Senior clinician research fellow
BSc (physiotherapy) dist. PhD
Dr Pamela Laird is a senior clinician research fellow at Telethon Kids Institute and paediatric respiratory physiotherapist at Perth Children’s Hospital. Pamela has worked in the paediatric respiratory field for 30 years in both the USA and Australia. Pamela is passionate about improving respiratory health outcomes for children through improving early symptom recognition and health seeking by families, and early and effective management by clinicians for chronic respiratory diseases, especially in First Nations children. The national clinical translation of Pamela’s research to date has resulted in the development, implementation, and evaluation of lung health literacy materials for First Nations families and online training modules for clinicians in providing culturally secure lung disease evaluation and management.
Pamela is supported by a Raine Clinician Research Fellow and was recently awarded a national MRFF grant. Pamela is leading a national clinical trial, which will implement a strategy for better follow-up of First Nations children after they’ve been in hospital for respiratory infections, in a bid to halt the slide into more severe lung disease.
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Publications
March 2024
Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand position statement: The safe clinical use of sputum induction for bio-sampling of the lower airways in children and adults
Sputum induction is widely used in clinical settings for collection of biological samples from the lower airways. However, in recent years sputum induction has been associated with serious adverse events and even death. This position statement was commissioned by the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand to address major adverse events of two deaths associated with sputum induction that have occurred in Australia in 2021, and outlines best practice for the safe use of sputum induction.
Published research Airway Epithelial Research Subsite: Walyan BREATHMarch 2023Evaluation of the implementation and clinical effects of an intervention to improve medical follow-up and health outcomes for Aboriginal children hospitalised with chest infections
Aboriginal children hospitalised with acute lower respiratory infections (ALRIs) are at-risk of developing bronchiectasis, which can progress from untreated protracted bacterial bronchitis, often evidenced by a chronic (>4 weeks) wet cough following discharge. We aimed to facilitate follow-up for Aboriginal children hospitalised with ALRIs to provide optimal management and improve their respiratory health outcomes.
Published research Aboriginal Health Subsite: Walyan BREATH Respiratory viral infectionsSeptember 2022Spring-infusors: How a simple and small solution can create king-sized complexity
The aims of the study were to investigate family and hospital staff views about the use of spring-infusor devices for administration of intravenous antibiotic medications, to examine if the device is acceptable and feasible and to map a process for implementation.
Cystic Fibrosis Published research Subsite: Walyan BREATHDecember 2019Prevalence of chronic wet cough and protracted bacterial bronchitis in aboriginal children
Strategies to address reasons for and treatment of chronic wet cough and protracted bacterial bronchitis in young Aboriginal children in remote north Western Australia are required
Published research Children's Lung Health Wet CoughJuly 2019Chronic wet cough in Aboriginal children: It's not just a cough
Results highlight the need for a culturally appropriate information and education of the importance of chronic wet cough in children
Published research Wet Cough -
Education and Qualifications
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