Children’s Hospital Foundation and DISSH help fund female pediatric researchers

The Children’s Hospital Foundation and fashion label DISSH have joined forces to tackle gender inequality and improve the health of our young people.

The Children’s Hospital Foundation and female-founded fashion label DISSH have joined forces to tackle gender inequality in the still male-dominated halls of academia.

Announcing the partnership on International Women’s Day, the Brisbane-based foundation and the retailer have committed $450,000 to help female pediatric researchers in their early to mid-career. The funding for the Mary McConnel Career Boost Program for Women in Paediatric Research will support and advance the careers of three female researchers each year for the next three years. The program honours Mary McConnel who established Queensland’s first pediatric hospital in 1878. Mary McConnel raised voluntary subscriptions towards a building fund for a children’s hospital in Brisbane.

Then Premier John Douglas helped secure land in Herston and the Brisbane Hospital for Sick Children was erected next to the Brisbane Hospital in 1883.

Children’s Hospital Foundation chief executive Lyndsey Rice says that despite recent efforts in the sector, men continue to predominate among senior researchers and academic leaders in universities, medical research institutes and hospitals.

Mary McConnel raised money towards a building fund for a children’s hospital in Brisbane..

Right now, women only account for 20 per cent of senior academics in Australian universities and research institutes. “The benefit of this program is more than equal representation in the workplace – it is improved health outcomes for our children and young people,” says Rice. DISSH chief executive Lucy Henry-Hicks says she is a firm advocate for empowering women to have choices through initiatives like the Mary McConnel program “I have seen too many close friends and family give up thriving careers due to the challenges of balancing family and work,” Henry-Hicks says. “There is no doubt that these challenges are complex, wide and varied, but with the right support from employers, these challenges are infinitely more possible to overcome.” Professor Amanda Ullman, who was awarded a Mary McConnel Career Boost Program grant in 2018, says the funds helped pay for a research assistant, conference and travel costs and childcare costs. “It came at a pivotal time in my clinical research career - when I was moving from being a newly qualified PhD to an independent researcher - and it was transformational,” Ullman says.

ON YER BIKE

Australia’s first ever cycling esports championship will take place in Brisbane this month as part of the nation’s booming $4.5 billion sports tech industry.

The championship follows a major three-year major partnership between AusCycling and QUT as part of the Brisbane Cycling Festival.

According to a 2023 report, Australia’s sports tech industry is equal in value to the national fintech sector. And it could soon surpass it, with the rising interest in sports tech as an emerging industry for Queensland that is set to reshape the sporting industry as we know it.

Brisbane Cycling Festival director Aaron Flanagan says he was excited to introduce a sports tech event to the Brisbane Cycling Festival for the first time this year.

“The sports tech industry is thriving and will play a major part in the lead up to our nation hosting the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games,” Flanagan says.. The event will be held in-person at The Cube, QUT Gardens Point on Friday, March 22

The annual Brisbane Cycling Festival is the nation's largest event of its kind.