Jeff Gibbs is a Director at Hyman Phelps and McNamara – the largest law firm specialising in FDA issues, based in Washington DC. With four decades of FDA expertise he delivers crucial insights for medical technology companies aiming to crack the US market. Peaking to the podcast during his national tour for the MTPConnect seminar series, this US-based regulatory veteran shares his strategic tips on the FDA submission process, and discusses the dramatically shifting FDA landscape that could make or break your US market entry strategy. 

Whether you're developing breakthrough medical technology or refining existing solutions, this episode delivers essential knowledge for anyone considering the US market. Subscribe to the MTP Connect podcast for more insights that will help your innovation journey from bench to bedside to global markets. 

Medical Alley is a powerhouse in global healthcare innovation, connecting startups and Fortune 100 companies to transform healthcare solutions. Headquartered in Minnesota, it’s one of the world’s largest medtech clusters.

At the 2024 MedTech Conference in Canada, MTPConnect and Medical Alley renewed an MOU to strengthen collaboration and support for Australian medtech companies looking to expand internationally.

Now, Medical Alley is launching a game-changing online training program, Medical Alley Academy, designed to help innovators move into the US market - a great opportunity for Australian companies to tap into.

Joining Caroline Duell to talk about this exciting initiative are Medical Alley CEO Roberta (Bobbie) Dresson and MTPConnect CEO Stuart Dignam.

What’s in this episode?

·       How Medical Alley is shaping the future of medtech

·       The changing trends and challenges in the US medtech ecosystem

·       All about Medical Alley’s new online Academy training 

·       Key opportunities for Australian medtech companies to expand to the U.S.

Tune in for expert insights and actionable advice for taking your medtech innovation global! 🎧✨

Omico is leading Australia’s largest cancer genomics initiative –giving 23,000 Australians nationwide with advanced or incurable cancers, access to genomic profiling to detect unique genetic variations in their tumours to identify potential matches to new targeted treatments options. It is opening up new treatment pathways, extending lives and attracting more international trials to Australia.

Professor David Thomas, renowned for his groundbreaking work in precision oncology, is the founder and Chief Science and Strategy Officer of Omico - the Australian Genomic Cancer Medicine Centre. 

In this episode, host Caroline Duell speaks with Professor Thomas to find out more about his mission to open up new treatment options for all cancer patients using genomics, the impact of pan tumour therapies on our healthcare system, and why we need to change the way we look at cancer care and cure right now before more people die unnecessarily.

Brisbane-based Ellume Health’s Founder and CEO Dr Sean Parsons joins the MTPConnect podcast this week to share the full story behind developing the first #COVID-19 Home Test to be given FDA Emergency Use Authorisation in the United States. Ellume recently signed a $300 million deal with the US government to supply the over-the-counter diagnostic which uses smart-device connectivity and ramping-up Australian manufacturing will be critical to meeting demand. This is a must-listen episode for medtech innovators keen to understand more about commercialisation success in America. Sean shares his ten-year journey from physician to founder, including tips for fellow entrepreneurs and his views on how to boost sovereign capabilities by growing medical products manufacturing in Australia.

To stimulate collaboration across industry, research and clinical organisations we’re allocating $20 million to support the establishment of two new Research Centres through the Targeted Translation Research Accelerator (TTRA) initiative for diabetes and cardiovascular disease, supported by the Medical Research Future Fund. MTPConnect is calling for Expressions of Interest (EOI) to establish one centre focused on diabetes-associated complications and the other on cardiovascular disease-associated complications and each funded for up to $10 million over four years. The program has the potential to transform diabetes and cardiovascular disease outcomes and reduce the burden of disease on patients, families and the community. This Information Session provides valuable information to those considering submitting an EOI. Dr Dan Grant, MTPConnect Managing Director & CEO discusses the Research Centres opportunity. Lauren Kelly, MTPConnect Senior Director TTRA program and Dr Mana Liao, MTPConnect Director TTRA program outline the priority areas, submission process and provide relevant information about preparing an application. You will also hear from our TTRA Expert Advisory Board Chair Professor Ian Frazer AC FRS who contributes to the question time.

The Targeted Translation Research Accelerator (TTRA) initiative for diabetes and cardiovascular disease, supported by the Medical Research Future Fund, is calling for Expressions of Interest (EOI) for the first round of Research Projects funding. The program is making available $18 million to support translational Research Projects that have the potential to transform diabetes and cardiovascular disease outcomes and reduce the burden of disease on patients, families and the community – with up to $6 million available in this first round. This Information Session provides valuable information to those considering submitting an EOI. Dr Dan Grant, MTPConnect Managing Director & CEO  discusses the Research Projects opportunity. Lauren Kelly, MTPConnect Senior Director TTRA program and Dr Mana Liao, MTPConnect Director TTRA program outline the priority areas, submission process and provide relevant information about preparing an application. You will also hear from our TTRA program partners who will be providing mentoring and commercialisation advice to applicants and those receiving funding:

• ANDHealth’s Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer Grace Lethlean
• MDPP’s National Program Manager Olivia White and;
• UniQuest’s Senior Director QEDDI Dr Andrew Harvey 

While Australia is getting on top of COVID-19 and Britain begins vaccinating frontline healthcare workers, the virus is still raging in the US, Europe, and many parts of the world. It all underscores the critical importance of ongoing pandemic preparedness – for policy makers, industry and the community.  To hear more about Australia’s efforts, we meet Dr Felicia Pradera who leads the DMTC Medical Countermeasures (MCM) program, which involves harnessing Australia’s capabilities to develop leading-edge, advanced technologies and to direct and deploy skills into activities that support Australian defence, health and national security outcomes. Medical Countermeasures include vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics for the protection of military and civilian personnel against Chemical, Biological and Radiological threats, emerging infectious diseases and pandemics. They have just launched the National Health Security Resilience Assessment (open until 31 May 2021) to evaluate Australia’s research, product development and manufacturing capability in six priority areas - MCM, Medical Devices, PPE, Modelling and Simulation, Hazard Management and Sensing Systems. Find out why they need input from the MTP sector to help provide a national picture of Australia’s capability and capacity in the health security ecosystem. 

