Wednesday 29 July 2026 | Melbourne
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.
Amanda is Victoria's Lead Scientist, a role that aligns and connects Victoria’s science, technology and innovation capability with business needs and with government’s economic development activities.
Amanda is Chair of mRNA Victoria's Scientific Advisory Group; Chair of the Victorian Quantum Technology Network; and a non-executive Director of Agriculture Victoria Services Pty Ltd.
Amanda has led the development of industry and science and innovation policy in Victoria since joining the Victorian Public Service in 2002 as the inaugural Director of Biotechnology. During this time, she has delivered major policy reforms, a range of programs and global partnerships, and landmark initiatives including the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre.
Amanda is experienced in clinical trials, regulatory affairs, business development and licensing through prior roles with international pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
Professor Anton van den Hengel is the Chief Scientist, Australian Institute for Machine Learning and Director, Centre for Augmented Reasoning, a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Adelaide, a Chief Investigator of the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence on Healthy Housing, a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering and a Fellow of the Royal Society of South Australia and former Director of Applied Science at Amazon. The Centre for Augmented Reasoning (CAR), established in 2021, represents a $20m investment by the Australian Government in AI research. Prof van den Hengel was also the founder of AIML, Australia’s largest machine learning research group. Professor van den Hengel has been a CI on over $80m in research funding from sources, including Google, Facebook, Canon, BHP Billiton, and the ARC.
Prof van den Hengel has won several awards, including the 2021 Australasian AI Outstanding Service Award, the Pearcey Foundation Entrepreneur Award, the SA Science Excellence Award for Research Collaboration, and the CVPR Best Paper prize in 2010. According to Google Scholar, he has authored over 420 publications, has an h-index of 82. He has had 8 patents commercialised, formed 5 start-ups, and had a medical technology achieve first-in-class FDA approval. Current research interests include deep learning, vision and language problems, image-based modelling, and weekly supervised learning.
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.
Arthur Shih, Provider Assist's Chief Digital Product Officer, is a healthcare technology executive and Harvard Business School alumnus with over 15 years of experience commercialising innovation across Australia, New Zealand, the US, UK, and Europe. Over the past four years, he has focused on transforming health and aged care through scalable, clinically-led technology solutions in Australia and Asia.
Most recently, Arthur was CEO of Humanetix, a digital health company recognised by the Financial Times as one of Asia-Pacific’s fastest-growing tech firms (2025) and winner of Innovation Australia’s 2023 Software Innovation Award. During this time, Humanetix worked closely with providers and policymakers to support safer, more efficient care delivery in aged care, hospital, and community settings.
Dr Ben Condon is Clinical Director at Heidi Health, leading clinical governance, government relations and research across Australia and New Zealand.
Previously, he practiced in surgical and critical care roles before moving into digital health, where he led clinical quality initiatives at Eucalyptus and launched its preventative health clinic, Compound.
Ben is passionate about leveraging innovation and system reform to expand access to high-quality care at scale.
Dr Brandon Carp is an experienced medical entrepreneur having co-founded B2B digital health business,UHG.
He is National Entrepreneurial Lead of Australian Clinical Entrepreneur Program, Director ofHigh Street Medical Clinic, Director of Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and board chair of Victorian Clinical Genetics Service.
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.
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.
Carmela Sergi is an accomplished senior executive and intellectual property attorney with extensive leadership experience across the pharmaceutical, medical technology, aged care and health service sectors. Carmela served as the founding CEO of ARIIA, Aged Care Research and Industry Innovation Australia and is currently a Board member of Advocacy for Disability Access and Inclusion Inc (ADAI).
Carmela is committed to improving health and care through collaboration, knowledge translation and industry uptake of research outcomes. She has significant experience in leading large and complex research & industry collaborations with a focus on commercialisation and translational impact. Carmela also brings extensive experience in developing partnerships at local, national and international levels. She has a proven track-record of working with diverse stakeholders such as government, university, industry, health services and consumers.
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.
Dr Catherine Keating is a public health expert and health economist who advises several health start-ups, including MoreGoodDays and Ovum AI. Her work centres on strategy, research partnerships and B2B growth. She is also deeply involved in Australia’s early-stage health-tech ecosystem as a mentor with Startmate and Techstars, and as a Deal Flow Adviser for ANDHealth. Catherine also serves as an Enterprise Fellow at the University of Melbourne, where she focuses on research–industry collaboration.
