A new facility dedicated to the entire journey of children who become burns patients has been announced for Perth Children’s Hospital.
The WA Comprehensive Centre for Childhood Burns has been backed by a $27 million commitment over 10 years to the Fiona Wood Foundation from the Stan Perron Charitable Foundation.
The centre – described as world-leading – aims to accelerate research-driven innovation, deliver excellence in clinical care, and enhance community education to improve outcomes for children and families across the state and beyond.
Founder of the Fiona Wood Foundation Professor Fiona Wood is well known for developing a spray-on skin solution which was used to treat patients from the 2002 Bali bombings.
The foundation hopes to drive the next generation of regenerative and scarless healing solutions through this centre.
The centre’s vision is a future where no child is defined by a burn injury, with holistic healing and lifelong health preserved through regenerative science, innovation, and care.
Its goal is to achieve healing without scarring, minimising trauma and reducing long-term physical and psychological impacts.
The facility will deliver child and family-centred care focused on early intervention, pain reduction, personalised treatment, and improved long-term outcomes.
It aims to advance pioneering diagnostics, therapies, and technologies to drive scarless healing and better mental health outcomes, with clinical trials embedded into routine care while strengthening skills and awareness across health professionals, families, schools, and first responders.
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Professor Wood said investment from the Stan Perron Charitable Foundation would strengthen the organisation’s commitment to delivering the best care for children and their families.
“It enables us to build a truly comprehensive paediatric burns research pipeline, from discovery through to treatment, where clinical trials are embedded into routine practice to ensure every innovation is tested, translated and delivered where it is needed most,” she said.
“Our patients and their families remain central to everything we do; their lived experience shapes the questions we ask and the solutions we pursue.
“Together, we can create a future where children not only survive their injuries but thrive, with care, research and innovation working hand in hand to transform lives.”
Elizabeth Perron, chair of the Stan Perron Charitable Foundation, said she was proud to help enable a centre to drive world-leading research and care right in WA.
“We believe this work will profoundly improve the lives of young people who have experienced burn trauma, both now and into the future,” she said.
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