Digital evolution is the central enabling megatrend of the MTP sector. As healthcare incorporates more and more digital solutions, its important to get cybersecurity right.  Lives depend on it.  So how do we secure the digital safety and security of Australian medical technology and is the sector too complacent? MTPConnect’s Managing Director & CEO Dr Dan Grant tackled that question in his keynote at the Medical Technology Association of Australia (MTAA)’s Cyber Security Forum, in November 2020. MTPConnect was pleased to be a sponsor and support further discussion in this area. Many thanks to the MTAA for championing this issue and thanks to CSIRO’s Director of Health and Biosecurity Dr Rob Grenfell for facilitating the session. 

We’re patching you into our November 2020 Seminar Series webinar about how to craft a successful commercialisation funding application. Hear valuable tips from communications specialist and grant writer Rebecca Colless from gemaker, experienced grant assessor Dr Andy Gearing from BioComm Squared and Professor Kevin Pfleger from UWA who shares his academic and commercial experience, highlighting key differences between research and commercialisation applications. MTPConnect’s Dr Dan Grant brings insights from his own research career and administering MTPConnect’s multiple translation funding programs. They explore the steps to developing a well-executed application, share their experiences and reveal why it is so important to get the story right. The session was led by MTPConnect’s Director of Stakeholder Engagement for WA Dr Tracey Wilkinson. This episode will be of interest to researchers, research offices, start-ups & SMEs.

Happy bonus episode listeners! To mark World Antimicrobial Awareness Week, the MTPConnect podcast team caught up with OUTBREAK Managing Director & Co-founder Associate Professor Branwen Morgan from the University of Technology Sydney and Distinguished Professor Antoine van Oijen, who is OUTBREAK’s Deputy Managing Director and Director of Health Programs from the University of Wollongong, to talk about their new economic report on the impact of antimicrobial resistance in Australia released this week which shines a light on the multi-million dollar cost of drug-resistant infections and connects the overuse and misuse of antibiotics to the health and economic impact of a single disease. OUTBREAK is a national consortium whose analysis used big data and Artificial Intelligence to highlight how urinary tract infections (UTIs) are becoming more persistent and harder to treat, resulting in more people being admitted to hospital where they require longer stays and more costly medicines. Each year UTIs alone lead to 2.5 million GP appointments, 100K emergency visits and 75K hospital stays!. OUTBREAK is a member of MTPConnect’s AAMRNet, Australia’s first Antimicrobial Resistance Network launched in October 2020. The report is available to download at OUTBREAK Project’s website: https://outbreakproject.com.au/antimicrobial-resistance-publications/utis-economic-report/. For more information on AMR, follow Twitter for updates at @AAMRNet_ and @OneHealthAU.

For this episode, we’re exploring the incredible benefits that can flow from connecting PhD graduates with industry. By giving researchers real-world experiences in research-intensive organisations, we can drive better commercialisation outcomes. 

And it’s exactly what we’re doing as a core component of our ‘Researcher Exchange and Development within Industry’ (REDI) program - in partnership with pharmaceutical company GSK. GSK is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world researching, developing and manufacturing innovative pharmaceutical medicines, vaccines and consumer healthcare products. The company has operations in Australia which employ 1,500 people in Sydney and Melbourne. GSK Australia has developed a new PhD graduate program to facilitate the cross pollination of scientific, academic research expertise with that of the Pharmaceutical Industry. The MTPConnect podcast team of Caroline Duell and Dr Rebecca Tunstall speak to GSK’s Head of Human Resources - Australia & New Zealand David Fitz-Gerald and GSK’s Director of Regulatory Affairs for Australia and New Zealand Dr Carolyn Tucek-Szabo about the launch of the new GSK PhD Graduate Innovation Program, supported by REDI over the next three years. The 12-month placement program, which builds on GSK’s successful Industry Based Learning program for undergraduate students, is open now for applications and will enable six PhD graduates to join GSK Australia assigning them to lead on core projects in areas such as early product development, medical affairs and regulatory affairs. The company is currently developing novel medicines in immuno-oncology, immuno-inflammatory, HIV, and infectious diseases (including COVID-19 therapy areas) so it’s an exciting time to throw off your lab coat to learn about industry career options. Apply by 2 December at GSK Australia’s website: https://au.gsk.com/en-au/careers/phd-graduates-and-post-doc-researchers/

The Medical Device Partnering Program (MDPP) is an ideas incubator, established in 2008, with the ambitious goal to make Australia the fastest country in the world to take a medical device to market. The program has been connecting with start-ups in Adelaide and now Victoria to develop their cutting-edge medical devices and is now expanding its services nationally across Australia with the support of MTPConnect’s REDI initiative! We hear from MDPP Director Professor Karen Reynolds and Innovations Manager Stephen Blakeney on the workforce skills gap they are seeing in the medical devices sector, their Online Capability Directory that identifies and connects innovative companies working in this space and they share some success stories of startups that have been through the incubator.  If you have a problem, an idea for a solution or even a working prototype for a medical device, contact MDPP at https://mdpp.org.au/. 

