Five prize winners at this year’s Research X-Factor
 

Rowena Yamazaki and her team beat strong rivals to claim first place in Research X-Factor, the Sydney Institute for Women, Children and Families seed funding competition.

“The seed funding will help our youth consultants, giving them a solid foundation with tangible skills and peer support within a great network of Australian youth health and public health nutrition co-researchers,” Rowena Yamazaki said.

Rowena is the Community Nutritionist for Young People at the District’s youth health service, Youthblock. She and her multidisciplinary team of health professionals, paediatricians, academics and youth consultants were awarded $10,700 to train youth co-researchers to codesign a participatory study in food and agency at Youthblock.

“I enjoyed learning from the previous winners at the Research X-Factor event,” she said. “It makes me curious to see where this participatory research will take us. I'm excited to start the codesign process next year and shape the research with our youth co-researchers. Having youth co-researchers in the District is great investment in research infrastructure.”

The team’s key priority is to explore food and agency with marginalised young people, aged 15 to 25. Many of the food and drinks promoted to young people are affordable and accessible but ultra-processed, energy-dense and nutrient-poor. The research will explore ways Youthblock youth consultants can help marginalised young people’s self-efficacy to plan, manage, select, prepare, eat and enjoy food to meet their needs.

“The research aim of this grant is to increase the agency of our youth co-researchers,” Rowena said. “Part of adolescence is gaining more autonomy to make your own decisions. Agency is the ability to act on your own decisions and choices. When we think about food security and the human right to food, this includes the ability for young people to be a part of food policy making. I hope we can contribute to how online spaces and digital food environments are better understood from the perspectives of young people.”

The Research X-Factor event identifies and awards grants between $5000 and $20,000 to innovative multidisciplinary research or service improvement projects.

Supported by District Chief Executive, Deb Willcox AM, the grant money goes towards funding research and quality and service improvement projects related to women, children and their families in the District.

Hosted this year by Dr Amelia Lewis, Senior Clinical Neuropsychologist in the District’s Disability Support Unit, the judging panel awarded five winners and the audience voted for one People’s Choice Award from nine finalists.

This year’s finalists proposed ideas for a range of initiatives from safer care for mothers and babies and preventable oral disease in childhood to health literacy about nutrition and nicotine cessation for young people aged 15 to 25 years old.

Congratulations to this year’s grant winners:

• First place – Rowena Yamazaki, Training Youth Co-researchers to Codesign a Participatory Study in Food and Agency at a Sydney Youth Health Service, awarded $10,700 funding
• Second place – Dr Tammy (Tamara) Morris, Evaluating Youth-led Nicotine Cessation Strategies for Young People Attending Schools and Youth Health Services in Sydney Local Health District, awarded $19,937 funding
• Third place (tied) – Rebecca Karmas, Sparkling Smiles for Brighter Beginnings: Turning Early Decay Detection into Daily Protection, awarded $20,000 funding, and Dr Tina Barez, The SLIP-OUT Trial: Satisfaction with Labour Induction using Oral Prostaglandins: OUTcomes for Women and Babies, awarded $20,000 funding
• Fourth place – Clinical Professor Alexander Holden, Toxic Smiles: Misinformation, Motherhood, and Distrust of Dentistry, awarded $10,000 funding
• People’s Choice Award - Louise Treloar, ANTICIPATE: ANTEnatal Care Improvement for Prediction and Treatment of Adverse Pregnancy Events – Cost-Effectiveness Analysis for Prevention of Pre-eclampsia and Pre-term Birth

Dr George Johnson, District Public Health General Manager and Institute Director, acknowledged the support and leadership of District Chief Executive, Deb Willcox AM, whose commitment made it possible for this event to foster research innovation and empower our staff working with women, children and families.

“The standard of seed funding submissions and presentations was outstanding, showcasing the remarkable research and quality improvement efforts underway across our District. We are very grateful for staff engagement in this program, for the support of our Institute Management Group, and especially for the panel, who undertook the challenging task of reviewing the exceptional presentations,”

This year’s judging panel included George, Institute co-chairs Professor Adrienne Gordon, and Professor Sue Woolfenden, and Institute Management Group member Clinical Professor Sameer Bhole AM. They were joined by previous seed funding winner Dr Sarah Taki, a Senior Researcher at the District’s Population Health Research and Evaluation Hub, and consumer representatives Dalal Dawood Baumgartner and Dulamsuren Khurelbaatar.

The audience was treated to a keynote presentation from Professor Michelle Barakat-Johnson, the Professor for Wound Care and Skin Integrity at the University of Sydney and Sydney Local Health District.

The Sydney Institute for Women, Children and their Families is focused on empowering and supporting women and their families across their lifespan.

Watch the recording of the Research X-Factor event.