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Bionics Institute 2022 Innovation Lecture
Research. Investment. Commercialisation.
Over 200 people gathered at the Bionics Institute 2022 Innovation Lecture on Thursday 8 September 2022 to discuss how we can build Australia from innovation.
Australia is known as a nation of inventors.
The pacemaker, ultrasound and cochlear implant were all developed in Australia.
These life-changing inventions have been a vital contributor to Australia’s strong economy and high standard of living.
So, why does Australia lag behind so many other countries for innovation, entrepreneurship and competitiveness?
A world leader in the development of medical devices, the Bionics Institute aims to bring the med tech ecosystem together to explore ways to reverse this lag and boost innovation in Australia.
The networking drinks following the lecture provided the opportunity to develop partnerships and links within the med tech industry, encouraging discussions on how to bridge the gap between research and commercialisation.
Watch the Innovation Lecture video
Our speakers and panel
Keynote speaker Dr Andrew Nash, Chief Scientific Officer, CSL spoke about Building Australia from Innovation
Keynote speaker A/Prof Tom Oxley, CEO, Synchron talked about Med Tech Start-Ups: The Highs and Lows
Panel members
Dr Andrew Nash, Chief Scientific Officer, CSL
Professor Michelle McIntosh, Director Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre and Theme Leader at the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Dr Megan O’Connor, Managing Director, Kantara Consulting
George Kenley, Chief Operating Officer, Seer Medical
Attendees
Invitees from across the med tech ecosystem include:
- Government agencies and peak bodies
- Start-up founders and entrepreneurs
- Innovative companies and med tech thought leaders
- Impact investors, funds and VCs
- Healthcare and tertiary education leaders
- Trusts, foundations and philanthropists
- Business media
Our Major Sponsors
About our keynote speaker
Dr Andrew Nash, Chief Scientific Officer, CSL
Andrew Nash is the Chief Scientific Officer and Senior Vice President, Head of Research at CSL and is an Honorary Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne.
He completed his PhD in immunology at The University of Melbourne in 1988 and, after moving to the Centre for Animal Biotechnology in the Faculty of Veterinary Science, developed and led a research group focused on basic and applied aspects of cytokine biology.
He later joined the ASX listed biotechnology company Zenyth Therapeutics (then Amrad Corporation) as a senior scientist and subsequently held a number of positions including Director of Biologicals Research and Chief Scientific Officer.
In July of 2005 he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Zenyth, a position which he held up until the acquisition of Zenyth by CSL Limited in November 2006.
Following the acquisition he was appointed as Senior Vice President, Research and is currently based at the Bio21 Institute where he leads a large global effort focused on the discovery and development of new protein, cell and gene-based medicines to treat serious human disease.
About our keynote speaker
A/Prof Tom Oxley MBBS BMedSc FRACP
Associate Professor Tom Oxley is an interventional neurologist at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, and founder and CEO of Synchron,
A company specialising in neural interface technology, Synchron is located across both Melbourne and New York.
Synchron has raised investment funding to develop the Stentrode, an implantable medical device that can translate brain signals from the inside of blood vessels.
Thoughts captured from users of the Stentrode are translated wirelessly to digital devices designed to stimulate thought-controlled movement, which could transform the lives of people who are paralysed or have severely restricted movement.
A/Prof Tom Oxley completed his medical degree at Monash University in Melbourne.
He completed an internal medicine, neurology residency in 2013; a stroke fellowship in 2015 at The Alfred and Royal Melbourne Hospitals; and an interventional neurology fellowship in 2017 at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.
A/Prof Oxley completed his PhD in neural engineering in 2016 at the University of Melbourne, where he established the Vascular Bionics Laboratory.