With one in five Australians living with disability, the power of technology is being harnessed to help overcome barriers. In this week’s podcast, the MTPConnect team speak to Remarkable Tech Founder Pete Horsley on supporting Australian disability tech start-ups through an inclusive 16 week accelerator program, set up by the Cerebral Palsy Alliance in NSW with corporate sponsorship and support from industry. The program helps to take ideas to commercial reality, supporting ‘profit for purpose’ businesses in Australia. While this year’s cohort of seven startups has had to adapt to the impact of COVID-19, enthusiasm is high and the accelerator is now seeking applications for its 2021 cohort. One of those company’s is ResusRight who are on a mission to prevent the death and disability of newborn babies who require resuscitation after birth. Co-Founder Matt Boustred joins us to share the journey behind developing a new medical device thirty years in the making, as they seek first round seed funding and work to secure an Australian manufacturing deal. Pretty remarkable stories from these two guests!

Biocom California is the US state’s advocate for the life sciences industry with a network of over 1700 members. With offices located in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento, Washington, D.C, and Tokyo the group is focused on building international collaborations and networks to bring new medicines to patients.

MTPConnect recently signed an MoU with Biocom California during a visit to San Diego for the 2024 BIO Convention to strengthen ties between the US and Australian life sciences sector. 

In this episode, MTPConnect CEO Stuart Dignam joins host Caroline Duell to chat with Co-founder, President and CEO of Biocom California, Joe Panetta, about the Biocom California journey that began more than thirty years ago to advocate for the Californian life science sector, one of the leading innovation hubs in the world. Joe shares his top tips for Australian companies looking to move into the US market and talks about Biocom California’s upcoming Global Life Science Partnering and Investor Conference in February 2025 in La Jolla which will provide an important avenue for companies to connect with investors. Australian biotech companies are encouraged to attend this event!

Australian Postgraduate Research Intern (APR.Intern) connects PhD students with industry, from incubators to multinationals, through short-term internships. These opportunities empower students to thrive in a practical research environment and for businesses to innovate and be future-ready. Their program also links businesses to fresh ideas and provides pathways for universities to expand research collaborations with industry. MTPConnect’s REDI initiative is providing funding for APR.Intern’s established Industry Placement program to increase workforce capabilities and strengthen research translation within Australia’s MedTech, biotech and pharma (MTP) sector. It’s providing a subsidy to 20 MTP sector businesses to take on a PhD student through a short-term research placement until the end of 2020. The upside is enabling innovative businesses to engage with Australia’s brightest emerging research talent. For universities, the placements support the development of an industry-ready Ph.D. workforce. More information can be found at: https://aprintern.org.au/business-info/costs-rebates/partnerships-mtpconnect/ 

The MedTech Actuator connects Australia’s broad ecosystem to empower founders to build the next wave of global MedTech, HealthTech and BioTech success stories. In 2020, the MedTech Actuator joined MTPConnect as a REDI partner to expand the focus of its medtech programs into BioTech, pharma and health and well-being. MedTech Actuator CEO Dr Buzz Palmer and CSO Dr Vishaal Kishore joined the podcast this week to discuss the success of its pre-seed to series A 2020 accelerator program that provided Entrepreneur-in-Residence sessions at universities, hospitals and research institutes, all delivered virtually due to COVID-19 restrictions. 15 start-ups have begun the fifth cohort of the program, which commenced in July 2020. The MedTech Actuator team also spoke of helping start-ups face the fear of failure out of start-ups and what they could learn from it, and the importance of encouraging the entrepreneurial spirit in younger Australians, particularly students.  The MedTech Actuator Origin (formerly MedTech’s Got Talent), is an early-stage pitch competition for medtech, healthtech and biotech entrepreneurs . Applications for the industry-led bootcamp opened 16 November 2020. More information at: https://medtechactuator.com/origin/

The Bridge and BridgeTech Programs, facilitated by QUT on behalf of a consortium of key industry partners and institutes, are nation-wide professional development programs, focussing on training Australia’s next generation of researchers and life sciences entrepreneurs by developing their commercialisation skills and industry networks. The Bridge and BridgeTech programs are partners of MTPConnect’s REDI Program, an initiative to improve workforce skills across Australia. Joining the podcast this week, is Director of the Programs, Professor Lyn Griffiths and the Program Manager Joel Spotswood, who discuss how the initiative has expanded to include the new Bridge and BridgeTech REDI Program offering 20 funded, competitive industry fellowships annually for Bridge and BridgeTech participants, alumni and selected associated participants over the next four years. Successful applicants receive a $10,000 Fellowship to fund their industry placement to be undertaken for a minimum of 3-6 weeks. Researchers are given a new opportunity to immerse themselves in industry, make professional connections and consider the translation and commercialisation of research. With the impact of COVID-19 being felt across the university sector and research labs across Australia, the REDI Industry Fellowships can provide a bridge to the medtech and pharma industry for our best and brightest scientists. More information, go to https://research.qut.edu.au/redi-program/. 