Catherine spent almost a decade as an executive at Medibank, where she led the organisation’s preventive health strategy. This included partnering with universities, industry and start-ups to design, test and scale new models of care. Her portfolio also encompassed major research partnerships, health-system reforms and advanced data analytics.
Earlier in her career, she worked across management consulting, international development and academic research. Catherine holds a PhD in Health Economics, a Master of Public Health, clinical qualifications as an Occupational Therapist, and GAICD credentials.
Professor Chris Bain is the inaugural Professor of Practice in Digital Health in the Faculty of Information Technology, Monash University. He has more than 30 years' experience in the health industry, including 12 in clinical medicine.
He's led numerous software development and implementation projects in the health industry and works with many faculties and Institutes across the University, as well as with a range of health industry partners, in leading the Monash efforts in Digital Health.
Dr Chris Nave is a founding partner of Brandon Capital and Chief Executive Officer of Brandon BioCatalyst. Chris was previously the Director of Commercialisation at the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Australia. Prior to this, Chris was the Manager of the Biotechnology Team at Melbourne Ventures, the commercialisation company of the University of Melbourne. Concurrently he was an Investment Manager for, and on the investment committee of, Uniseed Pty Ltd. Chris has international experience working for the business development group of Leiras Pharmaceuticals in Finland, a wholly owned subsidiary of Schering AG.
Chris is currently a director of; Azura Ophthalmics, Certa Therapeutics, EBR Systems (ASX:EBR), Global Kinetics Corporation, OccuRx, PolyActiva and Que Oncology. He is also an elected board member of the Australian Investment Council, Chair of CUREator and an advisory board member for The WILD Program.
Chris has a Bachelor of Science (Honours) from The University of Melbourne and a PhD in Endocrinology and Physiology from The University of Melbourne. He studied Private Equity and Venture Capital at Harvard Business School.
Clare Morgan is a PhD-qualified research scientist with extensive experience in project and stakeholder management and the commercialisation of academic research.
Clare has direct experience in the commercialisation of personalised medicine, bioinformatics and computational biology research projects.
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.
Elaine Stead is a member of the investment team at Main Sequence, with a focus on the “Humanity Scale Healthcare” challenge. With a background spanning science, entrepreneurship, and venture capital, she's known for her enduring roles in innovation and has an investment track record that extends to over 80 startups across Australia, the United States and Southeast Asia.
Previously, Elaine served as the Director of New Ventures and Entrepreneurship at the Australian National University (ANU), leading the startup and equity investment strategy of knowledge translation. She has also been a founder of venture businesses, including Blue Sky VC, Human VC and Tribe Global Ventures.
Elaine has advised state governments on innovation policy, directed innovation initiatives, and served on boards in Australia and the US. She's coached startup founders nationwide and contributed to a variety of publications. In all avenues, Elaine prioritises human-centricity, emphasising authentic connections, vulnerability, and compassion. She advocates for values-driven innovation and a desire to make better that which can be.
Elaine holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry (Stem Cell Biology) and a B.Sc.in Biochemistry and Microbiology, both from the University of Adelaide.
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.
With over thirty years’ experience in consumer electronics, Harry has, for the last 15 years, been driving the rapid growth of the Garmin Health division at Garmin Australasia.
Harry has been instrumental in fostering relationships across the insurance, research, health care and corporate wellness sectors to develop innovative health and wellness solutions leveraging Garmin smartwatch and sensor data.
A highly experienced leader in digital health service delivery, Dr Jill Freyne is recognised in Australia and internationally for her work in transformative health technology solutions. She is passionate about improving equity and accessibility in the healthcare industry and has extensive experience in leading teams to devise sustainable health innovations.
Jill is committed to building deep connections across the health system to drive the adoption and acceleration of innovative new technologies that deliver more efficient and engaging services.
John leads an APAC team that works with partners to create technology forward health solutions that have an impact at scale across the region. As Head of Strategic Health Solutions APAC, Google for Health, he collaborates with governments, healthcare systems and large organisations, leveraging Google's technology and tools to improve health outcomes for individuals and populations at scale, in line with Google's mission to improve the health of billions worldwide.
