Make a Life-Changing Impact This Christmas

Every day, children like Josh face an invisible enemy: juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Diagnosed at just 15 months old, Josh’s life has been defined by the pain and challenges of arthritis. Now, at 26 years old, he still struggles with daily pain, making every step a battle.

When Josh was first diagnosed, his parents were told it was highly unlikely he would be walking by his 21st birthday. Despite the odds, Josh was still standing on his 21st birthday, a day he calls ‘emotional’ for his family. “I’m able to live a life beyond my original diagnosis,” he says. But it hasn’t been easy.

Despite the positive outcomes since his diagnosis, Josh’s life is still consumed by the daily burdens required to maintain his health.

Will you help? Any donation – big or small – will go a long way in changing the arthritis story for countless children like Josh.

Dr Zhibin Liao is at the forefront of medical innovation. His research leverages Artificial Intelligence (AI) to detect juvenile idiopathic arthritis-related changes more easily, leading to early intervention and a chance for kids to live full lives. 

Dr Zhibin Liao conducts his research at the Australian Institute for Machine Learning and says although his multi-disciplinary team are in the early stages of this project, AI has the potential to save kids from the ‘unnecessary pain’ of juvenile idiopathic arthritis.  

If everything goes well, the research team will develop a juvenile idiopathic arthritis detection algorithm which can give clinicians a set of arthritis prediction scores and highlight the potential location where the algorithm can see arthritis symptoms. This will translate into a valuable toolset that can aid rheumatologists and GPs in early detection.  

Your support can make this groundbreaking research a reality.

On average, it takes 10 months for children to receive an arthritis diagnosis from the moment the pain begins.

The journey to an arthritis diagnosis is challenging – from visiting multiple specialists to going through painful and expensive diagnostic tests, with some tests even requiring a general anaesthetic.

Sadly, some children will already have permanent joint damage or vision loss by the time they are diagnosed. Many will have their childhood interrupted with regular injections, infusions and medications with side effects that make them sick. This means more time away from school for the child and more time off work for the parents.

Your donation today can have a lasting impact, providing children with timely care, reducing pain and preventing long-term disability.