Role Title: Paediatric Intensive Care Research Data Intern
Organisation: The Kids Research Institute Australia
Internship Period: Summer (November - December)
Location: Nedlands
The ICONIC-1 research program is investigating how personalised nutrition strategies can improve outcomes for children admitted to the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU). As critically ill children have highly variable nutritional requirements, the study explores the use of indirect calorimetry to measure energy expenditure, alongside bedside assessments of body composition, including skeletal muscle ultrasound and bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA).
This research aims to better understand the relationship between nutritional adequacy, clinical factors and changes in skeletal muscle mass over the course of a child’s PICU admission.
The intern will contribute to a research project examining how nutrition delivery and other clinical factors, such as sepsis, medication use and physiotherapy, relate to changes in skeletal muscle mass over time. Working under the supervision of the research team, the student will review authorised electronic medical records and relevant clinical documentation to extract, organise and enter study data in accordance with the research protocol.
This opportunity will provide practical experience in clinical research, health data management and research processes within a specialised paediatric intensive care setting. The intern will contribute to the accuracy and completeness of the dataset, supporting subsequent analysis and the broader investigation into personalised nutrition for critically ill children.
The Kids Research Institute Australia is based within the Perth Children’s Hospital, and is one of the largest, and most successful medical research institutes in Australia, comprising a dedicated and diverse team of around 1,000 staff, students and honoraries. We've created a bold blueprint that brings together community, researchers, practitioners, policy makers and funders, who share our vision to improve the health and wellbeing of children through excellence in research.