Child and Adolescent Health

The Child and Adolescent Health Clinical Academic Group (CAG) brings together clinicians, researchers and consumers from across Sydney Health Partners to overcome known research development and implementation barriers. The CAG’s research program takes a patient-centric and collaborative approach to addressing child health inequities.

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About the group

The CAG’s research program takes a patient-centric and collaborative approach to addressing child health inequities.

Objectives

Audit existing research and clinical programs, and review evidence to inform innovative practice
Enable strength-based patient-centric, collaborative research with children, adolescents, families, local communities, clinicians and health service managers
Impact health outcomes through a co-ordinated translational research strategy that addresses implementation gaps, leverages funding opportunities, and allows scale-up
Educate and foster the next generation of clinical researchers using strength-based and culturally capable approaches to implementation research with priority populations

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Interested in finding out more about the Child and Adolescent Health CAG or joining?

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Projects and Initiatives

MRFF EPIC-ND: Equitable Pathways and Integrated Care in Neurodisability evaluating the effectiveness of social prescribing for children with neurodisability across NSW, cost-effectiveness and cost-utility of the social-prescribing intervention, as well as its implementation and translation across the healthcare system (MRFF funded $1.4M – Woolfenden, Dale, Elliott, Reedman, Mimmo, SCHN, John Hunter Hospital). This project is in partnership with the Luminesce Alliance Psychosocial Enabling Platform, Sydney Children’s Hospital Foundation and the Cerebral Palsy Alliance
NSW PRSP Stream 3 – Maternity and the first 2000 days: this project will focus on preventive care, management of alcohol and substance use, and service interventions to prevent the primary causes of low birth weight (NSW Health $4M – Woolfenden, Elliott, Mimmo, broader CAH CAG in collaboration with Reproductive, Maternal and Newborn Health
NSW TRGS PEACH: The Providing Enhanced ACcess to Health Services (PEACH)project uses eMR data and consumer co-designed solution ideas to drive changes across IT systems, processes and ways of working relating to identification of priority populations, prioritisation and earlier and enhanced care. ($495 000 – Zwi, Wallace, Beetson, Woolfenden, broader CAH CAG, SCHN, Northern SLHD, Western SLHD)
SCHN Kids Research Clinician Researcher Fellowship: Awarded to Dr Laurel Mimmo (CAG leadership) to progress postdoctoral work to capture patient experience data from children with intellectual disability using inclusive methods. This fellowship aims to accelerate SCHN’s translational research capabilities, while also supporting our exceptional clinicians. (CIA Mimmo)
NHMRC Investigator Grant: this project titled: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: improving knowledge, diagnosis and health outcomes will improve knowledge, diagnosis and outcomes of FASD and inform service planning and prevention (Leadership 3 (L3) $2.9M – CIA Elliott)
Centre of Research Excellence in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD-CRE): led by the University of Sydney this project will investigate ways to prevent, identify and better manage fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. ($3M – CIA Elliott)
CAG and CCAHR Clinician Research Fellowship: in addition to supporting our current Clinician Researcher (Anna Pham-Short) we will continue our current offering of yearly CAG and CCAHR fellowships. Current fellowship applications are being assessed (12 in total submitted across CAG and CCAHR partnership in 2025). ($40 000 each)

Milestones

The Child and Adolescent CAG will form the Equity and Implementation Pathway of the new Centre for Child and Adolescent Health Research (CCAHR) Group at University of Sydney, creating a clear pipeline for research translation from the CCAHR to health services. Co-chairs Dale and Woolfenden are on the Senior Executive Group of the CCAHR supporting future co-chair Griffiths to operationalise the CCAHR vision.
Engaged consumer representative and researcher Dalal Baumgartner in March 2025, who will lead consumer engagement with the Child and Adolescent CAG and CCAHR.
Working with Karen Beetson – Manager Aboriginal Health SCHN and Seaneen Wallace – Aboriginal HSM SCHN who both joined the leadership group.
Aboriginal adaptation of EPIC-CP led by Aboriginal midwife Tan Martin and Aboriginal consumer advisor Alunya Wilkinson.
Clinician Research Fellow 2024-2025: SCHN Parent Group and Eating Disorders Families Australia support for families and carers for those with Eating Disorders – Anna Pham-Short, EDFA group.
ECR Co-lead for CCAHR consumer engagement theme – Laurel Mimmo.
EPIC- ND (Flagship CAG project) has eight consumer advisors engaged from 2021.

What’s Next

From 2026 onwards, the Child and Adolescent CAG will expand its scope beyond equity and only focusing on priority populations to address ALL child and adolescent health conditions and implementation of evidence-based treatments and interventions.

This CAG will form the Equity and Implementation Pathway of the new Centre for Child and Adolescent Health Research (CCAHR) at the University of Sydney, creating a clear pipeline for research translation from the CCAHR to health services. Co-chairs Dale and Woolfenden are on the Senior Executive Group of the CCAHR supporting future co-chair Griffiths to operationalise the CCAHR vision.

Highlights of planned activities include:

Priority setting workshop – with the CCAHR for clinicians, consumers, and service managers to identify translational research needs across diverse health conditions, enabling the scale up to implementation and translation in child and adolescent health research.
Child and Adolescent Health (CAH) Consumer and Community Involvement (CCI) collaborative group: This CAG will come together with the Sydney Partnership for Health, Education, Research and Enterprise (SPHERE) and Regional Health Partners to form a CAH CCI collaborative group. Planned activities and outcomes include mapping of health service priorities and implementation/translation workshops.
Consumer Forum with Youth Focus – a youth-led consumer forum will be held in early 2026, leveraging the Youth Community groups. The forum will co-design research priorities, explore implementation strategies, and identify opportunities for equitable translation of discoveries.
CAG and CCAHR Clinician Research Fellowship – we will continue our current offering of yearly CAG and CCAHR fellowships.
Ongoing research seminar series – the CAH CAG will collaborate with SPHERE and Community Paediatrics SLHD to conduct educational webinars and training sessions focusing on child and adolescent health research in priority populations, encouraging networking and the formation of intersectoral research partnerships.

Join the Child and Adolescent Health CAG

Be part of a collaborative network driving research that makes a real difference to child and adolescent health.

We welcome clinicians, researchers, policy makers, and consumers with an interest in improving child and adolescent health. Whether you’re early in your career or an established leader, your voice adds value.

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