Tuesday 6 May 2025 | 9:30 am – 4:00 pm AEST | Google Sydney
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Anya is co-founder of Syrona Health, a YCombinator-backed women's health platform delivering personalised care across life stages from menstrual health, fertility through menopause. Previously, she served as Head of Illumina for Startups across EMEA, directing the genomics giant's engagement with emerging biotech innovators.
A seasoned venture capital investor, Anya has led numerous strategic investments including industry pioneers Oxford Nanopore, Broken String Biosciences, and Alchemab. Her multifaceted career spans banking at Goldman Sachs, venture capital with a focus on spinouts, and entrepreneurship.
Anya holds an MPhil in Bioscience from the University of Cambridge and an MBA from Oxford University. She brings unique cross-sector expertise to discussions on healthcare innovation, women's health equity, and the future of personalised medicine.
Professor John Skerritt AM is Enterprise Professor in Health Research Impact at the University of Melbourne, advising academics and the university on commercial and policy translation of their research portfolio.
In April 2023 Prof Skerritt retired as Deputy Secretary of the Australian Department of Health and Aged Care, with responsibility for the Therapeutic Goods Administration, regulation of gene technology and industrial chemicals and control of drug import, export and production. In addition, he was part of the Department’s executive team leading policy development and implementation for Australia’s health and aged care system for over 10 years. He has extensive experience in government and working with ministers, having been a Deputy Secretary/Agency head for 24 years.
Prof Skerritt was previously the most senior scientific leader in Australia’s Foreign Affairs portfolio, lading implementation of more than $1 billion in collaborative scientific programs between Australia and regional countries. More recently he helped lead Australia’s COVID-19 response and was one of the public media faces of the response. He also played a major role in advising the Australian government on the establishment of a mRNA vaccines and medicines industry.
Prof Skerritt has a PhD in pharmacology, is author of over 300 publications and 10 patents and has commercialised a dozen IVD and protein fractionation products internationally. He is a Non-executive Director of AusBiotech Limited and Medicines Australia and is currently Chair of the Scientific Advisory Council of the UK-based Centre for Innovation in Regulatory Science and is a member of the Board of the Singapore-based Centre for Regulatory Excellence.
Prof Robyn Langham is the Chief Medical Adviser of the Therapeutic Goods Administration in Australia. She is a nephrologist and clinician-researcher, focusing on drug development of novel anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic agents.
She is also a director of the Australian Medical Council, chairs the Human Research and Ethics Committee at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, and is a Director of the Australian Medical Council.
In 2022 she was awarded an Order of Australia for her contributions to renal research and medical education.
Prof Brett Sutton is a Director at CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, leading the Health & Biosecurity Research Unit, comprising over 350 researchers and support staff in areas of digital health, human health and plant, animal and environmental biosecurity.
A qualified public health physician, he brings extensive experience and clinical expertise in public health and communicable diseases, developed through roles in government, emergency medicine, and international fieldwork.
Before joining CSIRO, Brett served as Victoria’s Chief Health Officer and Chief Human Biosecurity Officer, heading the Health Protection Branch within the Victorian Department of Health.
With specialist knowledge in tropical medicine and infectious diseases, Brett has worked extensively in lower-middle-income countries and complex humanitarian settings, including in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Timor-Leste and Fiji.
Brett’s career reflects his passion and commitment to advancing health outcomes in Australia and globally.
Professor Sutton is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health, a Fellow of the Australasian College of Tropical Medicine, and a Fellow of the Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine (AFPHM). He is also a member of the Faculty of Travel Medicine.
Elizabeth was appointed Managing Director of Telstra Health, Australia’s largest digital health company and a subsidiary of Telstra Group Limited in April 2022 and is passionate about the potential of Digital Health to transform health care delivery.
Prior to this Elizabeth had a long and distinguished career in the NSW health system, with her most significant role being Secretary, NSW Health for six years from 2016 -2022. As Secretary, Elizabeth was responsible for the management of the NSW health system, the largest health system in Australia with a $30 billion budget and 124,000 FTE. In 2020/2021 Elizabeth led the NSW Health system through the COVID-19 pandemic and advised NSW government crisis cabinet on the management of COVID-19 in NSW, and the subsequent vaccination roll out.
