Staff biographies

Ms Lyn McCully

Lyn provides executive support services to Industry Engagement and Commercialisation.

 

 

 

 

Dr David Lyster

David is the Manager for Research Partnerships in the Industry Engagement and Commercialisation group. After spending more than 6 years as an NHMRC principal researcher in neuropharmacology at Monash, David joined the University’s commercialisation group in 1995 as a technology consultant.

Since then he has been responsible for the identification, protection and commercialisation of selected early stage university research outcomes, the management of university contract research and consulting activities, strategic planning, marketing, and the development and training of support staff.

More recently he has taken on the responsibility of managing Monash’s interests in Cooperative Research Centres (CRCs). David sits on the board of a number of start up companies and CRCs. He has also operated a successful private technology consulting business providing services to other Australian universities and the private sector.

David’s experiences have given him an understanding of the issues facing scientists in our major research institutions and the processes needed to take early stage, high-risk technologies from the bench to the market place.

Professor Tony Lupton

Tony Lupton is the inaugural Director of the John Monash Innovation Institute at Monash University, following its establishment in July 2012. He has held the position of Professorial Fellow, Innovation and Public Policy at Monash University since early 2011.

The John Monash Monash Innovation Institute was established to help lift the productivity and competitiveness of enterprises by:

• developing collaborative open innovation solutions to shared problems identified with industry
• embedding a culture of innovation through programs to transform management skills in innovation, entrepreneurship and leadership
• providing an easy-access portal to consulting services for SMEs
• providing independent and high quality public policy advice on innovation generally to governments and industry

Tony also advises on strategic engagements between the university, government and industry, is a member of the leadership group for the South East Melbourne Innovation Precinct (SEMIP), Berwick Campus Community Advisory Council, the South East Melbourne Economic Development Forum, the City of Monash Economic Development Forum and the Southern Melbourne Regional Development Australia Committee.

From 2002-2010 Tony served in the Victorian Legislative Assembly for the District of Prahran.

During that time he served as Cabinet Secretary in the Brumby Government from 2007-2010 and Parliamentary Secretary for Industry and Innovation in the Bracks Government from 2006-2007.

His parliamentary service also included the role of Acting Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Chairman of the Legislative Assembly Privileges Committee (which deals with matters relating to contempt of parliament and the rights of members of the public referred to adversely in parliamentary proceedings) and membership of the Joint Parliamentary Law Reform Committee.

Before entering Parliament, Tony practised as a barrister for 15 years in a variety of fields, including common law, workers compensation, administrative law and superannuation law. He appeared in numerous significant cases in the Victorian Supreme and County Courts and the Federal Court of Australia.

Before having the opportunity to attend Monash University as a student, where he completed degrees in Arts and Law between 1979 and 1984, he was an apprentice motor mechanic. These varied work experiences have given him an understanding of many different working environments and a passionate belief in the transformative value of education.

Mr Sean Meehan

Sean is the Director, Monash Consulting Services within the Industry Engagement and Commercialisation Group at Monash University. In this role, Sean is responsible for the establishment of dedicated resources within the University to promote and manage consulting activity with external clients. Prior to joining Monash University, Sean worked at the Australian Stem Cell Centre as Senior Manger, Infrastructure & Research Services and Director, Business Development. Additionally, Sean has 12 years experience in working in a corporate environment in international business development and marketing with Millipore Corporation and Chemicon International.

Ms Clare Meeker

Clare is the Manager for Partnerships and Precinct Development in the Industry Engagement and Commercialisation group. Clare is working on cluster development as embodied within the John Monash Innovation Institute in the broad context of the Clayton Innovation Precinct, as well as assisting faculties with major partnerships and funding bids.

Clare previously worked at the Victorian Department of Business and Innovation in various roles encompassing the development and delivery of science and technology related policies, grants programs and other initiatives. Most recently in DBI, Clare was a Senior Project Manager, preparing discussion and options papers for the Victorian Biotechnology Advisory Council and contributing to the development of new innovation and technology vouchers programs. This role followed periods as Commercialisation Manager, Program Manager for the VSA Investment Fund grants program and Policy Adviser in the area of technology transfer, largely managing funding support for Victorian focused CRC bids.

