In Case You Missed It: Here’s What The MTPConnect Team Has Been Up To in November

14 December 2023

New Report: Actions Needed to Step Up Fight Against Superbug Pandemic Detailed
To mark this year’s World Antimicrobial Awareness Week, MTPConnect and its Australian Antimicrobial Resistance Network (AAMRNet), launched the second of its Fighting Superbugs reports, Fighting Superbugs: Ensuring Australia is Ready to Combat the Rise of Drug Resistant Infections, prepared in response to the Australian Parliament’s report, The New Frontier – Delivering better health for all Australians. The new report highlights the threat to human health posed by the rise of drug-resistant infections and presents recommendations that will equip the Australian healthcare system to fight the superbug pandemic. The Fighting Superbugs report was developed by specialist health advisory firm Evohealth. To coincide with the report's launch, the MTPConnect Podcast spoke to two of the authors, Renea Beardmore and Professor Lloyd Sansom, about taking practical steps now to fight the superbug pandemic and change how we fund and pay for novel antibiotics. Check out the episode!

MTPConnect Chair Shares Opinion on the ‘Silent’ Pandemic we Need to Take Seriously
Our Chair the Hon Jaala Pulford shares how pandemic fatigue is blunting our willingness to take-on a public health emergency and the ‘silent’ pandemic of antimicrobial resistance. Her Opinion Editorial was first published by InnovationAus during World Antimicrobial Awareness Week, following reporting of the Fighting Superbugs Report.

Podcast Features Medical Entrepreneur Behind Kali Healthcare
Check out the second episode of our series on medical entrepreneurship in Australia for the Australian Society for Medical Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ASME) featuring Melbourne-based obstetrician Dr Fiona Brownfoot, co-founder of healthtech start-up Kali Healthcare who is developing a new pregnancy monitoring system that consists of a small wearable device and sensor patch that very accurately picks up a baby’s heart rate.

The MTPConnect Podcast Hits the Medtech Conference in Los Angeles
As thousands in the medical technology sector headed to California for The MedTech 2023 Conference, the MTPConnect Podcast followed MTPConnect's Australian delegation making valuable US and international connections. In this podcast special we catch up with medtech leaders and organisations including Stryker, Edwards Lifesciences, BioscienceLA, Scalehealth, BiVACOR, Peptilogics, and Medical Alley for their take on doing business in the largest medtech market in the world.

Med Tech Talks Podcast Meets MTPConnect's Chair
In the latest episode of the Bionics Institute's 'Med Tech Talks' podcast, our Chair Hon Jaala Pulford, joins Bionics Institute CEO Robert Klupacs to share her career journey as a politician, her mission as Chair of MTPConnect and her thoughts on how Australia can improve its innovation ecosystem. Listen here!

REDI Fellowship Networking Events Celebrate Program’s Success for Research and Industry
Throughout 2023, MTPConnect’s Researcher Exchange and Development within Industry (REDI) initiative has been celebrating the extraordinary success of the REDI Fellowship program through a series of REDI Fellowship Networking events held around Australia. The events kicked off in Adelaide in May this year with a celebration of its South Australia cohort of Fellows, sponsors and employers. Since then, the REDI program team has travelled around Australia to host networking events for its cohorts in Melbourne in August, Brisbane in October, and Sydney and Perth in November.

APPLAUSE23 Celebrates a Year of Achievements in the Adelaide Sector
More than 240 innovators, entrepreneurs, leaders, researchers, healthcare service providers and changemakers attended the APPLAUSE23 event, hosted by the Adelaide Intermediary Program. Master of Ceremony Mark Hutchinson and a surprise flash mob entertained the crowd during the evening. And a 2023 Celebration Reel showcasing SA’s many achievements was launched highlighting collaboration, connection, capacity building and capabilities, and a culture of innovation. APPLAUSE23 was made possible thanks to sponsors, The SA Government, AusHealth and FB Rice, and ecosystem partners, Medical Device Partnering Program and Health Translation SA. Check out the photos from the event!

WA sector turns a ‘Spotlight on 2023’
The WA Life Sciences Innovation Hub hosted the inaugural ‘Spotlight on 2023’ end-of-year event for the health and medical innovation sector, supported by Novacina. The event was a capstone on the Hub’s successful monthly seminar and networking WA MTP Sector Spotlight Series, which shines a spotlight on meaningful, inspiring stories of entrepreneurship, innovation, and commercialisation from the sector. The event brought together startups, industry, the public sector, researchers, clinicians, service providers, support organisations and sector champions to celebrate the outstanding achievements and highlights from 2023. The Hon Stephen Dawson, Minister for Innovation and the Digital Economy; Science; and Medical Research, addressed the audience and MTPConnect CEO Stuart Dignam welcomed the guests and launched the video showcase reels - take a look at Spotlight on WA's MTP Sector 2023 and Spotlight on WA organisations' achievements in 2023.

First CTCM Annual Symposium Connects Medtech Trailblazers
Our Clinical Translation and Commercialisation Medtech (CTCM) program held its first annual CTCM Symposium in Sydney recently, bringing together all 11 companies from around Australia who have been awarded CTCM funding to develop new ground-breaking medtech projects. The CTCM program is nurturing high quality Australian medical device projects and aims to boost the commercialisation success of home-grown medical products. Stay tuned for an episode of the MTPConnect Podcast showcasing some of the CTCM medtech innovators who attended the Symposium!

ACADI’s Partnering Summit Focuses on Diabetes Innovation, Inclusion and Impact
Held on World Diabetes Day, MTPConnect was pleased to be co-hosting the Australian Centre for Accelerating Diabetes Innovations (ACADI) 2023 Annual Partnering Summit at Melbourne Connect recently. Established in early 2022 by our Targeted Translation Research Accelerator (TTRA) program, ACADI is a virtual collaborative diabetes research centre uniting a considerable number of partners and supporters covering all Australian States and Territories and four international sites. The Summit highlighted innovation, inclusion and impact in this critical health field with presentations from renowned national and international speakers. Find out more!

Medical Science SMEs to Benefit from Industry Growth Program
The $392 million Industry Growth Program has been launched to help start-ups and small businesses within the National Reconstruction Fund priority areas to commercialise and grow their companies through advisory services and opportunities for matched grant funding. Grants from $50,000 to $250,000 to support early-stage commercialisation projects and $100,000 to $5 million for commercialisation and growth projects will be available - read the program information guide to find out about eligibility and how to apply.

Staff Updates
A warm welcome to Dr Natalie Rickers who joined our Adelaide Intermediary Program as the Commercialisation Director South Australia. A microbiologist who’s led global teams bringing new products to market in genetics and genomics, Natalie will be supporting innovations and attraction of funding to SA's healthtech sector.

During November, AARMNet Project Manager Meghana Kulkarni left MTPConnect to pursue an opportunity in the AMR sector at the Doherty Institute. And we farewelled BioMedtech Horizons Program Director Dr Vishal Srivastava who has made an enormous contribution to the successful delivery of the BMTH program supporting medtech innovators since he joined in 2019. The MTPConnect team wish Meghana and Vishal all the best.