2024 Frank Fenner Prize for Life Scientist of the Year

Professor Britta Regli-von Ungern-Sternberg

Perth Children’s Hospital’s and The University of Western Australia’s Professor Britta Regli-von Ungern-Sternberg received the 2024 Frank Fenner Prize for Life Scientist of the Year. 

Professor Regli-von Ungern-Sternberg is a consultant anaesthetist at the Perth Children’s Hospital and Chair of Paediatric Anaesthesia at The University of Western Australia. The prize recognises her life-changing research into reducing risks associated with anaesthesia for children, to make surgery and recovery safer.

One-quarter of a million children have surgery involving anaesthesia each year in Australia, and one in 7 experience breathing problems during surgery. Prof Regli-von Ungern-Sternberg’s research uncovered how to identify children at high-risk of breathing problems. This helped ensure vital operations were as safe and pain-free as possible.

Before her discovery, there was little research into the underlying physiological changes during the anaesthesia of children and infants. 

Prof Regli-von Ungern-Sternberg’s research has directly led to clinical changes and improved safety in anaesthesia over the past decade. Her work is now part of international guidelines for paediatric anaesthesia. 

Watch video highlights

Transcript

[Music plays and an image appears of a Frank Fenner Prize, Life Scientist of the Year medallion above text: Professor Britta Regli-Von Ungern-Sternberg, MD PHD DEAA FANZCA FAHMS]

[Images move through show Professor Britta Regli-Von Ungern-Sternberg talking to the camera, Britta talking with parents over a baby on a table, and then Britta talking]

Professor Britta Regli-Von Ungern-Sternberg:  About one in 20 Australian children has surgery every year, which equates to about a quarter of a million Australian children. 

[Images move through to show the female’s hand patting the baby’s leg while the baby breathes through a mask, Britta talking to the camera, and Britta listening to the baby with a stethoscope]

Out of these children, about one in seven has breathing problems while they go under or while they are waking up from anaesthesia. 

[Music plays as image changes to show the baby on the table smiling, and then image changes to show Britta using a stethoscope while smiling]

[Images move through to show views of Britta talking to the camera, a clock tower on a building, rose bushes in the foreground of a building, and Britta walking under a porch, and text appears: Professor Britta Regli-Von Ungern-Sternberg]

My name is Britta Regli-Von Ungern-Sternberg and I'm a consultant paediatric anaesthetist at Perth Children's Hospital and the Chair of Paediatric Anaesthesia and the Director of the Institute for Paediatric Perioperative Excellence at The University of Western Australia. 

[Images move through to show various views of Britta talking to the camera, Britta listening to a boy’s chest using a stethoscope, and then the boy giving a big exhale through pursed lips for Britta]

My research is looking into these breathing problems, which cause more than three quarters of all critical incidents in my speciality. We're trying to find who are the children who are at a higher risk for these breathing problems, to then find ways how we can avoid it for these children.

[Images move through to show various views of Britta talking to the camera, Britta talking with a female and a boy sitting on a bed, the boy and then Britta using the tablet and Britta talking] 

For us, it is really important that our research is not just about the children and for the children, but actually actively co-designed with the children to really get them involved into our project and make sure that the research we do is not just acceptable and useful for clinicians, but also acceptable for the children and their families. 

[Music plays as image changes to show a female holding the boy while Britta gives the boy a high-five, and Britta smiling and rubbing the boy’s back while the female cuddles him]

[Image changes to show a wide view of Britta talking to the camera, and then the image changes to show a close view of Britta talking to the camera]

I was very lucky in my career to have amazing mentors, so I'm very keen on mentoring people of lots of different backgrounds. 

[Images move through to show views of Britta talking with colleagues, Britta’s hand pointing at a clipboard, Britta talking, and Britta watching the boy being pushed on a pink car by the female]

Some of them are other medical specialities but also lots of non-medical specialities because we need many puzzle pieces to actually solve the problem we have in front of us. 

[Images move through to show the boy in the car pressing the horn, and then various views of Britta talking to the camera]

To receive the Frank Fenner Prize for Life Scientist of the year was an enormous surprise and an honour. It was very, very exciting and humbling at the same time. The prize is really not for me. It's really for the team. 

[Image changes to show Britta talking to the camera, various views close and wide views of Britta talking with two females, a female smiling and talking, and then the second female nodding]

As an anaesthetist we don't work by ourselves, we really work in a team and the same holds true for the research I do. Everyone working together to actually come to the result we want. 

[Images move through to show Britta talking to the camera, a mask being placed over the baby’s mouth and nose as camera pans up to the mother’s smiling face, and Britta smiling at the camera]

My aim is if a child needs a vital operation, that this is as safe but also as comfortable for the child as possible.

[Music plays as the image changes to show a Frank Fenner Prize, Life Scientist of the Year medallion with the Australian Government Coat of Arms in the bottom right corner, and text appears: 2024 Frank Fenner for Life Scientist of the Year, Celebrating 25 years]