Prior to DBI, Clare worked as a Research Development Officer in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry & Health Sciences providing support to the Associate Deans Research and Commercialisation, and as a Research Assistant/Officer at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research.

Clare has a Master of Business & Biotechnology from RMIT and a BSc (Hons) from the University of Tasmania.

Dr Heather St John

Heather is the Director of Industry Engagement, and oversees the pipeline of industry engagement activities undertaken by Monash’s team of Business Development Managers, as well as coordinating the establishment of major multidisciplinary strategic alliances. She was formerly the Senior Business Development Manager with the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, and developed the strategic plans for the Monash Comprehensive Cancer Consortium and the South-east Melbourne Alliance for Regenerative Therapies.

With a PhD in chemistry (UQ) and specialisation in surface analysis, her research and industry experience over the past 20 years has been primarily in the development of biocompatible coatings and polymers for the medical device industry. At CSIRO she was part of the team that developed the world’s first extended wear contact lens, and later led the Advanced Composites group.

Further commercial experience was gained through roles such as Director of AorTech Biomaterials, and Business Development Manager for CSIRO Biomaterials. Heather has had experience in co-development programs with some of the world’s largest medical device companies, and technologies she has been involved with have now been utilised in long-term life-sustaining devices in millions of patients.

Heather also has experience with all stages of the commercialisation process from the establishment of start-up ventures through to FDA regulatory approval. In 2008 Heather was Monash MBA graduate of the year.

Ms Sharon Aburn

Sharon works as a Project Officer within the Industry Engagement and Commercialisation group of Monash University providing project and executive support to the Director of Industry Engagement, Dr Heather St John.

In her role she assists Monash Researchers and Business Development Managers through the coordination of cross faculty proposal submissions and ARC Linkage Grant Scheme applications. She also reports on research opportunities for the university.

Prior to joining Monash, Sharon worked as a Project Coordinator for OPM in London, a public sector consultancy firm. At OPM she coordinated work winning opportunities and managed projects and events for a broad range of clients.

Her experience also includes working as a newspaper Journalist for the Shepparton News and Journalist and Sub-editor for the Northern Newspaper Group in Northern Victoria.

Sharon has a Bachelor of Arts Journalism from Monash University.

Dr Alastair Hick

Alastair Hick is Director Commercialisation in the Industry Engagement and Commercialisation group at Monash University. Following ten years as a research scientist in the UK he has spent ten years involved in commercialisation of technologies from Universities and Research Institutes around the world.

He spent three years at Plant Bioscience Ltd, an independent technology transfer company managing technologies in plant and microbial science and then four years at Cambridge Enterprise at the University of Cambridge. There he was Head of Life Sciences, responsible for commercialisation of all technologies in the life and medical science areas.

Since arriving in Australia he has worked at Monash University where he has a played a key role in building the Industry Engagement and Commercialisation Group, as well as helping establish the $30M Trans Tasman Commercialisation Fund. He had considerable deal making and negotiating experience, and has lectured on aspects of technology transfer for UnicoPraxis in the UK and Australia. In 2009 he was elected as a Vice Chair of Knowledge Commercialisation Australasia.

Dr Hick has a BSc in Chemistry with Biochemistry from the University of Southampton, a PhD in Chemical Ecology from the Open University and an MBA from the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge.

Ms Maria Harrison-Smith

Maria Harrison-Smith is the Patent Manager within the Industry Engagement and Commercialisation Group at Monash University.

Maria is a registered Patent and Trade Marks Attorney. She has been involved in intellectual property (IP) management for a number of years, firstly at the Austin Research Institute in Melbourne, followed by three years as IP Manager at the Burnet Institute. She has also managed the IP portfolios for a number of smaller biotech investment companies, including Xenotrans Ltd, IgAvax Pty Ltd and 4G Vaccines Ltd.

Maria has a BSc from Monash University specialising in biochemistry and immunology. Prior to moving into the field of IP Management, she worked in various research laboratories including Mimotopes Pty Ltd, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, University College London and the University of Colorado Health Sciences Centre.

She has also taught various biotechnology subjects in the TAFE departments of both RMIT and Swinburne universities. She has a Graduate Diploma in Intellectual Property Law from University of Melbourne.

