Building Better Futures for Health Challenge

Anne is a health and medical research professional with over 20 years’ experience in the health, medical research and policy sectors. She has a deep understanding of the sector, extensive networks and has particular strengths in engaging stakeholders and facilitating collaboration. She is responsible for leading the development and implementation of major policies and programs to enhance medical research capacity in NSW, and position NSW as the leading location for research and development. Anne has particular responsibility for the development of commercialisation and philanthropy strategies for NSW.

Anne holds a Bachelor of Science (Physiology and Pharmacology) and an Executive Masters of Public Administration. Anne is passionate about the role of government in building the innovation workforce of the future and developing non-traditional career opportunities for early to mid-career researchers. Anne O'Neill is director of the NSW Office for Health and Medical Research for the Ministry of Health and member of the Institute of Public Administration Australia (NSW) Women's Leadership Network Committee.

Mick Brooks is the R&D manager for Imaxeon Pty Ltd, a medical device manufacturer based in Sydney and a wholly owned subsidiary of Bayer Inc. He is also a member of Bayer’s Global Radiology leadership group, charged with managing the design and strategic direction of Bayers radiology product lines.

Mick has worked as a practicing engineer in a variety of fields including telecommunications, radio and optical astronomy and medical devices over a 25-year career. Engineering and design work has led to stints in Canberra, the US, Germany and Japan contributing to telescope design, printer software, anaesthetic ventilators and, more recently, powered injector systems for using in diagnostic imaging. Micks professional interests include the use of closed loop control systems, decision support software and design theory.

Dr Alan Taylor has a background as a scientist, investment banker, entrepreneur and investor. Alan is currently very active in the Australian start-up area, investing in, advising and taking an active role within a number of early stage companies. Alan is currently the executive chairman at Clarity Pharmaceuticals, a company focused on developing radiopharmaceuticals for the treatment of cancer and other diseases. Alan is also the chairman and co-founder of Mizzen Group Pty Ltd, a new technology start-up company. Alan is passionate about the commercialisation of Australian science and technologies, either in general technology or the life sciences.

Alan has approximately 10 years of investment banking experience, and was until recently an executive director and shareholder of Inteq Limited, a boutique Australian investment bank, where he remains on the Board of Directors. Alan has significant experience in capital raisings, mergers and acquisitions, and general corporate advisory. At Inteq, Alan was involved in some of the largest ever medical device transactions in Australia.

Alan completed an undergraduate degree in applied science at the University of Sydney, where he finished first in his year and won the prestigious University Medal. He completed his Ph.D. in medicine at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research.

John has successfully worked in medical device product commercialisation for more than 15 years, focusing on the delivery of solutions that improve usability and reliability. He led the New Product Implementation Group at ResMed, where he managed the design and commercialisation of the Mirage Swift mask. John was Chief Operating Officer at ASX listed, now NASDAQ listed Unilife Corporation, where he led commercialisation of ‘Unifill’, the world’s first glass prefilled drug delivery device with integrated auto retract safety. This technology was licensed to Sanofi Aventis, securing US$47 million in licence and development fees.

John set up Atomo Diagnostics in 2010 to commercialise integrated diagnostics technology. AtomoRapid was a Gold Medal winner in the IVD Category and won 'Best in Show' at the 17th international Medical Design Exellence Awards (MDEA) event in New York which was the first diagnostics product to ever win best in show at MDEA. Most recently, Atomo Diagnostics was awarded a grant of A$1.8 million (US$1.3M) from the New South Wales Medical Device Fund 2015-2016 and US$6M from the Global Health Investment Fund to support the scale up of Atomo’s global health activities, focusing on continued rollout of its award winning AtomoRapid™ HIV test.

John has an Honours Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Liverpool, a Master’s Degree in Systems Engineering from Queens’s University Belfast, as well as an Executive MBA from the University of Sydney where he was awarded the Business School’s inaugural ‘Excellence in Leadership’ scholarship.