His work builds on strong foundations from leading Fitbit Health Solutions in APAC integrating wearable and lifestyle data into partner health programs, and now focuses on leveraging the power of AI and other Google tools to drive improved health outcomes. John has a background in media, public affairs, organizational transformation and change and health tech, with experience in Australia, Asia, and the U.S.
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.
Katherine (Kate) Merton, PhD, MBA, is executive director of the Health Equity Innovation Partners, bringing more than 20 years’ experience working in healthcare R&D and innovation. Previously, she ran Anthem’s Digital Incubator and was the Head of Johnson & Johnson Innovation, JLABS, in New York City, Boston and Philadelphia.
Kate received her undergraduate degree in Pharmacology & Toxicology from King’s College London, holds a Ph.D. in Pharmacology & Toxicology from the University of California, Irvine Medical School, and received her MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.
Kate Munnings has extensive and diverse experience as a senior executive and non-executive director at health and services companies. Most recently, Kate was MD & CEO of Vitrafy Life Sciences, an early stage ASX listed biotechnology company that has developed a novel cryopreservation technology that doubles the cell survival of cryopreserved biological material. She was previously MD& CEO of Virtus Health Limited, one of the largest global providers of assisted reproductive services. While at Virtus Health, Kate created Virtus Ventures, which included successful collaborations between Virtus Health and a range of biotech start-ups to undertake translational research, commercialise technology and successfully obtain innovation grants.
Kate is currently Chair of the Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre; she is a non-executive director retirement living and aged care provider, Ryman Healthcare, as well as Wesfarmers Limited and Vitrafy Life Sciences. She also on the Advisory Boards of LEK Consulting, Baza Capital and Melbourne Universities Academy of the Healthcare Leadership.
Kate has deep operational experience, including as Chief Operations Officer at Ramsay Health Care and as Chief Executive Operations at Transfield Services (now Ventia Services Group Limited). Before moving into operations, she was Chief Risk and Legal Officer / Company Secretary for eight years at Transfield Service.
Kate was previously a partner at Corrs Chambers Westgarth and Baker McKenzie and she spent 9 years as a registered nurse early in her career. Kate has a Bachelor of Laws from University of New South Wales; a Bachelor of Health Science (Nursing) from University of Technology Sydney and she has completed the Advanced Management Program at INSEAD.
Since July 2018, Kate Quirke has been the Group Managing Director andChief Executive Officer of the Alcidion Group, a company dedicated to providingsmart technology to the health sector. Kate leads the business globally with current focus on Australia, NewZealand and the United Kingdom with a goal of developing mutually beneficialrelationships with customers, partners and investors.
Kate has 25+ years of digital health sector experience and has beeninvolved in large procurements and implementations of healthcare informationtechnology across Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and South-East Asia. Her background includes leadingmanagement roles at large healthcare software firms where she has drivenstrategic product direction. Shestrongly believes that the astute application of information technology will support the transformation of healthcare delivery worldwide.
Kate was recently appointed as a Non-Executive Director of ANDHealth andpreviously served on the Board of the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen GardenFoundation for 16 years. During 2021,Kate was recognised as one of Telstra Health’s inaugural Brilliant Women inDigital Health and named Biotech Daily’s CEO of the Year. In 2020, Kate won the Executive Leader awardin the inaugural B&T Women Leading Tech Awards. She received her Bachelor of Applied ScienceHealth Information Management degree from Latrobe University.
Kath is the Chief Executive Officer of OncoRes Medical. Kath joined Brandon Capital Partners in 2012. Prior to this, Kath was an Investment Manager with Perth based Stone Ridge Ventures, a fund manager specialising in seed-to-early-stage technology investment.
In addition to her investment experience, Kath has start up experience in medical apps, diagnostics and fitness devices. Kath still practices as a medical doctor working mainly within the surgical field and has experience as a medical officer monitoring clinical trials.
Before entering the commercial world, Kath spent a few years working in clinical medicine gaining a range of experience across medical and surgical specialities and critical care.
Kath is a Director of the Curtin Commercialisation Advisory Board. Kath graduated from her medical degree (MBBS) with Honours and has an MBA from the University of Western Australia. Kath is also a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Kenneth Bahk, PhD, is co-founder of the Health Equity Innovation Partners. Ken has more than two decades’ experience in life sciences and healthcare with experiences enabling new technologies from idea to commercialisation as a senior executive, venture and impact investor for family offices, and board member for multiple market-leading exits.