To mark our involvement in the Virtual Medtech Conference 2020 in Toronto,  we hosted a special webinar with Austrade, for US and Canadian medical device companies who may benefit from running clinical trials in Australia. The session explored ‘Australia as a medical device trial destination: Maintain momentum in your clinical development program’, and focused on first-in-human / early phase cardiovascular medical device trials.  Discussions cover the clinical trials landscape in Australia and the impact of COVID-19 on maintaining research momentum, the opportunities for international collaboration and a German company’s firsthand experience as a multinational medical device company running clinical trial programs in Australia. 

 A special thanks to our stellar panel:

• Hon. Peter McGauran – Australia’s Consul General and Senior Trade & Investment Commissioner, Austrade Houston
• Dr Dan Grant – Managing Director & CEO MTPConnect
• Prof John Kovacic – Executive Director Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute
• Prof Gemma Figtree – President Australian Cardiovascular Alliance 
• Mr Falko Thiele – Director Clinical & Regulatory Affairs BIOTRONIK Australia (HQ Germany)

We’re patching you in to the September webinar in our 2020 Seminar Series to explore the challenges and issues specific to developing diagnostics in the Australian and global market, compared to drugs and devices. 

Infectious diseases physician, Dr Jack Richards from Australian biotech ZiP Diagnostics whose team is developing and manufacturing infectious diseases diagnostics in Melbourne, shares his experiences and reveals the impact COVID-19 is having on the diagnostics sector. Dr Sarah Hennebry from FPA Patent Attorneys in Melbourne explores intellectual property issues specific to diagnostics. Fund raising is covered by Dr John Westwater from OneVentures in Sydney. The session was led by MTPConnect’s Director Stakeholder Engagement NSW Dr Duncan Macinnis. 

MTPConnect recently held a virtual industry roundtable to launch the formation of Australia’s first Antimicrobial Resistance Network – the AAMRNet, and released a new report, ‘Fighting Superbugs: A Report on the Inaugural Meeting of Australia’s Antimicrobial Resistance Stakeholders’, prepared by MTPConnect in partnership with Biointelect.

Collaboration is the key to success and the AAMRNet aims to provide a unified voice to support and promote Australia’s role in the global fight against the growing threat of drug resistant infections. MTPConnect’s Managing Director and CEO, Dr Dan Grant officially launched the initiative, followed by a discussion with AAMRNet’s Steering Committee members facilitated by Jenny Herz, Biointelect Managing Director. 

Panellists included:

• Elizabeth de Somer - CEO, Medicines Australia 
• Professor David Paterson - Director UQ Centre for Clinical Research, Faculty of Medicine at University of Queensland 
• Paul Field - Australian Representative, Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP) and Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) 
• Julie Philips - Managing Director, Opal Biosciences and MTPConnect Director.

 To find out more or to join the AAMRNet, contact MTPConnect. 

What happens when you are tasked to setup a virtual care model to meet the demand for growth in hospital services, and just as operations are launched, a pandemic emerges? The team at Sydney Local Health District – General Manager Miranda Shaw and Chief Information Officer Richard Taggart - are on the team that developed New South Wales’ first virtual hospital - RPA Virtual - which has treated more than 3,500 patients at home, by managing their care through an online healthcare model. And feedback from patients of all ages is really positive. The conversation covers the upside of a virtual healthcare model, how it can be applied and adapted for different patient groups, and what was involved in pivoting care for patients in COVID-related hotel quarantine. With the model reliant on the use of medical technology including wearables, devices, smart phones  electronic medical records, there is more room for Australian digital health innovation. And it’s prompting healthcare professionals to embrace new workplace skills through technology training. Join us to see how ‘disruptive ideas’ are revolutionising patient care!

In this episode, we catch up with one of our REDI partners, the George Institute for Global Health, an independent medical research institute based in Sydney. We discuss their Health10x Accelerator program and the opportunities it’s creating for Australian start-ups and entrepreneurs to deliver successful commercial ventures with maximum social impact. Dr Parisa Glass, the Director of Innovation and Enterprise at The George Institute for Global Health and a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Medicine at UNSW, is joined by Vesna Todorovski, the Program Manager for the George’s Genovate initiative, to explain why Health10 X is an ‘Accelerator with a difference’. Health10x has a particular focus on innovations that address major health challenges in emerging and underserved markets, particularly the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), like cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory illness - leading causes of death and disability worldwide. They reveal some of the promising  startups going through the program now, in partnership with UNSW’s Founders program. Listen for a really insightful discussion about driving entrepreneurship and innovation in healthcare.

In this episode, we bring you the keynote presentation from MTPConnect Managing Director & CEO Dr Dan Grant at Innovate Health 2020. 

Recent research released by MTPConnect reveals the COVID-19 health crisis has had a significant impact across the Australian MTP sector, with hits to company values, the shutdown of critical clinical trials and research labs, and the drying-up of much needed capital to sustain research and development projects. Simultaneously the sector has been fast-tracking vaccine, diagnostic, device and therapeutic research to fight COVID-19 and securing vital medical supplies to help save lives. Dr Dan Grant shines the spotlight on the role innovation will play in the sector’s recovery and the potential for digital health to drive renewed growth of the sector over the next six to twelve months. Dr Grant also chats with the Innovate Health Conference Chair Tam Ngyuen from St Vincent’s Melbourne.

MTPConnect sponsored Innovate Health 2020, which this year focused on ‘encouraging engagement, navigating commercialisation and accelerating growth and uptake of digital health innovation in Australia’.

We’re patching you in to the August webinar on our 2020 Seminar Series. Hear from Dr Manuel Zander from AusIndustry in Queensland, Sue Mundy from the Australian Taxation Office in Adelaide and Dave Sammut from Access RnD Tax Solutions in Sydney, as they discuss how the R&D Tax Incentive can benefit your business, the importance of record keeping and where to find information on how to commence R&D activities in Australia. The session was led by MTPConnect’s Director Stakeholder Engagement Queensland Andrew Bowskill. 