Ms Mariea Georgiou

Mariea Georgiou is the Patent Secretary to the IE&C team and has over 20 years experience in the patent field. She provides administrative, secretarial and office management support to the IP Manager and IP and Contract Associate to enable the office to perform its functions efficiently and effectively.

 

 

 

Ms Beverley Baugh

Bev manages the business and community engagement portfolio of the Faculty of Arts. Bev works across disciplinary boundaries within Arts, and across the University, to engage staff in the development of competitive research grants and contracts, including ARC Linkage Projects, where she assists in the identification of suitable external partners.

She is responsible for the commercialisation of the Faculty's intellectual property and has oversight of all its commercial activities and is responsible for supporting staff to work with business, government and the wider community. Newly appointed to Monash, Bev has over 20 years management and business development experience in previous roles in higher education in the UK. She has extensive social research expertise and experience, and considerable success in bidding for, and facilitating, regional, national and international projects and partnerships.

Bev holds an MBA from the University of Nottingham in the UK.

Ms Carly Evans

Carly is a Business Development Associate with the Faculty of Arts, with over a decade of experience in the higher education sector. In her role, she supports academic researchers from a range of disciplines across the Arts Faculty, and the wider Monash University research community, in the development of industry and community relationships to enhance opportunities for successful research grants, contracts for research and services, and ARC Linkage Projects.

Carly joined Monash in January 2012, coming from consecutive roles at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, where she was responsibile for international relations, and King's College London, where she worked in the Graduate Research Office. Carly comes from a background in the higher education sector in Australia, working in business development and corporate relations for the University of Wollongong. She has facilitated the establishment and development of an industry cluster to promote the transfer of ideas, knowledge and skills across industry and academia.

Carly holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Wollongong.

Ms Bronwyn Smith

Bronwyn manages the Faculty Development Portfolio in the Faculty of Education at Monash. The Development Office is responsible for overseeing and managing the strategic engagement, partnership and commercially focused academic activities of the faculty. The portfolio has a dedicated Associate Dean of Development, and also works closely with the Associate Dean of Research in its research activities.

The Development team provides support for relationship management, contract/commercial research and education development and contract and project management, international strategic engagement and research and education partnerships, including cross-faculty and external partnerships. A key part of the Development activities are supporting ARC Linkage partnerships.

Bronwyn has been in this role since 2007. Previous to working at Monash she held academic positions in the School of Psychology at Deakin University, the Epidemiology unit at Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre, and the School of Psychology at James Cook University. She is currently undertaking her PhD in Psychology.

Dr Rod Thomas

Rod is Senior Business Development Manager for the Engineering Faculty. In that role, he manages a small business development team with two main responsibilities:

• processing new Engineering inventions and establishing patent positions for these to support future commercialisation activities, and
• facilitating high levels of engagement between faculty research staff and relevant external organisations to support the faculty's research programmes and to establish routes to market for research outcomes.

Rod has extensive industry experience, having held senior management positions in the plastics (Orica and Australian Vinyls), printing (SEP Sprint) and surface coatings (PPG Industries) industries. He has experience that spans large multi-nationals as well as smaller private companies and has a clear understanding of the needs of business and what it takes to build successful, profitable businesses. He has been directly responsible for sales and marketing, manufacturing, financial, planning, environmental, OH&S and human resource functions.

Rod has a B.App.Sc. and a Ph.D. in Polymer Chemistry and has utilised his technical skills and knowledge during separate engagements with the CSIRO.

He was employed as a Post Doctoral Fellow within the Division of Applied Organic Chemistry where he worked on the polymer banknote project and on the development of engineered polymers.

In the later role of Senior Business Development Manager, he had corporate responsibilities that included strategic planning at both corporate and divisional level, commercial practice improvement, key account management and training. In that role, he assisted in the development of improved commercial practices within the Indonesian Institute of Sciences as part of a World Bank funded project managed by the CSIRO.

Mr Michael Wade

Mick is a Business Development Manager with the Faculty of Engineering. He has over 20 years industry experience working in R&D to carry out new product development and end-to-end commercialisation of research. With a mechanical engineering background he has worked in the automotive, communications and marine industries in Europe, USA and Australia.