Ken graduated from Northwestern University with a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and MS in Neurobiology and Physiology, and received his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Kunal serves as Founder & CEO at Eugene. The power to predict and prevent health issues is in our DNA. Eugene's purpose is to empower every person to act on this knowledge.
Kunal is an experience healthtech entrepreneur & product designer with a strong commercial background. He loves to build future-focused, purpose-driven companies that deliver strong financial returns while taking on real problems that we face as a multi-cultural global community.
He speaks 4 languages and has lived and worked in Australia, USA, Latin America, Middle East & India. He has started multiple companies over the course of his career and his focus for the past 10 years has been on healthcare.
Associate Professor Leah Heiss is the Eva and Marc Besen International Research Chair in Design at Monash University, Co-chair of the Victorian Heart Institute New Technologies Grand Challenge, Chair of the Victorian Premier’s Design Awards and Designer in Residence with the Australian National Fabrication Facility.
She is a leader in co-designing health technologies, services and systems including for global health, transfusion medicine, acute care, hearing loss and mental health and addiction. Leah’s design work is part of the Museums Victoria and Powerhouse collections, has been exhibited globally to more than 800,000 people, and has been recognised with Australia’s peak design awards including 11 Good Design Awards, the 2022 Australian Women in Design Award and CSIRO’s Design Innovation Award.
Leah has collaborated with the World Health Organization since 2022, convening the inputs of 15 countries to co-design the ‘WHO Design Principles and Tools to support use and impact of WHO Guidelines’, aimed at improving global uptake and implementation of WHO guidelines.
Her current work focuses on improving immunoglobulin uptake and use through the OPTIMAL CRE and co-designing a Living Evidence Architecture for South East Asia and the Western Pacific, engaging the inputs of clinicians and policy makers from 10 countries.
Liesl Yearsley has been developing AI for 20 years. She was founder and CEO of an AI search engine that went public, she then founded an AI platform (Cognea) that was acquired by IBM.
At the time of acquisition, Cognea was serving six Fortune 100 companies and 26,000 developers, and handling 60 million interactions across financial services, insurance, health, social chat, media, metaverse, robotics etc.
Yearsley is now CEO and founder of Akin, a Public Benefit AI company with its own foundation model. Akin AI are designed to be a true companion to humans and help us improve our lives, our society and our ecosystem.
As a technical founder with four patents to her name, Yearsley offers profound and pragmatic expertise in her domain. Her approach goes beyond inducing fear about AI; instead, she provides a comprehensive understanding of AI’s inner workings, its potential applications, and strategies to stay ahead in the forthcoming AI-centric world.
Lisa Suennen stands as one of the most influential figures in digital health and health technology investment, with a career spanning over 35 years at the intersection of healthcare, technology and venture capital. Renowned for her strategic vision, operational expertise and advocacy for innovation, she has played a pivotal role in shaping the digital health landscape globally.
Lisa is currently the Managing Partner at American Heart Association Ventures, where she oversees a platform of four venture funds investing across the healthcare spectrum. Her focus spans digital health, medical devices and solutions for cardiovascular and brain health, as well as broader determinants of health.
Previously, Lisa served as General Partner at Manatt Ventures, Psilos Group and GE Ventures. At GE Ventures, she directed the healthcare venture fund, evaluating thousands of pitches each year and making selective, high-impact investments in digital health, including AI-driven medical imaging, telemedicine and remote patient monitoring. At Psilos Group, she played a key role in early investments in companies such as Definity Health, ActiveHealth Management and Extend Health, all of which achieved significant exits, further establishing her as a leading healthcare investor.
Lisa’s investment philosophy centres on solutions that address real customer needs and navigate the complexities between patients, payers and providers. Named one of Business Insider’s nine digital health power players, she is widely recognised for her ability to bridge startups and large healthcare organisations. She has also been a critical architect in launching and scaling digital health initiatives such as the Go Red for Women Venture Fund and Cardeation Capital, pioneering disease-focused investment in the nonprofit sector.
Lisa chairs the International Investment Committee for Australia’s ANDHealth Digital Health Accelerator Fund, supporting early-stage digital health startups and international growth. She also led the Scientific Advisory Board for NASA’s Translational Research Institute for Space Health, demonstrating her commitment to advancing health innovation globally.