Back in June, MTPConnect led the Australian delegation at BIO 2024 in San Diego organising a range of activities to showcase Australia’s innovative life sciences sector to the international biotech industry. With a powerful #TeamAustralia focus and a 500-strong delegation from Australia, BIO2024 was the biggest and best ever! 

In this BIO Bites episode, hosts Caroline Duell and Stuart Dignam catch up with Australian and global companies, entrepreneurs and researchers doing business at BIO and find out what all the buzz is about at the world's largest biotech partnering event. 

We take a tour around San Diego’s ecosystem catching up with Rachel Rath from the Blue Knight Initiative at J&J Innovation’s JLABS who are supporting early-stage companies, and Dena Marrinucci from US startup Truvian Health who are working with Planet Innovation on a portable blood testing platform. At the Australian Pavilion we chat with University of Adelaide ’s Prof Mark Hutchinson on defence and the SABRE Alliance and find out how statistics and AI are adding value to the life sciences sector with Adelaide Data Science Centre’s Dr Melissa Humphries. Topelia Australia’s David Fox talks about their antiviral therapeutic targeting coronavirus infections, Bridgewest Ventures’ Saum Vahdat explains their investment in drug manufacturing in Australia and Attentive Science Australia’s Holly Stefl discusses their recent expansion into the clinical trial ecosystem in Australia. 

The MTPConnect podcast team – Caroline Duell and Dr Dan Grant – explore how MTPConnect’s REDI initiative is supporting the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC) to extend the pilot of its successful SKILLED clinical trial internships program.  The VCCC’s Executive Director Professor Grant McArthur and the Head, Education and Training Development Michelle Barrett join us to discuss how SKILLED internships provide a pathway for scientists to build role-specific clinical trial knowledge, experience and skills in a clinical trials unit through theoretical and on-the-job training. The pace of cancer research is driving up the demand for highly skilled Clinical Trial Assistants & Study Co-ords, creating employment and career opportunities.  

The internships run for 40 weeks with VCCC alliance partners and collaborators in metro and regional locations across Victoria in a model that has attracted international interest. The SKILLED Internship Program has continued to operate in the COVID-19 environment, and pivoting to teletrials is providing interns with new skills. Developing a highly trained cancer care workforce is critical to meet the field's future demands as we advance cancer research and patient care.

This week, we speak to vaccine development expert Professor Nikolai Petrovsky from South Australia. He is the Director of Endocrinology at Flinders Medical Centre, a Professor in the School of Medicine at Flinders University and the founder of Vaxine Pty Ltd, an Adelaide-based biotechnology company specialising in pandemic vaccine design. Professor Petrovsky joins the MTPConnect podcast to update us on his promising vaccine candidate - COVAX-19, with a recombinant spike protein approach, that has recently successfully completed Phase 1 trials at Royal Adelaide Hospital. It’s a thought provoking discussion covering vaccine development, funding, access issues and manufacturing capabilities, future pandemic preparedness and what we can learn from past outbreaks to protect us against other threats like MERS-CoV. He also reveals how the vaccine mapping project funded by MTPConnect as a part of the Industry Growth Centre Project Fund Program helped accelerate their current COVAX-19 research program. Listen for a fascinating chat.

In this week’s episode, the MTPConnect podcast team follow the trailblazing journey of a regional founder in Australia. We speak to Anna Barwick, a Clinical Pharmacist and researcher, at the University of New England (UNE) in Armidale, NSW who is lecturing to the next generation of pharmacists, podcasting a show ‘Indispensable’ for Australians who want to know how to use their medications effectively and improve their health with tips from expert pharmacists, and running a family farm. Anna is just about to launch her new digital health business called PharmOnline, which will provide telehealth consultations [via an App] for patients to access pharmacists to get answers in real-time about their medications, instead of turning to ‘Dr Google’. The idea is to use technology to provide a virtual advisory service in community pharmacy to improve the lives of people living remotely. PharmOnline was also one of 12 digital health start-up companies accepted in to ANDHealth’s BRIGHT Workshop NSW held virtually in July which supports founders. We also hear from Dr Lou Conway, who connected with Anna at the beginning of her founder’s journey, as the Director of the UNE’s Smart Region Incubator, a place where new founders can find support and mentorship to kickstart their business ideas. Some of the programs offered at UNE start linking with innovators as young as 15 years of age. Lou discusses the value of involving research practitioners from rural areas, and how important it is to be part of a larger community focused on innovation and creativity. 

We’re patching you in to our latest webinar in the 2020 Seminar Series. Hear from A/Prof Jacqueline Alderson from UWA in Perth, Rick Wingfield from Catapult Sports in Melbourne, Dr Lee Walsh from Platypus Technical in Canberra and Dr Dan Grant from MTPConnect in Melbourne, as they discuss this emerging Knowledge Priority - biomechanics & human movement - and the growth of digital technologies creating a revolution in the field of sports science and biomechanics that could impact wellbeing, physical performance and healthy ageing. The panel discuss the latest developments in wearable sensors, data analytics and the ‘cool tech’ that is being trialled and tested in Australia in high performance sporting codes like motorsport, soccer, football and rugby. The challenges of validation and regulatory approvals were covered. There are also some interesting career opportunities opening up in sports science for engineers, data and computer scientists. The session was led by MTPConnect’s Director Stakeholder Engagement WA Dr Kate Brooks. 

