Industry event showcases Monash BDI’s young research talent
Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI) held its annual Industry Showcase with more than 70 attendees from industry, the Victorian Government and biomedical science research community. The event provides an opportunity to promote Monash BDI’s growing pipeline of discoveries to domestic and international industry partners and offers the spotlight to our early career researchers (ECRs) to showcase their research.
Keynote speaker, Michael Molinari, Managing Director of IP Group Australia began the evening with an engaging talk to aspiring scientists about the importance of industry collaboration, and working with experienced and innovative partners to help translate their research discoveries into the next generation of therapeutics and diagnostics.
Monash BDI’s Director of Industry Engagement, Associate Professor Sheena McGowan then launched the So You Think You Can Pitch? competition, by introducing the judging panel and four finalists.
“After two years, Monash BDI’s young researchers were able to present their translational research to a panel of industry representatives in person. This years’ competition once again showcased our talented researchers and I was impressed to see both the exciting research and quality of the pitches from our ECRs,” said Associate Professor McGowan.
The four finalists included Farnaz Fahimi, Braira Wahid, Anika Vear and Dr Gaofeng Ni, representing three of the BDI’s Discovery Programs. The competition challenges ECRs to consider how their research can be pitched to potential investors and present a pitch in front of a judging panel of industry leaders.
This year, the judging panel included:
- Alexandra Grubmann, Medical Advisor Oncology, Eisai EMEA
- Doron Ben-Meir, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Enterprise and Engagement) and Senior Vice-President, Monash University
- Michael Molinari, Managing Director of IP Group Australia
Anika Vear, from Monash BDI’s Cardiovascular Disease Program, took out first prize as well as the audience choice award for her pitch, entitled ‘IPAP sandwich ELISA: Detecting damage before it causes dysfunction”. The runner-up, from the Immunity Program, was Farnaz Fahimi for her presentation on ‘A bispecific antibody for the treatment of solid tumor”. Finalists also had the opportunity to work with mentors to help them prepare their pitch and ideas.
This years’ mentors were:
- Tracey Brown, Global Senior Vice President of Product Portfolio Management, Telix Pharmaceuticals
- Cathy Drinkwater, Director of Project Management, BioCurate Pty Ltd
- Andrew Ellisdon, Victorian Cancer Agency Fellow, Monash BDI
- Michael Vovos, Senior Commercialisation Manager, Monash Innovation
- Dr Jennifer Payne, Winner 2020 ‘So You Think You Can Pitch’
MTPConnect and BioCurate sponsored first and runner-up prizes, with Monash BDI sponsoring the audience choice award.
For more information regarding industry partnerships with Monash BDI, visit our website.
About the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute
Committed to making the discoveries that will relieve the future burden of disease, the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI) at Monash University brings together more than 120 internationally-renowned research teams. Spanning seven discovery programs across Cancer, Cardiovascular Disease, Development and Stem Cells, Infection, Immunity, Metabolism, Diabetes and Obesity, and Neuroscience, Monash BDI is one of the largest biomedical research institutes in Australia. Our researchers are supported by world-class technology and infrastructure, and partner with industry, clinicians and researchers internationally to enhance lives through discovery.