As Co-founder and CEO of CSweetener, Lisa created a mentorship platform for rising healthcare leaders, later acquired by the HLTH Foundation. She is a leading advocate for women in health tech, providing mentorship, writing on industry challenges and hosting podcasts to amplify female entrepreneurs’ voices.
Lisa is a Fellow of the Aspen Institute’s Health Innovators Fellowship and teaches healthcare innovation and investment at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. She authors the widely read Venture Valkyrie blog and is an internationally recognised speaker and author on digital health and investment trends.
Liz Ashall-Payne is an accomplished healthcare leader and the Founding CEO of ORCHA, a global leader in digital health accreditation and distribution services. With a background as a trained NHS Clinician, Liz has been at the forefront of healthcare transformation programs in the NHS, Europe, and North America, leveraging the potential of digital technology to enhance patient health outcomes and drive economic opportunities.
In 2015, Liz established ORCHA, a groundbreaking venture. Under Liz's guidance, ORCHA has experienced remarkable growth, expanding its digital health assessment and distribution services to twelve countries worldwide. Within the UK, ORCHA serves organisations in 70% of NHS regions, positioning itself as a trusted partner in the digital health landscape.
Recognised for her exceptional contributions, Liz Ashall-Payne and ORCHA have received numerous accolades. Liz herself has been honoured as a Tech Trailblazer by the BIMA 100, acknowledged as a Healthcare IT Leader in the HIMSS Future 50, and named Entrepreneur of the Year by prestigious institutions such as the British Chamber of Commerce, Norther Powerhouse, and EY. Additionally, she has been featured within the LDC top 50, further highlighting her influential role in the healthcare and technology sectors.
In addition to her accomplishments at ORCHA, Liz Ashall-Payne actively contributes to the development of future healthcare leaders as a coach for the NHS England Clinical Entrepreneur program. Furthermore, Liz serves as a member of Tech Uk board representing SMES and is the Vice Chair on the Tech UK Health and Social Care Council, where she helps shape policies and initiatives in the intersection of technology and healthcare.
Liz is also an honorary lecturer in the school of medicine at UCLAN, and is a research executive at The University of Warwick
Liz Ashall-Payne's visionary leadership, extensive expertise in healthcare transformation, and dedication to harnessing the potential of digital health make her a prominent figure in the industry, driving positive change and innovation for the benefit of patients and healthcare systems worldwide.
Madeleine Kelly is a partner in the FB Rice engineering and computing team.
With a background in electronics and computing, Madeleine specialises in software related inventions involving AI/ML and data analytics, signal processing, and other types of ICT. Many of her clients operate in the digital health and medical devices industries.
Madeleine's practice includes invention harvesting, drafting, multi-jurisdictional prosecution, oppositions, appeals, freedom-to-operate work, IP portfolio management and IP strategy. She represents a broad range of clients from individual inventors, start-ups, and SMEs, to universities and multi-national corporations. Clients seek her out for her “very strong technical skills coupled with expansive legal knowledge across multiple jurisdictions” and her ability to “provide pragmatic and actionable advice in a succinct manner” (IAM Patent 1000 2023).
Madeleine was recognised in the IAM Global Leaders list for 2021 and 2022 and has been endorsed in the IAM Prosecution recommended list each year since 2020.
She is passionate about supporting local innovation and regularly delivers seminars to the start-up community on devising appropriate IP strategies to meet their business needs.
Dr Megan Robertson is the Group Chief Research Officer at St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne, and Director of Research at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne.
Megan is on the boards of BioMedical Research Victoria, the Caroline Chisolm Centre for HealthEthics and FearLess (PTSD-ANZ), the Bio devices Advisory Board at the ARCTraining Centre in Biodevices at Swinburne University, and the Tuckwell Scholarship Selection Panel at ANU. She also works with national bodies including the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare, AusBioTech, and the National Health and Medical Research Council.
Previously, Megan held positions as the Director of Professional Affairs, CICM, as the ExecutiveDirector of Research at Epworth HealthCare, and as the Co-Director of theIntensive Care Unit at Epworth Freemasons. She is also an alumna of theUniversity of Melbourne where she completed a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor ofSurgery (MBBS).
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).
