology & Diabetes clinics at Princess Margaret Hospital and Perth Children’s Hospital, co-directed WA’s Children’s Diabetes Centre, and helped to establish the only paediatric service in the country recognised as a Centre of Excellence by the National Association of Diabetes Centres.
From hypoglycaemia and exercise physiology to closed-loop insulin technologies, Professor Jones led and contributed to national trials that brought precision, safety, and confidence into daily life for children and families living with diabetes. He also modelled a way of working that became the hallmark of WA paediatrics: integrated teams, clinician scientists at the bedside, and research that moves quickly into practice.
As the first Fellow, he didn’t just launch a program — he set the standard for all who followed, proving that investing in people leads to a lifetime of better care.
Today, as Director of Research at Child and Adolescent Health Services, he continues that legacy by equipping future fellows to drive the next generation of paediatric discoveries.
“The only way you can improve things is through research… It raises the standard of care across the hospital. The families like to know that they’re going somewhere that’s doing the latest, because they feel they’re getting the best.” — Prof Jones
Professor Jane Valentine
(awarded in 1994):
Pioneering early intervention
in cerebral palsy
Professor Jane Valentine has led major advances in early detection and intervention for cerebral palsy (CP). As Head of Research for Kids Rehab WA, she helped develop the 2017 international CP early detection guidelines and subsequent global early intervention guidelines, enabling her team to establish WA’s at-risk CP clinic.
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Her work has changed policy, accelerated early diagnosis, and improved outcomes for children with CP. She has also published extensively on botulinum toxin treatments and co-led the NHMRC and Telethon Trust-funded Early Moves biomarker study.
Professor Meredith Borland AM
(awarded in 2001):
Turning evidence into everyday emergency care
What happens when emergency medicine puts research at its core? Leaders like Meredith Borland — Emergency Physician, Director of Emergency Research and former Director of the Emergency Department at Perth Children’s Hospital and formerly Princess Margaret Hospital — build a department with a national and international research reputation.
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As a 2001 Telethon Fellow, Professor Borland’s early work on intranasal fentanyl for children in severe pain transformed global practice as the go-to analgesic for children aged 7–15 years presenting to ED with acute fractures.
What began as local investigation is now worldwide standard care and regarded as one of the most significant advances in paediatric emergency medicine of the past two decades.
She went on to chair PREDICT, the largest paediatric emergency research network in the southern hemisphere.
Under her leadership, the ED strengthened consumer partnerships, accelerated knowledge translation, and embedded research nurses and clinician-led projects across the department.
Associate Professor
Sarah Cherian
(awarded in 2006):
Embedding equity and evidence in refugee child health
As a 2006 Telethon Fellow, Dr Sarah Cherian used protected research time to complete Australia’s first PhD in paediatric refugee health and to embed research, quality assurance and interpreters into Child and Adolescent Health Service’s ‘one-stop’ Refugee Health Service.
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Her co-authored studies on detention’s mental health impacts, communication barriers, culturally diverse diabetes care, dental care, minority hospital admissions and asylum seeker assessment have shaped service design, informed policy and aligned care with national frameworks and WA’s Sustainable Health Review.
Dr Simon Moore
(awarded in 2025):
Hospital level care at home
Decades after the Fellowship propelled pioneers like Prof Jones and Prof Borland, Dr Simon Moore is using his 2025 Fellowship to test a model that could redefine recovery for children across WA: hospital in the home for medically stable kids nearing discharge.
READ MORE
Co-designed with families and clinicians, the service equips children with wearable monitors (tracking heart rate, temperature and oxygen saturation), schedules telehealth reviews, and provides daily home visits from paediatric nurses, delivering hospital-level vigilance without the hospital stay.
The 12-month pilot, believed to be the first of its kind in an Australian paediatric service, will recruit around 1,000 families. Its potential is compelling: fewer unnecessary bed days, faster family reunification, less disruption to schooling and work, and the reassurance of daily clinical oversight if a child’s condition changes. Just as importantly, the study will test acceptability, safety and cost-effectiveness, so if the model works, WA can scale it confidently and share it nationally.
Demonstrating Telethon’s enduring commitment, Western Australia now stands at the forefront of paediatric care in Australia, a place where world-class research becomes world-class treatment, and where every child receives the very best care they deserve.
Professor Jane Valentine
(awarded in 1994):
Pioneering early intervention
in cerebral palsy
Professor Jane Valentine has led major advances in early detection and intervention for cerebral palsy (CP). As Head of Research for Kids Rehab WA, she helped develop the 2017 international CP early detection guidelines and subsequent global early intervention guidelines, enabling her team to establish WA’s at-risk CP clinic.
