Sarah Murdoch Co-Chair, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) Kathryn North Director, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI); David Danks Professor of Child Health Research, University of Melbourne Hamish Graham Paediatrician and Senior Research Fellow, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI); University of Melbourne; Royal Children’s Hospital “With COVID, there's been this renewed focus on the importance of medical research. … With more funding and with philanthropic partners, I'm really optimistic about the further impact that we can make on that global scale.” – Sarah Murdoch When Dame Elizabeth Murdoch founded the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) in 1986, she wanted sought to create an organization dedicated to making discoveries to prevent and treat childhood conditions. Today, MCRI is Australia’s top pediatric health research institute and among the top three worldwide for research quality and impact, with more than 1,200 investigators in 35 countries. “We've got our eye on the long-term impacts of COVID,” MCRI Director Kathryn North tells Mike. “We have quite a lot of previous data on the well-being, the health, and the mental health of children and families in our community. But we've now been able to continue to liaise with those families, to look at the direct effects of COVID and then look out into the future.”