In this week’s edition, we profile South Australia’s Chief Scientist, Professor Caroline McMillen who was recently honoured with an Order of Australia for her contribution to medical science, tertiary education, to the South Australian community and to social equity. The MTPConnect podcast team – Caroline Duell, Dr Dan Grant and Dr Rebecca Tunstall – follow her fascinating career journey from Northern Ireland via UK to Australia, as she moved from the medical profession to the university sector engaging with industry and amplifying STEMM research in education. Now she is helping to drive emerging opportunities in science and research coming out of SA, which she describes as the ‘State of science’. Her story will inspire others to explore the unknown and unleash their bright talent.

The team at the Australian Technology of Science and Engineering, otherwise known as ATSE, joined the MTPConnect podcast to chat about the success of the one-year Industry Mentoring Network in STEM (IMNIS) program. It began as a pilot in 2015, funded by MTPConnect, and now has an extensive alumni group of over 900 members and over 500 leaders involved in mentoring Australia’s talented PhD students. 

The Academy’s CEO Kylie Walker and IMNIS program Executive Director Dr Marguerite Evans-Galea discuss their recent alumni survey results and their involvement with MTPConnect’s new REDI initiative which will enable them to expand the program to international mentors and broaden mentoring to include emerging areas like digital health, regenerative medicine, cell and gene therapies and more.

Maggie and Kylie explain how PhD students can join the IMNIS program and find a mentor to help expand their career horizons, and also encourage those who want to be mentors to get in touch. The IMNIS  program is all about connecting to a larger network and paying it forward. 

ATSE applies science, technology and engineering expertise to solve the big issues facing our nation in a fast-changing world, and Kylie also touches on the challenges and opportunities that COVID19 has posed for ATSE and its members.

Since ANDHealth’s inception in 2017, they have been working to elevate Australia’s emerging digital health sector and support start-ups and companies to progress and find investment. The organisation’s Managing Director, CEO & Founder Bronwyn Le Grice chats to the MTPConnect podcast team – Caroline Duell and Dr Dan Grant – about their new report, ‘Digital Health: The Sleeping Giant of Australia’s Health Technology Industry.’ It’s packed with data and information they’ve collected from the Australian digital health sector since 2017 and is the first to comprehensively demonstrate the global potential of digital health innovations to support Australia’s healthcare system and economy. Bronwyn also explains the opportunities that COVID-19 has opened up for the digital health sector. 

We’re patching you in to our 2020 Seminar Series via our latest webinar. Hear from Boston-based CIMIT Chief Operating Officer Dr John Collins, Health Horizon Co-Founder & CEO Marcus Dawe and OncoRes Medical MD & CEO Dr Kath Giles to discuss how to best to navigate the pathways to commercialising health innovations. The team guided by our Senior Director Stakeholder Engagement Dr Rebecca Tunstall as MC, along with MTPConnect’s MD & CEO Dr Dan Grant, heard about the journey of OncoRes Medical developing introperative imaging technology to improve accuracy of breast cancer surgery. CIMIT’s GAITS model was showcased as a tool to help innovators map their commercialisation process to get their solutions to patients faster. And one of Australia’s latest health innovations, the Health Horizon platform, revealed how it keeps track of health innovations around the world for innovators, funders and the public so everyone can follow the progress of medical breakthroughs.

This week we bring our virtual podcast studio to WA, where our hosts Shannan Osrin and Dr Kate Brooks, check in with University of Western Australia Associate Professor Jacqueline Alderson to discuss how sports science is improving athletes performance. Jacqueline, a leading sports scientist, explains her digital twin model that uses machine learning and Artificial Intelligence to enable researchers to perform real-time monitoring of a person’s health data and test scenarios on the data collected. We also chat to her about  her involvement with major sporting teams like the Australian women’s hockey team, the Hockeyroos. She also talks about the career satisfaction gained from mentoring her PhD students from their studies into industry jobs, in Australia and beyond. 

How is Australia progressing in the race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine? The MTPConnect podcast checked in with University of Queensland’s Dr Keith Chappell and Professor Trent Munro, who are leading a research team using their patented molecular clamp technology to create a vaccine in record time. The UQ team, which includes Professor Paul Young, is the only Australian organisation backed by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and who along with Australian biotech giant CSL recently signed a deal to develop and manufacture the candidate. We first spoke to Trent on the podcast back in February 2020, when the new coronavirus was just emerging in Australia and before the WHO global pandemic declaration. Now, just four months later, COVID-19 has spread around the world, with more than 8 million cases and close to half a million people dying. Already, their vaccine is moving into human clinical trials, and if successful, the vaccine could be available in 2021.  Keith and Trent discuss their extraordinary quest, and the importance of collaboration, funding and teamwork. 

Back in June, MTPConnect led the Australian delegation at BIO 2024 in San Diego organising a range of activities to showcase Australia’s innovative life sciences sector to the international biotech industry. With a powerful #TeamAustralia focus and a 500-strong delegation from Australia, BIO2024 was the biggest and best ever! 

In this BIO Bites episode, hosts Caroline Duell and Stuart Dignam catch up with Australian and global companies, entrepreneurs and researchers doing business at BIO and find out what all the buzz is about at the world's largest biotech partnering event. 

