Our Researchers

We are committed to supporting the best and brightest researchers to turn curiosity into action and to build their careers here in South Australia.

This keeps South Australia at the forefront of child health and development, but most importantly it will ultimately create better, brighter futures for our children.

Firefly Class of ’26

Nirmal Robinson

University of South Australia

2026 – A new approach to treat childhood brain tumour.

Claire Jessup

Flinders University

2026 – Antibody fingerprinting to solve an unsolved crime: Is type 1 diabetes (T1D) caused by antibody responses to a common childhood viral infection?

Katie Logos

The University of Adelaide

2026 – Assessing Children’s Ability to Detect Risky Online Behaviour: Implications for Preventing Sexual Exploitation and Abuse.

Ryan Balzan

Flinders University

2026 – Can “Thinking About Thinking” stop adolescents from developing an eating disorder? Co-designing and evaluating a smartphone application targeting perfectionism, rigidity, and body image concerns.

Natalie Stevens

SAHMRI

2026 – Determining whether mRNA vaccination during pregnancy induces trans-generational trained immunity in early life.

Chih-Tsung Yang

University of South Australia

2026 – Development of an In Vitro Microphysiological Model of Paediatric Low-Grade Glioma to Assess Novel Targeted Therapies.

Todd Norton

SAHMRI

2026 – Investigating the beneficial role of probiotic bacteria in enhancing childhood vaccine-specific immunity.

Kerry Ettridge

SAHMRI

2026 – Levelling the playing field for adolescents: Reducing food misperceptions to counter widespread promotion.

Timothy Hercus

University of South Australia

2026 – Novel inhibitors of cytokine function as therapies for childhood asthma.

Janna Morrison

University of South Australia

2026 – Optimising preterm care: Is antenatal ciclesonide effective in growth restricted babies?

Ryan Quarrington

The University of Adelaide

2026 – Protecting kids’ brains: Improving concussion detection and recovery in children’s sports.

Gerry Redmond

Flinders University

2026 – Recognising and supporting young carers’ health and life chances: how should policymakers respond?

Betty-Jean Dee-Price

Flinders University

2026 – Talking Scrubs Kids: Patient and doctor communication (including mental health).

Kylie Dankiw

University of South Australia

2026 – The bush kindy playbook: co-creating a bush kinder toolkit with stakeholders to promote children’s health, development and connection to nature in early childhood education and care.

Mridula Sharma

Flinders University

2026 – The good ear, the bad ear, and the device: facilitators and barriers to acceptance of hearing devices in Australian children with unilateral hearing loss.

Bing Wang

The University of Adelaide

2026 – Unpacking low vaccine coverage in adolescents: identifying barriers and enhancing uptake through a mixed methods and health economic approach.

Marcela Radunz

Flinders University

2026 – Advancing Disordered Eating Screening for Adolescents: From Early Detection to Stratified Evidence-Based Care.

Mikaela Doig

SAHMRI

2026 – Advancing paediatric brain cancer diagnosis with artificial intelligence.

Hannah Lyons

The University of Adelaide

2026 – Understanding the origins of neurological disorders in children from older fathers.

Dr Todd Norton

Firefly Funded Researcher, 2026

“For the Firefly Children’s Foundation to back our work provides real validation. It tells you that what you’re doing matters, that others see value in it, and that gives you a huge sense of purpose.”

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