SAHMRI researchers take out top honours for children’s research

The Channel 7 Children’s Research Foundation’s Annual Grant Awards celebrates remarkable South Australians who dedicate their careers to improving the lives of children through research.

SAHMRI recipients Dr Natalie Stevens and Dr Todd Norton, were awarded research grants and special excellence awards for their top-scoring grant applications in the 2026 grant round, which will see almost $1.7 million awarded across 19 groundbreaking projects.

“I'm thrilled and honoured to have been presented the Channel 7 Children's Research Foundation Frankham-Earl Award for my grant proposal on mRNA vaccination in pregnancy. The support of CRF will enable me to take some of our preclinical findings into human studies and discover how vaccination in pregnancy can better be utilised to protect babies from infections,” Dr Stevens said.

“This funding represents a great step for my career, being the largest grant I have been awarded as lead investigator. In an increasingly difficult funding environment, opportunities from organisations like CRF mean so much to young researchers, and I sincerely thank them for their support.”

An early career researcher (ECR) also in Professor David Lynn’s group, Dr Norton, was also awarded a grant from the same scheme, and took home the CRF Merit award for highest scoring ECR application.

The awards were presented by the Foundation’s Patrons, Her Excellency, Frances Adamson, the Governor of South Australia and Mr Rod Bunton.