In recent years he has managed design engineering project teams, company IP portfolios, and has worked with government bodies to successfully apply for & manage multi-million dollar State and Federal grants. He is the co-inventor on a number of patents, and in 2007 was the recipient of an Australian International Design Award.

Since September 2008 he has worked in the Faculty of Engineering coordinating research funding, industry engagement and commercialisation activities for the many diverse capabilities and requirements within all the Faculty departments.

Dr Ina Sambor

Ina has a diverse background that includes both business development (Remsys Tech Inc, USA) and lecturing (Gilbert Chandler Campus, Uni. of Melb., Chemistry). She was a member of the team that created the successful start-up company YabbiFarm with the aim to develop and commercialise an innovative injection training system. Prior to joining the IE&C team at Monash she spent one year with a venture capital Trans Tasman Commercialisation Fund which is an AUD $30 million joint initiative between Westscheme superannuation fund in Western Australian and 5 universities in Australia and NZ.

She has a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Bio21 Molecular Science and Biomolecular Institute and a Graduate Certificate of Commercialisation for Research Students from the Melbourne Business School. She is currently completing her MBA at the Melbourne Business School.

Dr Robin Stanley

Dr Robin Stanley has a background in Materials Science and spent the early part of his career as a metallurgist in the Zambian Copper industry followed by 10 years of research into the development of advanced precious metal alloys for demanding applications. For the next 25 years he held senior consulting roles with a variety of international organisations in Europe and Australia including PA Consulting, Arthur D Little, Price Waterhouse Technology and Michael Johnson & Associates.

Dr Stanley has many years technology management experience ranging from assisting large, complex organisations with technology acquisitions and divestments through to advising start-up enterprises on commercialisation strategy. More recently, he spent six years with NewSouth Innovations, the commercialisation arm of UNSW, where he was a Senior Business Development Manager with responsibility for the Faculties of Science and Engineering.

Dr Rocco Iannello

Rocco is the Director, Business Development – Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, working with the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences and the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. He was awarded his Ph.D. from the Faculty of Medicine, Sydney University followed by post-doc work at UCSF in the USA.

Further research was carried out at the Murdoch Institute, Children's Hospital and then at the Monash Institute of Medical Research where he was Senior Scientist and Associate Director of the Functional Genomics and Human Disease Group at the Institute. Rocco’s research interests included gene regulatory mechanisms and cell differentiation in the areas of myogenesis, spermatogenesis and neurogenesis as well as the role of oxidative stress in neurological disease.

Since 2002, Rocco has pursued commercially related interests in the biomedical field at Monash University where he has been responsible for commercialisation of projects, development of networks and links to industry and other external stakeholders. He has been involved in the formation of a number of spin-out companies, establishing license agreements and ensuring the adequate protection of appropriate intellectual property.

Rocco is currently a Director of the CRC Biomedical Imaging Development, a member of the Clinical Trials and Commercialization Committee, a Director of ITFP Pty Ltd, a Director Paranta Biosciences and previously was Chair of the Victorian Branch of AusBiotech.

Dr John Morrison

John is the Director, Research Translation at Monash University with the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences. John recently headed Business Development at Benitec Ltd, a biotech company listed on the ASX.

Prior to Benitec, John was a business development consultant at Biocomm Services where he oversaw licensing, commercial intelligence and strategic planning for new ventures. Dr Morrison completed his PhD in protein chemistry with a focus on heart disease.

Post-doctoral studies in the UK and USA included work on heart disease, lipid chemistry, molecular biology, mouse genetics and genomics. While in the USA he was associated with a number of commercial R&D projects with companies such as Life Technologies, COR Pharmaceuticals and Amgen.

Returning to Australia he established a research group focused on androgen receptor biology at Monash University. In 2001, he was founder and Chief Scientist Officer of CopyRat Pty Ltd. As CSO he successfully raised two rounds of private equity was awarded a variety of commercial grants as well as managing the science and intellectual property of the company.

Dr Darcelle Thompson

Darcelle is a Senior Business Development Associate with the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences. In her role she assists academic researchers in the areas of intellectual property, commercialisation and business development.

