About this event

Imaging technology is advancing rapidly, and global markets for medical imaging devices and applications continue to grow, driven by increasing healthcare demand. New imaging techniques provide powerful tools for preclinical development and enhance early-stage R&D decision-making. New molecular imaging techniques can give early reads on the effectiveness of therapeutics and diagnostics increasing the speed and decreasing the cost of product development.

There are three ARC Centres of Excellence headquartered in Melbourne, who are exploring next-generation technologies in cellular and whole imaging, creating new intellectual property & technology.

Seeing is believing, and this BioBriefing will outline how advances in imaging technology can be harnessed to drive significant new industry collaborations, through cutting-edge preclinical imaging techniques that underpin the biotechnology and medical technology industries.
About the Host

The Australian Synchrotron

The Australian Synchrotron is a world-class national research facility that uses accelerator technology to produce a powerful source of light – x-rays and infrared radiation – a million times brighter than the sun.

The facility has nine different experimental stations, or beamlines, which harness that light so researchers can see the fundamental structure and composition of materials, on scales ranging from the atomic to the macroscopic – with a level of detail, speed and accuracy not possible in conventional laboratories.

The Australian Synchrotron supports a broad range of high quality research, with applications in sectors from medicine and nanotechnology to manufacturing and mineral exploration. Our highly advanced techniques and passionate staff are contributing directly and demonstrably to scientific advances and industrial innovations with medical, social and economic benefits for all Australians.

Prof Tom Davis, Director, ARC Centre for Bio-Nano Science
Chief Investigator, Director, Monash University

Tom is a leading polymer scientist and nanotechnologist with an extensive publication history in polymer chemistry and kinetics.

Research Interests:

Developing nanostructured films, nanoparticles, protein conjugates
Nanoparticle-enhanced bio-imaging (PET, MRI contrast agents)
Drug and gene delivery using biodegradable nanoparticle systems

Prof Gary Egan, Director, ARC Centre for Integrative Brain Function
CIBF Director, Monash University

Professor Egan provides strategic leadership to the Centre research programs. He is also responsible for establishing the management needed to support a vibrant and internationally-competitive brain research centre, and for nurturing CIBF’s relationships with Government, industry, the community, and neuroscience groups, both national and international.

Gary’s chief research interests are in developing and applying advanced brain imaging techniques, and neuroinformatics.

He is based at Monash University, Melbourne, where he is also director of Monash Biomedical Imaging.

Dr Mike Bettess, Business Development Manager, ARC Centre for Advance Molecular Imaging
Senior Business Development Manager, Faculty of Medicine, Monash University

Michael is a Senior Business Development Manager in the Faculty of Medicine at Monash University. He has over 20 years of experience in both life science research and technology commercialisation. His commercial roles have been predominantly focused on the identification, development, project management and commercialisation of academically derived opportunities. Prior to joining Monash, Michael was an Investment Manager and CEO at Trans-Tasman Fund Management Pty Ltd (TTFM), a fund management company that managed over $30 million in seed and venture capital and specialised in investments from the academic sector in Australia and New Zealand. At TTFM Michael managed the Life Science portfolio and led due diligence on numerous opportunities, including Nexvet Biopharma Pty. Ltd. (AU) and Heart Metabolics (UK) – where Michael was appointed as a Director. Prior to joining TTFM, Michael was a ‘Roche Research Foundation’ Post-Doctoral fellow at the Swiss Experimental Cancer Research Institute (ISREC) in Lausanne, Switzerland. Michael holds a first class honours degree and PhD in developmental and stem cell biology from the University of Adelaide and an MBA from La Trobe University, specialising in technology management.

Dr. Chris Hall Australian Synchrotron
Senior Scientist – Imaging and Medical Therapy

Dr Chris Hall is a Senior Scientist at the Australian Synchrotron working on the Imaging and Medical beamline (IMBL). Chris has a research interest in instrumentation, bio-medical and materials imaging physics using the synchrotron. Chris is an associate research fellow at Monash University and was a past member of the Co-operative Research Centre in Biomedical Imaging Development (CRC-BID) and the Centre of Excellence in Coherent X-ray Science(CoE-CXS).