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Thursday, 17 February 2011

Winthrop Professor Tony O’Donnell, Dean of the Faculties of Science, would like to thank everyone who supported the Science Futures Foundation during the 2010 Annual Fund.

The Science Futures Foundation was established to support projects that will make a real difference, particularly in areas where we have already established research breakthroughs. Its role is to give Extraordinary People – Amazing Futures.

Over 170 pledges from our wonderful alumni raised $39,735 for scholarships, travel bursaries, the Rising Stars Fund and UWA’s community project Unigym.

“These gifts have already made an impact,” says Professor O’Donnell. “For example, the overwhelming response to our Unigym appeal has enabled us to purchase a purpose built; child-size treadmill and harness at a cost of $17,000.”

In November, Unigym received an early Christmas present from UWA staff when it became the charity of choice for the annual Staff Sports Fun Day. The $2,000 raised was combined with pledged funds from the alumni campaign to help the School acquire a much needed metabolic cart.

This equipment will now allow staff to work with children as young as three years, enabling crucial early intervention and rehabilitation. Such donations not only help children in need, the equipment they fund also help advance postdoctoral and PhD studies in human movement.

At the start of the new academic year Esther Chia will commence her PhD investigating the associated energy cost of running for children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD, or Motor Dyspraxia). She will be researching if this can be improved with specifically tailored training programs.

Assistant Professor Melissa Licari will further her post-doctoral studies with the aid of Brain Voyager. This state of the art software allows the accurate mapping of fMRI scans to determine sites of activation during different tasks. Melissa, along with colleagues at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, has been investigating which areas of the brain become activated when children with DCD are performing challenging hand movement tasks. This is exceptionally novel research, and may provide answers to why children with DCD have so many difficulties planning and carrying out simple tasks.

Study into DCD is only part of the world-class research the School of Sport Science, Exercise and Health is conducting with children whose disease, or disorder, seriously impedes movement or those who have motor learning difficulties such as Global Developmental Delay, Cerebral Palsy, Autism and Down’s Syndrome.

Unigym helps these children acquire enhanced quality of life by increasing mobility, independence and psychological confidence.

We will hold a special donor function during 2011 to showcase the new equipment – if you would like to receive more information on this event or on the Science Futures Foundation contact Judith Giddings, on 6488 7954 or [email protected] .

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