READ MORE
Her work has changed policy, accelerated early diagnosis, and improved outcomes for children with CP. She has also published extensively on botulinum toxin treatments and co-led the NHMRC and Telethon Trust-funded Early Moves biomarker study.
Professor Meredith Borland AM
(awarded in 2001):
Turning evidence into everyday emergency care
What happens when emergency medicine puts research at its core? Leaders like Meredith Borland — Emergency Physician, Director of Emergency Research and former Director of the Emergency Department at Perth Children’s Hospital and formerly Princess Margaret Hospital — build a department with a national and international research reputation.
READ MORE
As a 2001 Telethon Fellow, Professor Borland’s early work on intranasal fentanyl for children in severe pain transformed global practice as the go-to analgesic for children aged 7–15 years presenting to ED with acute fractures.
What began as local investigation is now worldwide standard care and regarded as one of the most significant advances in paediatric emergency medicine of the past two decades.
She went on to chair PREDICT, the largest paediatric emergency research network in the southern hemisphere.
Under her leadership, the ED strengthened consumer partnerships, accelerated knowledge translation, and embedded research nurses and clinician-led projects across the department.
Associate Professor Sarah Cherian
(awarded in 2006):
Embedding equity and evidence in refugee child health
As a 2006 Telethon Fellow, Dr Sarah Cherian used protected research time to complete Australia’s first PhD in paediatric refugee health and to embed research, quality assurance and interpreters into Child and Adolescent Health Service’s ‘one-stop’ Refugee Health Service.
READ MORE
Her co-authored studies on detention’s mental health impacts, communication barriers, culturally diverse diabetes care, dental care, minority hospital admissions and asylum seeker assessment have shaped service design, informed policy and aligned care with national frameworks and WA’s Sustainable Health Review.
Dr Simon Moore
(awarded in 2025):
Hospital level care at home
Decades after the Fellowship propelled pioneers like Prof Jones and Prof Borland, Dr Simon Moore is using his 2025 Fellowship to test a model that could redefine recovery for children across WA: hospital in the home for medically stable kids nearing discharge.
READ MORE
Co-designed with families and clinicians, the service equips children with wearable monitors (tracking heart rate, temperature and oxygen saturation), schedules telehealth reviews, and provides daily home visits from paediatric nurses, delivering hospital-level vigilance without the hospital stay.
The 12-month pilot, believed to be the first of its kind in an Australian paediatric service, will recruit around 1,000 families. Its potential is compelling: fewer unnecessary bed days, faster family reunification, less disruption to schooling and work, and the reassurance of daily clinical oversight if a child’s condition changes. Just as importantly, the study will test acceptability, safety and cost-effectiveness, so if the model works, WA can scale it confidently and share it nationally.
Demonstrating Telethon’s enduring commitment, Western Australia now stands at the forefront of paediatric care in Australia, a place where world-class research becomes world-class treatment, and where every child receives the very best care they deserve.
Your unwavering support of Telethon has funded 96 Fellows whose work now underpins the gold standard of paediatric care in WA. Your giving has powered Telethon Research Fellowships from our first Fellow in 1986 to today’s future‑shaping leaders.
A big life in a small time: Toby’s story
Toby is cheeky, adventurous and full of life, but he’s living with Cockayne Syndrome, a rare form of childhood dementia.
When answers
are rare
For thousands of WA families navigating rare or undiagnosed diseases, the journey can feel overwhelming. The Rare Care Centre provides the guidance, advocacy and support they need to find a way forward.
Beyond
the diagnosis
A Type 1 diabetes diagnosis can change a child’s life overnight. This innovative wellbeing program supports young people and helps them build resilience, confidence and hope for the future.
A big life in a small
time: Toby’s story
Toby is cheeky, adventurous and full of life, but he’s living with Cockayne Syndrome, a rare form of childhood dementia.
When answers
are rare
For thousands of WA families navigating rare or undiagnosed diseases, the journey can feel overwhelming. The Rare Care Centre provides the guidance, advocacy and support they need to find a way forward.
Beyond
the diagnosis
A Type 1 diabetes diagnosis can change a child’s life overnight. This innovative wellbeing program supports young people and helps them build resilience, confidence and hope for the future.
Reshaping autism support in WA
Families of autistic children across Australia are navigating uncertainty.
Many parents are asking the question “What will the future of support look like for my child?”
Thanks to your generosity through Telethon, the answer in WA is one filled with confidence, hope and opportunity.
Reshaping autism support in WA
Families of autistic children across Australia are navigating uncertainty.
Many parents are asking the question “What will the future of support look like for my child?”
