Key Responsibilities• End-to-end management of business development opportunities, including project feasibility and competitive landscape analysis, development of intellectual property strategies and commercialisation plans. • Negotiate licensing and commercialization agreements with commercial, academic and government partners in collaboration with the Legal and Licensing team.• Provide commercialisation input and support on large, translational research grants such as Medical Research Future Fund proposals.Key Achievements• Managed a team to deliver a Board-approved 5-year WEHI-Asia Strategic Plan, which outlines a roadmap for the Institute’s medium- and long-term goals in education, research, and commercialisation in Asia.• Commercialisation lead for the $15M MRFF-funded Australian Targeted Therapeutics Centre (ACTT), facilitated the subsequent spinout of the commercialisation vehicle (Ternarx). • Led the development of guidelines relating to the provision and costing of professional services support to WEHI spinouts. • Developed and delivered Board-approved 5-year business development strategic plans for the areas of neurological disorders and targeted protein manipulation. • Development and implementation of Board Commercialisation Committee-approved commercialisation plans for rare disease therapies and targeted protein manipulation technologies.• Delivery of United Kingdom (UK) innovation landscape briefing document for the Deputy CEO and Head of Commercialisation, to inform UK trip strategy.• Delivery of Institute Strategic Cabinet proposals that led to the development of an Institute-wide policies governing (1) the distribution of research reagent royalty payments and (2) costing of commercially-funded projects.• Managed negotiation process for significant collaboration and sponsored research agreements ranging from $700,000 to $7M with multinational companies.

Seconded to AAMRI, the peak body representing Australian medical research institutes.Key responsibilities and achievements:- Led and delivered the AAMRI Gender Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (GEDI) Strategy and Action Plan - Completed the development and delivery of the AAMRI GEDI Survey Report- Completed the development and delivery of the Victorian Operational Infrastructure Support Report - Led stakeholder consultations including NHMRC Open Access Policy, strengthening cyber security for industry and developed corresponding submissions to various branches of government- Project managed the development of foreign interference guidelines for medical research institutes- Developed AAMRI's position statement on climate change - Contributed to the development of AAMRI's Reform Action paper

In this newly created position reporting directly to the CEO, I was responsible for the management and delivery of national projects within AusBiotech. I also managed the Industry Mentoring Network in STEM (IMNIS) program for STEM PhD students, hosted by the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE) and jointly delivered by IMNIS and AusBiotech (2017 - 2019).Additional responsibilities included the management of the AusBiotech Regenerative Medicine Advisory Group and its associated national and international activities, development of MTPConnect grant submissions and short term strategic projects.Key Achievements1. Successfully developed and launched the Roadmap to a successful IPO for life sciences companies publication (Sep 2017) and seminars (Mar 2018)2. Completion of courseware for the Pitching to Investor Masterclass, with sessions launched in Nov 20173. Successful completion of the Guide to Life Sciences Investing publication (Apr 2018) and development of panel events (May 2018)4. Recruitment of 200 senior industry mentors into the IMNIS program, with surplus mentors recruited in all states; management of 150 mentor-mentee pairs (2017 program)5. Delivery of nine events across four states since the launch of the IMNIS program in Jun 20176. Developed proposals and successfully obtained funding for two MTPConnect projects: the Australia-China Life Sciences Partnerships Program (2018-2020) and the Pan-Asia Regenerative Medicine Alliance (PARMA) program (2018-2020)7. Management and delivery of the Australia’s Life Sciences Sector Snapshot 2017 (first edition; launched at the 2017 AusBiotech National Conference)8. Development and delivery of the Regenerative Medicine and Cellular Therapy in Australia publication (first edition; Oct 2017)

Liaised closely with Chancellery (Research), University Services and Academic Divisions to deliver the University’s Research Infrastructure Strategy objectives, particularly within the Melbourne Collaborative Research Infrastructure Program (MCRIP). This position required significant project and stakeholder management skills as well as written and verbal communication skills.

Provided support in data auditing and collation for the ASPREE sub-studies. In addition, I also assisted the study in the area of ethics and research governance, predominantly in the preparation and submission of ethics applications. Gained an in depth exposure to the machinations of a large-scale clinical trial, and liaised with a variety of internal and external stakeholders, including participants, academics and field staff.

Developed a Business Development Office program that aims to educate internal and external stakeholders on 1. The role of the BDO;2. The process of business development/commercialisation in medical research; 3. How this fits into the bigger scheme of medical research.Side project: Developing a marketing prospectus for one of our on-going projects

I am in charge of managing nearly 100 Masters of Engineering students, and about 20 different mini-projects, over the course of a semester. I guided the students on various aspects of Engineering Communications including ethics, project development and management. I was also responsible for assessing their written and verbal performances throughout the course.

This position required me to give mini-seminars on written and verbal communication to Masters of Engineering students. I also led and guided discussions in class and graded the students’ written and verbal work submissions as part of the Engineering Practice Hurdle. This role not only required good communication skills but also significant attention to detail.

In charge of demonstrating practical laboratory techniques to second year University students, leading and guiding discussions in class and assessing practical reports and laboratory notebooks.

My PhD project is on the characterization of a mitochondrial RNaseIII protein and its role in mitochondrial gene regulation. I work mainly with primary cell lines where the protein has either been over-expressed or knocked-down using shRNA. I am competent in various molecular and cellular techniques including cloning, RT-qPCR, Northern blots, Western blots, in vitro processing and translation assays, cell culture, retroviral and lentiviral transduction of cells, immunoflourescence staining and microscopy. I am also competent in basic animal handling such as obtaining various tissues and organs, including embryonic mice E12 and older. My PhD has equipped me with both written and verbal communication skills. I have also developed excellent collaborative skills not only with members of my own group but other groups within the institute as well as groups outside the institute. I also have excellent organizational skills and am able to plan projects around various schedules and deadlines as I have been able to fulfil my roles as a PhD candidate, tutor and demonstrator throughout my candidature.