All medical breakthroughs start with the seed of an idea, and at the Bionics Institute, we believe those ideas need support and funding.
All medical breakthroughs start with the seed of an idea, and at the Bionics Institute, we believe those ideas need support and funding.
That’s why, under the leadership of former Chair of the Board of Directors John Stanhope AM, the Bionics Incubator Fund (BIF) was introduced in 2019 to fund research projects that explore a new idea.
These funds allow our researchers to conduct initial feasibility studies to provide an early evaluation of the technical viability of their ideas.
In the 7 years since it started, the BIF has supported 24 projects, 10 of which have gone on to attract over $14M in government grant and philanthropic funding.
BIF projects have also led to one spin-off company, numerous publications, patents and two clinical trials, one for a medical device to treat Parkinson’s disease and one for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
When John retired from the Board of Directors in 2025 after 13 years of dedicated service, he generously donated funds to start the John Stanhope Incubator Fund.
Innovation is part of the DNA of the Bionics Institute and it’s wonderful to think that my fund might be the catalyst for a future treatment that could help people live longer, fuller lives. John Stanhope AM
Bionics Institute researcher Dr Tomoko Hyakumura applied for incubator funding to whether a vagus nerve stimulation device under development for Crohn’s disease could be adapted for neurological conditions, including Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy.
Tomoko says: “Early concept research into Parkinson’s and epilepsy funded by the BIF was successful and led to a new research program that I now lead under the supervision of A/Prof Sophie Payne.
The data generated through the BIF program helped secure philanthropic funding for both projects, which are both progressing well.
For epilepsy this has led to the additional data needed to secure $2.2M in government grant funding to progress the device towards a clinical trial.”
Bionics Institute CEO Robert Klupacs says the BIF gives researchers the freedom to experiment and discover the treatments of tomorrow, and he applauds John Stanhope’s leadership.
“If you want to get behind world leading research like John, I strongly encourage everyone to contribute to the BIF or set up their own named incubator fund and watch ideas flourish.”