Thanks to your generosity through Telethon, the answer in WA is one filled with confidence, hope and opportunity.
From vision to reality:
how you helped build CliniKids
CliniKids, at The Kids Research Institute has reduced the distance between research and real-world care.
It blended world class clinical expertise with cutting edge trials, giving WA families something rare, immediate access to therapies grounded in evidence, delivered by a team who truly understand neurodiversity. Under the leadership of world-renowned Professor Andrew Whitehouse, CliniKids has become a beacon for families searching for trustworthy, effective support.
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Clinikids’ approach helped define Australia’s national guidelines for autism diagnosis and early intervention, raising standards, closing knowledge gaps, and making sure families received consistent, high-quality care.
What's next: COMPASS
- A global first, built in WA
As demand grows and systems shift, families need reassurance. COMPASS, created by The Kids Research Institute is WA’s answer and, because of you, it’s happening.
COMPASS takes everything CliniKids pioneered and expands it into a Statewide, world-first program focused on one of the most important predictors of a child’s long-term wellbeing: their ability to communicate.
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The vision is bold: a world where every autistic child has the same opportunities as every other child their age. With roughly two in three autistic children experiencing major communication challenges, CliniKids researchers will undertake a five-year research program to develop a world-first personalised approach.
COMPASS will provide more accessible, efficient and personalised assessments, reducing time spent on waitlists and appointment costs for families. This game-changing approach aims to have all autistic kids in WA starting school with communication skills that help them reach their full potential.
Over five years, COMPASS will directly involve 2,000 children, parents and professionals, building a shared learning ecosystem across WA.
The knowledge developed will shape guidelines and supports for more than 4,500 autistic children in WA every year.
The findings of COMPASS will help scale-up national initiatives in the hope of supporting a further 10,000 children across Australia.
From vision to reality:
how you helped build CliniKids
CliniKids, at The Kids Research Institute has reduced the distance between research and real-world care.
It blended world class clinical expertise with cutting edge trials, giving WA families something rare, immediate access to therapies grounded in evidence, delivered by a team who truly understand neurodiversity. Under the leadership of world-renowned Professor Andrew Whitehouse, CliniKids has become a beacon for families searching for trustworthy, effective support.
READ MORE
Clinikids’ approach helped define Australia’s national guidelines for autism diagnosis and early intervention, raising standards, closing knowledge gaps, and making sure families received consistent, high-quality care.
What's next:
COMPASS, A global first, built in WA
As demand grows and systems shift, families need reassurance. COMPASS, created by The Kids Research Institute is WA’s answer, and because of you, it’s happening.
COMPASS takes everything CliniKids pioneered and expands it into a state-wide, world-first program focused on one of the most important predictors of a child’s long-term wellbeing their ability to communicate.
READ MORE
The vision is bold: a world where every autistic child has the same opportunities as every other child their age. With roughly two in three autistic children experiencing major communication challenges, CliniKids researchers will undertake a five-year research program to develop a world-first personalised approach.
COMPASS will provide more accessible, efficient and personalised assessments, reducing time spent on waitlists and appointment costs for families. This game-changing approach aims to have all autistic kids in WA starting school with communication skills that help them reach their full potential.
Over five years, COMPASS will directly involve 2,000 children, parents and professionals, building a shared learning ecosystem across WA.
The knowledge developed will shape guidelines and supports for more than 4,500 autistic children in WA every year.
The findings of COMPASS will help scale-up national initiatives in the hope of supporting a further 10,000 children across Australia.
Find out more about Telethon's impact on the WA community
If you would like to learn more about Telethon and how you can get involved, please contact the Telethon Team.
Channel 7 Telethon Trust
50 Hasler Road, Osborne Park WA 6017
PO Box 1777, DC Osborne Park WA 6916
(08) 9482 3974 – telethonoffice@telethon7.com
Acknowledgement of Country
Telethon acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Western Australia and pays respect to Elders past and present. We recognise the significant importance of their cultural heritage, values and beliefs and how these contribute to the positive health and wellbeing of the whole community.
This content was prepared for digital by MINT,
the commercial content studio for Seven West Media.
If you would like to learn more about Telethon and how you can get involved, please contact the Telethon Team.
Channel 7 Telethon Trust
50 Hasler Road, Osborne Park WA 6017
PO Box 1777, DC Osborne Park WA 6916
(08) 9482 3974 – telethonoffice@telethon7.com
Acknowledgement of Country
Telethon acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Western Australia and pays respect to Elders past and present. We recognise the significant importance of their cultural heritage, values and beliefs and how these contribute to the positive health and wellbeing of the whole community.
This content was prepared for digital by MINT,
the commercial content studio for Seven West Media.