Elizabeth has chaired of the Australian Health Ministers Advisory Council (AHMAC) and its subsequent iteration of Health Chief Executives Forum. She is also a member of Chief Executive Women and is Chair of Randwick Health and Innovation Precinct (RHIP)
Elizabeth was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2022 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to healthcare. She has been awarded Honorary doctorates from Western Sydney University, the University of Sydney and the University of NSW.
In more than 20 years of consulting and leadership in APAC, Ravi’s expertise has focused on helping clients take big-bet investments in complex and uncertain environments at an asset and portfolio levels. Ravi regularly advises clients on their most critical challenges: decisions to enter new markets, and optimize their portfolios and R&D investments.
He has also supervised many multi-year programs for clients that resulted in significant increases in shareholder value while bringing lasting transformation in their organizations.
Ravi holds a bachelor’s degree in Technology from Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta.
Paul Migliorini is a seasoned technology executive with over 25 years of experience across Asia, Europe, and the US, recognized for his leadership in cloud adoption and digital transformation. As Vice President for Google Cloud in Australia and New Zealand, he leads all of the work we do with AuNZ customers.
Before joining Google Cloud, Paul was the CEO of Versent, a leading digital and cloud services integrator that was acquired by Telstra in 2023. Prior to Versent, he spent 6 years at AWS as Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand then APJ, playing a pivotal role in expanding AWS's regional presence. Prior to that he held senior leadership roles across APAC and ANZ with BT, IWG and Ernst & Young. Paul plays an active role supporting Australian start-ups through his role with Sydney based Venture Capital Fund OIF where he is a Venture Partner.
Paul holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance and Accounting from the University of Melbourne. He is passionate about helping organisations unlock AI’s potential to drive innovation and efficiency, believing that AI is not just reshaping the technology sector but transforming the world. At Google Cloud, he focuses on enabling businesses to harness cutting-edge AI solutions, including Google's AI hypercomputer and Vertex AI platform, to achieve tangible results. His deep understanding of the local market, combined with his proven track record in scaling cloud businesses, makes him a vital partner for companies navigating their digital transformation journeys. Committed to fostering collaboration, Paul ensures that customers effectively leverage Google's technological leadership to thrive in the age of AI.
Dr Michelle Perugini is an entrepreneur with extensive experience in healthcare and advanced AI technologies. Michelle is an avid supporter of the AI and women’s health sectors globally, and Winner of the 2021 Women in AI (WAI) Healthcare and Telstra Brilliant Women in Digital Health Awards. She has a PhD in Medicine and was a post-doctoral research fellow in Oncology for a decade. She has founded 2 global AI tech companies, the first of which was acquired by EY in 2015.
Michelle was most recently the Co-Founder and CEO of Presagen, an AI healthcare company that has developed a novel Decentralized Federated AI platform that can safely train on medical data distributed all around the world, without the need to physically move (centralized) or manually view private patient data. Presagen’s flagship product suite, Life Whisperer, uses AI to assess images of embryos and eggs (oocytes) to improve IVF outcomes for couples struggling with fertility. Life Whisperer was authorized for sale in 47 countries prior to being acquired by global IVF manufacturer Astec in 2024.
In 2024, Presagen merged with Qubist to form Qubigen, a company focused on AI driven drug design, where Michelle is a Co-Founder and Board Chair.
Michelle is currently Head of Commercialisation at University of South Australia, and CEO of UniSA Ventures.
Mohamed (Mo) Dirani is an Australian entrepreneur, scientist, and the founder of Plano Pte Ltd, an award-winning Healthtech startup based in Singapore. Plano leverages patent protected technological solutions, educational tools, and AI to address short-sightedness in children. Mo served as the company’s Founding Managing Director from August 2017 to March 2024 and now holds the position of Chair of the Plano Board, while also being an active member of its Science and Innovation Advisory Group.
