Bit about me

I am a Senior Staff Specialist Paediatrician at the Queensland Children’s Hospital, Centre for Children’s Health Research and PhD candidate with the University of Queensland in the Integrating Genomics into Medicine Group. I have over twenty years specialty experience and trained in Brisbane, Scotland, Canada and Melbourne. I have expertise and interest in deafness, genomics, child development, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, and reading and learning difficulties.  I successfully balance a busy clinical load with research resulting in publications in these areas, in part due to strong interstate collaborations. I am the recipient of an NHMRC Postgraduate Scholarship for my current research which engages national and international collaborators to evaluate the utility of genetic testing and imaging in informing diagnoses and improving outcomes in childhood hearing loss.

Teaching, training and supervision of paediatric trainees and medical students in both clinical and research is a priority. I have initiated and established innovative models of care through advocacy and partnership building. My clinical experience, senior positions and training roles, and broad systemic thinking leads to unique positioning to build collaborations across and within sectors to improve integration of services, promote innovation and improve clinical outcomes in paediatrics.

Grants and Funding

• 2023-2027 NHMRC Postgraduate Scholarship $113 542.50

• 2021-2024 Drug and Alcohol Program FASD Expansion of Diagnostic Services.

• Australian Government Department of Health. $1,556,640.

• AI 2022-2025 NHMRC Hearing Health Evidence Based Support Services. $1, 436,994.31.

• AI 2023 Children’s Health Queensland (CHQ) Study Education and Research Trust Account (SERTA) Fast Track Grant $4864

• 2015-2015 Queensland Regional Training Network small grant to support interprofessional student clinic at Inala Indigenous Health $3000

Current Projects

• Paediatric hearing loss

Selected Publications

(See ORCiD for full publications: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1948-5872)

1. Sung, V., Downie, L., Paxton, G. A., Liddle, K., Birman, C. S., Chan, W. W., Cottier, C., et al. "Childhood Hearing Australasian Medical Professionals Network: Consensus Guidelines on Investigation and Clinical Management of Childhood Hearing Loss." J Paediatr Child Health 55, no. 9 (Sep 2019): 1013-22. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpc.14508

Original Research:

1. Young SL, Gallo LA, Brookes DSK, .. Liddle, K., et al. “Altered bone and body composition in children and adolescents with confirmed prenatal alcohol exposure.” Bone. 2022:

2. Liddle, K., et al., "Cochlear nerve deficiency is an important cause of Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder in children at a population level." Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol 158 (2022):

3. Liddle, K., et al., "Aetiology of permanent childhood hearing loss at a population level." J Paediatr Child Health 58 no.3 (March 2022)

4. Foley, W., Fagan, A., Liddle, K.,. "Establishing and Sustaining a New Interprofessional Allied Health Student Placement." Focus on Health Professional Education:  A Multi-professional journal 20, no. 2 (2019).

5. Kaiser, S., Zimmet, M., Fraser, J., Liddle, K., and Roberts, G. "Recognition of Attachment Difficulties and Developmental Trauma Is the Responsibility of All Paediatricians." J Paediatr Child Health 54, no. 10 (Oct 2018): 1110-16. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpc.14154

6. Liddle, K., et al., "Predictors of Specialist Referral for Developmental and Behavioural Problems in a Queensland Urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community: A Cross-Sectional Study." Australian Family Physician 43 (9/01 2014): 640-43. http://www.racgp.org.au/afp/2014/september/predictors-of-specialist-referral/.

7. Liddle, K., et al., "Comparison of Body Mass Index and Triceps Skinfold at 5 Years and Young Adult Body Mass Index, Waist Circumference and Blood Pressure." J Paediatr Child Health 48, no. 5 (May 2012): 424-9. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1754.2011.02247.x