We take you to the Australian Global VIP Networking and Business Reception held on Coronado Island, as special guest John F Crowley, BIO’s President and CEO, welcomes guests in a very inspirational way and Australia’s Minister for Industry and Science the Hon Ed Husic MP who spearheaded the delegation, makes an address to the global audience to raise Australia’s credentials as a global hub for advanced biomanufacturing and clinical trials. We take in a site visit tour around San Diego’s ecosystem and catch up with Illumina’s Dr Emma Ball about the latest in DNA sequencing technologies enabling research discovery and personalized health. And head to the Australian Pavilion to chat to Pending AI’s David Cardoso about their drug discovery platform enabled by artificial intelligence and quantum mechanics, Gelomics’ Christoph Meinert discusses their 3D cell culture technology for animal-free research and Bellberry’s Kylie Sproston discusses the lure of Australia as an attractive destination for clinical trials.

We are constantly finding new ways to use technology to address major healthcare challenges facing the world. In this episode, we spotlight the research efforts of Brisbane-based enterprise WearOptimo as they try and find a way to detect health issues before they become problems, like cardiac disease, inflammation and dehydration. Founder & CEO Professor Mark Kendall and Chief Technology Officer Dr Steve Wilson speak to the MTPConnect podcast team about how their technology, is creating simple, painless, wearable medical devices that interact with our skin and which have the potential to monitor and manage a range of diseases ‘when time matters most’. That also includes COVID-19. Their work is supported by MTPConnect’s BioMedTech Horizons program whose Senior Director Dr Gerard Gibbs discusses the importance of early stage medtech research and what’s ahead for all of the projects receiving BMTH funding as they progress to translate their discoveries from bench to bedside. 

In today’s episode, we take you behind the scenes to the translational research facilities around Australia helping researchers take discoveries from the lab to the clinic. TIA is a national consortium of research infrastructure that enables public and private research teams to access affordable technologies and equipment to develop new therapeutics to improve human health. We chat to TIA CEO Dr Stuart Newman about the facilities supporting COVID-19 related research, including its National Biologics Facility in Queensland where UQ researchers are racing against time to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. Dr Marian Sturm, Facility Director of the Cell & Tissue Therapies WA, which is a TIA Consortium member based at Royal Perth Hospital, reveals how their research facility prepared for the pandemic and the importance of up-skilling capability for their advanced manufacturing efforts. 

Advances in new technology are driving the use of real-world data to improve healthcare research, including big data analytics, machine learning and Artificial Intelligence in Australia. The MTPConnect podcast team chat to Queensland start-up DataRWE’s Chief Technology Officer Dr Kelvin Ross and Chief Executive Officer Steve Woodyatt about developing a new Precision Medicine Data Platform that gathers patient data from multiple sources in Intensive Care Units to supports medical teams to make informed care decisions at speed for critically ill patients. The platform is being developed at the Gold Coast University Hospital with plans to expand to hospitals across Asia-Pacific. The DataRWE team discuss their COVID-19 pivot underway to roll out an adapted clinical dashboard for ICUs across the state to identify the projectory of the virus in each patient admitted, links to electronic medical records and which patients are most at risk of complications.

Happy International Clinical Trials Day subscribers! To mark this important day, we gathered some leaders from the Australian MTP sector to discuss the power and importance of clinical trials in the discovery of new medicines and treatments for patients, a COVID-19 vaccine trial starting soon in Australia, and how important the clinical trials sector will be in contributing to Australia’s post-COVID recovery. Hear from Dr Paul Griffin, A/Prof of Medicine at the University of Queensland’s Faculty of Medicine, Director of Infectious Diseases at Mater Health Services & Medical Director and principal investigator at Nucleus Network/Qpharm, Carrie Bloomfield, Co-Chair of the Industry-supported R&D Taskforce & Head of Clinical Operations at GlaxoSmithKline and MTPConnect’s Managing Director & CEO Dr Dan Grant, Senior Director Stakeholder Engagement Dr Rebecca Tunstall & Director of Communications & Events Caroline Duell. 

As COVID-19 restricts international travel and many meet ups at conventions are put on hold, our MTP sector is adapting to the challenges by doing business differently. So as the important BioKorea 2020 conference has become a digital event, Australia has pivoted with its first virtual trade mission to ensure we continue to showcase homegrown biotech talent and seek out new international markets and commercial collaborations. MTPConnect is supporting Austrade’s Australian pavilion at BioKorea 2020, with a special focus on promoting WA’s thriving life sciences ecosystem. For this episode we chat to Austrade’s Senior Trade Commissioner Julie Quinn and Orthocell’s Managing Director Paul Anderson about the exciting export and partnering opportunities that BioKorea presents, the Australian biotech companies joining Austrade’s virtual trade mission, including a stellar WA lineup, and the hot topics of Alzheimer’s Disease and Regenerative Medicine 

Happy bonus episode subscribers! This episode will patch you into our first webinar as part of the MTPConnect 2020 Seminar Series program, and due to COVID-19 restrictions we have had to take it online. 

Hear from MTPConnect’s MD & CEO Dr Dan Grant, our MC Director Stakeholder Engagement NSW Dr Duncan Macinnis, AustCyber CEO Michelle Price, Perx Health’s Co-Founder & CEO Hugo Rourke and Forticode’s CEO Tony Smales discuss cyber safety and security in relation to the MTP sector.

