Facilities

Combining an impressive track record in child health research with state of the art facilities

Child health research at The University of Queensland embraces the entire community, from hospital to school and family, with more than 250 academic staff dedicated to child health research working across the university. Our research spans the mechanisms underlying childhood illness through approaches to maximise child health.

For example, the Cerebral Palsy and Rehabilitation Research Centre focuses on early motor and brain development among babies with cerebral palsy in order to develop very early detection and early intervention for infants at high risk.  Another high-profile example is the Triple P – Positive Parenting Program, now one of the world’s leading systems of parenting support and intervention. The program has been delivered by more than 74,000 professionals to millions of children and their families in 25 countries.

We combine an impressive track record in child health research with state-of-the-art facilities to conduct research with impact including:

• Australia’s first MRI compatible neonatal incubator for brain imaging in preterm infants;
• one of the world's best equipped Body Composition Laboratories for research to monitor growth, nutritional status and energy requirements in children, 
• the Queensland Children's Tumour Bank, and
• a world-class gait laboratory to study and assist children with disabilities.

Child health researchers are also able to draw on world class health research facilities across UQ to conduct their research.

Learn more about research facilities in Health at UQ.

The UQ Child Health Research Centre

Our commitment to child health research has been further cemented in 2015 with the establishment of the UQ Child Health Research Centre (UQ CHRC), which covers a wide range of areas of child health, including respiratory health, infectious diseases, environmental health, burns, rehabilitation and nutrition. UQ CHRC forms the central node of an interconnected network of research focused on maximising the physical and emotional wellbeing of all children.

The establishment of the UQ CHRC has happened at a pivotal time in child health in Queensland with the recent opening of the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital. UQ CHRC is housed within the Centre for Children’s Health Research building adjacent to the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital, and will form an important part of the child health research effort of The University of Queensland.

Centre for Children's Health Research

The $134 million Centre for Children’s Health Research (CCHR) is an initiative of Queensland Health and is the largest capital investment in child and adolescent health research in Queensland. The vision for the CCHR to be a centre for excellence has been achieved by housing health researchers in one location, right next to the state’s specialist paediatric and teaching hospital – in line with international best practice. 

The goal is to translate research findings into better care and outcomes for patients. Partners in the centre include Children’s Health Queensland, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), and the Translational Research Institute (TRI). The University of Queensland partners in the CCHR through the UQ Child Health Research Centre.