Plano’s investors include prominent Singaporean government entities, angel investors, venture capitalists, and one of the world’s leading ophthalmic pharmaceutical companies, Santen. Throughout his tenure, Mo demonstrated exceptional leadership and business acumen, successfully securing seed to Series B funding and driving the company’s growth across Singapore, Southeast Asia, and China, where Plano’s strategic expansion is currently focused. He was pivotal in transitioning the company from concept to commercialization, becoming a key first mover in both local and international markets.
In addition to his entrepreneurial accomplishments, Mo has maintained academic roles at prestigious medical research institutes and universities. He is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Duke-NUS Medical School, as well as an honorary Principal Investigator at the Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI) and the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA).
Part of the team that established Bupa Ventures, Bupa APAC's early-stage investment arm, here to accelerate health techs by providing them access to the corporate's assets and build a portfolio of investments that accelerate Bupa's strategic agenda.
Prior, a founding member of early-stage VC, Antler Australia where Adele built and executed the fund's GTM, was part of the leadership team and sat as an investment committee voting member. Having worked across all functions of the VC firm she is versed in fund set-up, deal sourcing, leading investment processes, and raising early-stage capital.
Aizaz Syed is a Portfolio and Investment Manager at Tenmile, the dedicated health technology investment business owned by Tattarang where he leads, originates and manages investments as well as coordinating the overall portfolio strategy.
He is currently also a non-executive director of Aravax Pty Ltd, which is developing a novel immunotherapy for treatment against peanut allergies currently in a Phase 2 clinical trial and Proton Intelligence Inc. a med-tech startup developing the world’s first continuous at home potassium monitoring sensor for patients with chronic kidney disease and heart failure.
Aizaz has spent the last 10 years investing in early-stage technologies, strategy, financial and commercial advisory roles. Prior to Tenmile, he was an Investment Director at early-stage investment firm Nightingale Partners and he began his career in Corporate and Investment Banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Aizaz graduated from the Australian National University with a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Laws and is admitted as a solicitor to the NSW Supreme Court.
Catherine de Fontenay commenced a 5-year term as a full time Commissioner with the Productivity Commission in July 2019.
After completing her PhD in 1998 at Stanford University, Catherine has held faculty positions at the University of New South Wales, then University of Melbourne, with a visiting position at New York University. Her research on team in science has been published in Nature Biotechnology.
Catherine leads the Health Productivity stream of research at the PC. She has led work on Measuring Healthcare Productivity, Digital Technologies in Healthcare, Aged Care Employment, and Unpaid Leave for Carers.
Catherine is also currently the President for the Economic Society of Australia.
Prof Shonali Krishnaswamy is the Director of the Monash AI Institute and the Associate Dean Innovation in the Faculty of Information Technology at Monash University. Prior to this Shonali, was the CTO and Co-Founder of AiDA Technologies (www.aidatech.io), a multi-award winning Machine Learning (ML) start-up from Singapore, delivering AI-based Claims Processing technologies for Health Insurers in Singapore and the ASEAN region. AiDA was acquired by Amplify Health in 2023.
AiDA's marquee product SMART-CLAIMS is an AI-based solution for automating the processing of Health Insurance Claims and detecting/preventing Fraud, Waste, and Abuse. SMART-CLAIMS has been adopted by several major insurers in Singapore and increasingly in the ASEAN region.
Before starting her entrepreneurial journey, Shonali was Head of the Data Analytics Department at the Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R), which is part of the Singapore Government's national R&D arm, the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). As Head of Data Analytics at I2R, Shonali led a research team of 70 Data Science researchers and engineers and focused on R&D innovation labs and collaboration projects across multiple industry sectors including Financial Services, Telecommunications, Healthcare and Aerospace. She has also previously held academic/professorial appointments in Australia at Monash University and Swinburne University.