Olivia holds Bachelors degrees in both Science and Engineering, specialising in molecular biology and mechatronics, alongside a Masters of Applied Cybernetics from the Australian National University.
Olivia has extensive experience within both the TGA in the regulation of high risk medical devices, and the Digital Transformation Agency with a focus on enabling better digital services delivered by government. She is currently a director in the Medical Devices Authorisation Branch, responsible for the team that assesses the safety and efficacy of medical device software, including those incorporating AI and ML.
Paul L. Clark is a seasoned veteran in the Medical Device (MedTech) industry with over 30 years of experience. He has a diverse background, having worked in various capacities such as regulatory affairs, quality management, clinical research, product development, and operations.
Throughout his career, Paul has worked for regulatory agencies in Australia, Canada, the US, and Europe, and has also worked with startups and medium-sized MedTech companies in Australia and the US. He possesses a unique skill set that combines his regulatory, quality, and clinical background with proven commercial experience, including the successful launch of MedTech products in the ANZ market.
Paul's experience spans a range of active and non-active MedTech technologies, including implantable devices, cardiovascular, ophthalmic, drug delivery, renal, gastrointestinal, surgical, intensive care, wound care, imaging, mental health, monitoring devices, Software as a Medical Device (SaMD), wearable technologies and other digital health technology.
He has direct experience working with the TGA as a medical device evaluator, has been a CE Lead Auditor with TUV SUD, worked with the Canadian Medical Devices Bureau, and has dealt directly with the FDA for over 30 years. Paul has also worked directly with a number of startup MedTech ventures both in the US and Australia, and as an independent consultant/founder of Paul L Clark and Associates and Eleven Borders Pty Ltd.
If you need help navigating the global regulatory landscape throughout concept/feasibility, product development, commercialization, and post-market, Paul is the person you should talk to. His expertise traverses the regulatory borders of all key markets, including Australia, the US, the EU, the UK, Canada, and Asia.
Peter Birch is Founder and CEO of Talking HealthTech - a global podcast and membership community originating from Australia, to learn and connect about technology in healthcare.
Pete is a director of the Medical Software Industry Association (MSIA) who are the voice of healthcare software vendors in Australia, and also director of MetaOptima Technology who are helping clinicians diagnose skin cancer using artificial intelligence.
He is also on the NSW State Committee for the Australasia Institute of Digital Health (AIDH), and is a NSW State Facilitator for the Australian Clinical Entrepreneurs Program (AUSCEP).He holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA), is a Certified Health Informatician (CHIA), and also a Certified Practicing Accountant (CPA).
Dr Rachel Swift is an accomplished senior executive and board director with a distinguished career spanning health care delivery, strategy, and financial services in Australia and internationally. Her expertise includes epidemic control, emergency health crisis response, prevention & disease management, health care delivery & medical research.
Rachel brings hands-on implementation experience, through her role as the acting CEO of an integrated health system & by developing a global health program across East Africa with the Clinton Health Access Initiative. Committed to improving health outcomes in the NFP sector, she went to West Africa in 2014 to drive the public health response as Expert Advisor to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response, shaping the strategy and operations that successfully brought the epidemic under control
Rachel has extensive international experience including in Australia, US, Africa, Asia-Pacific & Europe. She is a recognised thought leader, speaking at international forums on health system improvement & serving on the Australian Advisory Board on Healthcare & Technology Innovation. She has been made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Public Health & the Australasian College of Health Systems Management.
Dr Swift has held teaching appointments at the Universities of Oxford and Adelaide, Lincoln and St Hilda's Colleges at Oxford and Magdalen College School & is a published medical & global health researcher.
Rachel is a partner at Giant Leap. Giant Leap invests in founders solving our most pressing global problems at scale across climate, health and people and has invested in over 30 companies to date.
Rachel is also on the Advisory Board for the Victorian Government’s Equity Investment Attraction Fund and formerly the Chair of the Startup Network, a non-profit, grassroots organisation supporting founders through their startup journey.
She has a background in management consulting and corporate finance, and previously co-founded a non-profit organisation to raise funds and awareness for MotorNeurone Disease
Rob oversees Medibank’s growing role as a health services provider. He is responsible for the health services we deliver on behalf of our health insurance business as well as to customers in the private and public sector. These include prevention programs, telehealth, in-home care, and our healthcare investments across short stay hospitals and primary care. He has been a member of the executive leadership team since November 2023.