Following five years working as a research scientist in academic environments she worked as a researcher for a spin out company which became an ASX listed biotechnology company. She then trained for several years with a patent attorney firm where she developed strong intellectual property related skills. She qualified as a patent attorney in 2009.

Darcelle has a BSc(Hons) in Biochemistry and Microbiology from the University of Western Australia, a PhD in Biomedical Science from Murdoch University and is a registered Australian patent attorney.

Ms Katrina Sorocos

Katrina is a Business Development Associate with the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences. In her role she supports the Faculty’s researchers through provision of technical due diligence, market research, contract development and industry engagement activities to identify and engage potential partners for either commercialisation of Faculty research or research partnerships for Faculty capabilities.

Previously she completed an internship as an investment analyst with Trans Tasman Commercialisation Fund (TTCF). In this role she conducted due diligence on projects, sourced new opportunities from member universities and assisted in building investment proposals and presentations.

Katrina holds a Bachelor of Biotechnology with Honours (1st Class) from Monash University, specialising in Immunology and Developmental Biology. She received the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology top Honours student prize for 2009. Katrina has also completed a Masters of Business (Science and Technology) from Monash University, earning an inclusion on the Dean's Commendation List for 2010 and 2nd place in the National Australia Bank Science in Business Awards for her commercialisation project on Nexpep Pty. Ltd., an early stage biotechnology company. Katrina is also a member of the Golden Key International Honour Society.

Mr Joseph Lawrence

Joseph Lawrence is the Senior Business Development Manager for the Faculty of Science at Monash. He is responsible for business development, partnerships and IP commercialisation across the Faculty.

Previously, he was a Senior Development Manager at Macquarie University in Sydney working across multiple Faculties, including Arts, Science and Human Science. Prior to this, Joseph was the Director of the Electric Power Engineering Centre (EPECentre), which is New Zealand's Centre of Excellence for Power Engineering, hosted within the University of Canterbury in Christchurch. He was with the EPECentre since its inception and produced the business plan for its establishment in 2002, with portfolios focused around education, research and innovation and industry-academia collaboration.

Joseph has a Bachelor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and a Master of Engineering in Management (technical MBA) from the University of Canterbury. He is concurrently working part-time towards a PhD in Engineering Management on the topic of industry-government-academia collaboration and is also a PMP® certified Project Manager, a Member of the NZ Institute of Management (MNZIM), the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), and the Project Management Institute (PMI).

His professional interests include Research and Development, technology commercialisation, strategic planning, project management and educational impact.

Ms Jo Wells

Jo is the Senior Business Development Associate with the Faculty of Science. In her role she supports the Faculty’s researchers through the provision of technical due diligence, market research, contract development and industry engagement activities to identify and engage potential partners for either commercialisation of Faculty research or research partnerships for Faculty capabilities.

Jo holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Medical Physics (First Class Honours) both from the University of Canterbury. She has extensive experience in innovation commercialisation with expertise in early stage technology evaluation, strategic management of intellectual property and developing industry-academic collaborations. Previously Jo was a Commercialisation Manager at the Victorian Department of Primary Industries where she was responsible for the commercialisation of intellectual property developed by DPI’s Biosciences Research Division. Prior to this Jo was the Technology Manager of the University of Canterbury’s Research & Innovation Group where she was responsible for overseeing the commercial development of technologies developed within the University as well as the management and commercialisation of intellectual property.

Ms Susan Newland

Susan Newland is the Administrative Assistant to the IE&C team. She also assists with administering the IE&C website, records management, and the Monash Business Breakfasts.

Ms Kristy Linardos

Kristy Linardos is a Business Analyst within eSolutions at Monash University. In her role, Kristy has worked with the Industry Engagement and Commercialisation (IE&C) group to design and manage a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to record and track potential research opportunities for the University. More recently, Kristy assisted IE&C to develop the system to implement a Research Contracts Management Framework (RCMF) as well as functionality to incorporate key account management.

Kristy has worked closely with both internal and external stakeholders to develop the system to meet the requirements of IE&C.

Kristy has a Bachelor of Technology (Computing Studies) from RMIT University.