Microscopy Australia, headquartered at the University of Sydney, is providing discounted access to its microscopy services through a Technical Voucher Fund for medtech R&D companies for early  stage drug discovery. It is work supported by MTPConnect, through the Australian Government’s Project Fund Program that is continuing to reduce the existing barriers to utilise these services. The podcast team - Shannan Osrin and Elizabeth Stares – talk to Microscopy Australia’s Marketing and Business Development Manager Dr Jenny Whiting about the impact on companies and SMEs who have used their instruments and technical testing services, like WA-based Linear Clinical Research and Little Green Pharma. The consortium of nine university-based microscopy facilities is led by the University of Sydney, and includes University of Queensland, University of Western Australia, UNSW Sydney, University of Adelaide, University of South Australia, Australian National University and Flinders University. 

How will Australia navigate its medical research and innovation response in a world impacted by COVID-19? Our podcast team talks with economist Dr Pradeep Philip from Deloitte Access Economics about the MTP sector’s critical role in driving Australia’s COVID-19 response and recovery. Dr Philip, who’s had a distinguished career in public policy and health administration and is on the Board of the MedTech Actuator, says the way we tackle the pandemic is an opportunity for Australia to create a COVID-safe economy, increase research collaboration and harness new technology. 

Happy Thursday subscribers! This week’s edition features the Founders of two emerging Australian medtech start-ups, Tournicare's Co-Founder & CEO Niels van Sparrentak & Navi Medical Technologies’ Co-Founder & Co-CFO Brad Bergmann, who were selected as a Winner and a Finalist, respectively, in the 2019 Australian Technology Competition. Tournicare have designed a unique home blood pressure monitoring device that patients with hypertension can apply to the arm using only one hand. Navi Medical Technologies have developed ‘neoNav’, a medtech device that is an electrocardiogram (ECG) tip location system that helps medical staff more accurately place catheters in the veins of critically unwell babies. 

The Competition, in its 10th year, is supported by MTPConnect and provides a platform for companies of all sectors to access industry connections, partnership opportunities, seed investment and strategic advice. Host Shannan Osrin catches up with Niels and Brad to find out how the Competition has helped to commercialise their important medical devices, their tips on start-up success and how they are operating in this COVID-19 climate.  

In this current COVID-19 climate, companies are pivoting and stepping-up to meet industry challenges. Continuing discussions in our virtual podcast studio, host Caroline Duell and Dr Kate Brooks are joined by Epichem CEO, Colin La Galia, to talk about what his chemistry services company is doing to support healthcare teams on the COVID-19 frontline in WA. EpiChem is pivoting to produce WHO formulated chemistry-grade hand sanitiser for hospitals and aged care centres in Western Australia. Colin outlines the ripple effect of the global pandemic on the business and associated industries involved in drug discovery & clinical trials, and how EpiChem is supporting homegrown careers in chemistry to build scientific capability.

Diabetes affects one in 20 people. An important initiative to set up a ‘virtual’ emergency department designed for people living with diabetes has launched in Melbourne, Victoria during National Diabetes Week, with the aim of preventing unnecessary trips to hospital. 

The Victorian Virtual Emergency Department-Diabetes Service will be added to the existing Victorian Virtual Emergency Department (VVED) giving patients 24/7 online video access to emergency nurses and doctors. As a world first, this new model of care will add a roster of diabetes specialists on weekend and evening shifts, when diabetes patients are most likely to present to a hospital emergency department.

Joining the podcast to talk about this new initiative is endocrinologist Professor Elif Ekinci, Director of Diabetes at Austin Health, Head of Department of Medicine at University of Melbourne, and Director of the Australian Centre for Accelerating Diabetes Innovations(ACADI). ACADI was established in 2022 through MRFF funding from the Australian Government’s Targeted Translation Research Accelerator (TTRA) program, delivered by MTPConnect.

Also joining the discussion is Northern Health’s Dr Loren Sher, an emergency specialist who led development of Australia’s first virtual emergency department model, now operating as a Victorian state-wide service. Loren has been instrumental in working with Elif to get the diabetes service up and running. 

Hosts are Caroline Duell, MTPConnect’s Director Media and Communications and Lauren Kelly, Senior Director of the TTRA program.

For this week’s edition of the podcast, we chat to Dr David Kok, a Radiation Oncologist and Director of Training at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, a clinical researcher and Course Convenor of the Master of Cancer Sciences degree at the University of Melbourne in partnership with the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC). It is Australia’s first cancer-specific, multidisciplinary, and wholly online program, and one of only two such online programs available in the world. Dr Kok talks us through his multiple roles as clinician, researcher and teacher and how post-graduate education and training can addresses the workforce skills gaps in cancer research and treatment. The VCCC is also a partner in MTPConnect’s REDI program that will ensure Australia has an industry-ready MTP workforce with the skills necessary to keep pace with our rapidly changing sector. 

Happy 50th episode subscribers! With this special milestone we do our first virtual chat, where host Caroline Duell speaks to Spokle Co-Founder Elisabeth Yunarko. Spokle is a digital health application that aids children with communication difficulties, by providing family-led speech therapy through fun games and video tutorials and has been especially effective in the Indonesian market. Elisabeth was a collaborator on our latest research report in partnership with Asialink Business ‘Digital Health: Opportunities in Indonesia’, supported by Austrade, which you can download on the MTPConnect website. 

MTPConnect hosted Medical Alley Association’s VP Intelligence Frank Jaskulke for our first Seminar Series around Australia. The podcast team spoke to Frank after he completed his tour of Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia, to find out how prepared Australian medtech companies are to break into the United States. Our Senior Director Stakeholder Engagement Dr Rebecca Tunstall joined in this discussion and shared insights from those who attended the seminar series. Thanks to Frank for joining our series and speaking to our stakeholders.