Rob joined Medibank in 2022 as Amplar Health’s Chief Commercial Officer, responsible for evolving its health services strategy including our focus on virtual health and growing our prevention services.
Prior to joining Medibank, Rob held senior roles in Private Equity and at leading pharmaceutical company, GSK PLC. Most recently Rob was CEO and Managing Director at MedAdvisor Ltd, a technology-led medication adherence company operating in Australia, US and the UK.
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.
Sarah is a partner at OneVentures, one of Australia’s leading venture capital firms – she is responsible for sourcing life sciences companies who have developed transformative technology with global application. She applies her global executional experience and entrepreneurial passion to nurture their success, providing pathways for growth and actively shaping their future. Her enterprise level leadership experience has been forged over 20 years in a wide spectrum of organisations, including start-up, private companies, ASX and NASDAQ-listed companies, a multi-national pharmaceutical company and university research organisations.
A passionate Australian champion for our sector she is a deal maker and has a transaction record that spans the spectrum of small investments, to collaborations with universities, to small companies with ambitions to scale, to big pharma transactions worth 100’s of millions of dollars.
Sarah is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD) and currently serves on the boards of Kira Biotech, Axial Therapeutics, Vaxxas, Blade Therapeutics, Clinical Genomics and Life Sciences Queensland. She is a member of the UQ QAAFI advisory board, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute Commercial Advisory Board and the AusBiotech Investment Advisory Group.
Professor Shelley Dolan joined the RMH in August2023 as Chief Executive. She is a familiar face in the Parkville Precinct, previously serving as the Chief Executive of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
In her previous roles, Professor Dolan has successfully led large specialist tertiary hospitals in the UK, including as Chief Executive of KingsCollege Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Deputy Chief Executive of the RoyalMarsden Hospital.
Professor Dolan is a highly respected clinical and research leader with an impressive track record in health care, having successfully led major organisational and cultural change in Victoria and the United Kingdom (UK).
Key capabilities include executive and non-executive leadership across national and international bodies, strategy development, delivering excellence in quality and performance, overseeing large capital schemes and innovativeresearch projects that require engagement with a broad range of stakeholders.
Professor Shelley Dolan has a PhD in the early diagnosis of sepsis in cancer patients and a master’s degree in advanced practice nursing. She is aProfessor (Enterprise) of the Melbourne School of Health Science at theUniversity of Melbourne.
She is Chair of the Western & Central Melbourne Integrated CancerService, a Board member of the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre Alliance, the Melbourne Academic Centre for Health, Melbourne Genomics and CRCParticipant Director on the Board of Oncology One. In November 2022, theMinister for Health and Aged Care appointed Professor Dolan as a Member of theCancer Australia Advisory Council.
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.
Steve is the Managing Director of Tenmile and Chair of the Investment Committee. Tenmile is an Australian life science venture capital company owned by Tattarang, one of Australia’s largest private companies.
Steve’s professional experience spans research, philanthropy, strategy consulting, M&A, and operating global businesses in fields as diverse as ecology, digital health, and precision oncology. He is relentlessly passionate about the power of new technology to positively impact human health and mitigate our climate impacts.
Prior to his current role, Steve managed a global business, led M&A and established a new informatics and real-world data business for the world’s largest biotech, Roche-Genentech based in the USA. He remains a senior strategic advisor to Minderoo Foundation where he has led large initiatives focused on COVID-19, Cancer, and Ocean Conservation amongst others. He holds a B.Sc. (Hons.) in Biology and a Ph.D. in Population Biology from the University of Sydney.
Tara has built her 20+ year career commercialising biomedical innovations at the intersection of wearable sensors, digital technologies, and AI, combining deep technical expertise with the commercial capability to scale innovative healthcare solutions. As the CEO of Baymatob, she leads the development of AI-enabled monitoring and early-warning systems focused on improving maternal and fetal health outcomes.
With a proven track record of scaling MedTech companies, she has successfully raised private capital, navigated complex regulatory landscapes, and brought innovative healthcare technologies to market.
In addition, Tara lectures at UTS, where she developed and teaches the Biomedical Industry Frameworks course, mentors via AUSCEP, and is on the MedTech committee of BioNSW.