Shonali is the recipient of several national and international awards including an ARC Australian Postdoctoral Fellowship, Monash University Vice-Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Research by an Early Career Researcher, the Institute of Engineers Singapore Prestigious Engineering Award, the ASEAN Outstanding Engineering Award, and an IBM Innovation Award. In 2020, Shonali was recognised as one of Singapore's Inaugural 100 Women in Technology by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the Singapore Computer Society (SCS). More recently, in March 2024, Shonali was recognised as one of Asia's Top 50 Women Technology Leaders.
Darby To co-founded Aurenda alongside Michael Sistenich, leveraging their combined 20+ years of expertise to support innovation-driven companies in navigating corporate strategy and capital markets. Darby focuses primarily on the healthcare and clean-tech sectors, where Australia excels in innovation but often lacks access to specialised knowledge critical for capital market success.
Aurenda was created to address this gap, intentionally working with a select number of clients to ensure personalised attention. Over the past five years, the firm has successfully raised over $300 million for its clients, contributing to the growth and success of entrepreneurial ventures.
In addition to his professional endeavours, Darby is actively involved in the education sector. He serves as Chair of the School Council at The Hills Grammar School, a progressive independent co-educational institution in Sydney known for its leadership in entrepreneurial and innovative educational practices. He collaborates closely with the school’s executive team to further its mission.
Outside of work, Darby enjoys traveling, skiing, cooking, pursuing sustainability initiatives and engaging in friendly gaming competitions with his children on Xbox.
Bronwyn has over 20 years executive experience in health technology commercialisation, venture capital, capital raising and industry advocacy. In 2017 she founded ANDHealth, an organisation that supports digital health companies in Australia by providing education, resources, non-dilutive funding and mentorship to help them navigate the complexities of the healthcare industry.
ANDHealth is now one of Australia’s leading health technology commercialisation organisations with companies participating in its flagship ANDHealth+ program raising $19.70 in new capital and generating $6.70 in new revenues for every dollar invested. ANDHealth manages over $30M in public and private commitments to digital health commercialisation, and provides specialist support to a further $100M of funding managed by Brandon Capital.
Bronwyn has been a Member of the Council of the National Health & Medical Research Council since 2021. She is also currently a Non-Executive Director of Lumos Diagnostics Ltd (ASX.LDX) alongside a number of other advisory roles.
Over his 35 year career Gavin has been a leader and champion of Medical Technology in Australia/NZ and Asia. He has also played lead roles in Industry Bodies, Innovation Initiatives and Not for Profit Boards. Gavin is strong advocate for Gender Equality and Indigenous Engagement.
Gavin recently served as CEO of Omnigon, a private Australian company in the Ostomy Care market. He is Chair of ANDHealth, Board Director for Bowel Cancer Australia and Board Director for SAN Foundation. Gavin is a proud member of the Champions of Change Coalition Health group, sits on SBE Life Sciences Council and ARCS Signature Program Advisory Board, and serves as an Ambassador for Rotary Oceania Medical Aid for Children (ROMAC).
Previously, Gavin was Managing Director Australia/NZ and Vice President Asia Pacific for Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices, Chair of the Medical Technology Association of Australia, Governor of American Chamber of Commerce, Co-Founder/Chair of Macquarie Park Business Coalition (in partnership with United Way) and Australian Co-Chair of the Health Technology Sector Group of the Australia/NZ Leadership Forum. Gavin is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
As a co-inventor on a patented and ASX listed digital health technology; Grace Lethlean has been actively involved in the development of health technologies from invention, through clinical trials, to commercialisation.
Grace is co-founder and Chief Product Officer of ANDHealth, Australia’s national digital health initiative, accelerating the commercialisation of evidence-based digital health technologies. Grace’s focus is on supporting digital health technologies to meet key investor, partner and customer requirements around clinical and commercial validation.
Grace also supports the sector through numerous state and national Advisory Panels and Committees, is a 2020 SuperStar of STEM, is an inventor on patents in the US and Australia, a published author on digital health commercialisation, a 2022 Churchill Fellow, investigating international best practice in digital health business support and recognised in 2024 as an AFR Women in Leadership.
