Meet our guest speakers and judging panel
Workshop 1: How to think BIG
November 16th 3:30-5:00pm
Dr Rachel Nelligan
Rachel is an ECR in the Centre for Health, Exercise and Sports Medicine (within MDHS). During her PhD she developed an exercise website for people with osteoarthritis which has since been taken up by >15,200 people from 110 countries across the world. For this work, she has received six prestigious awards, including the Victorian Premier's Award for Clinical Research.
Dr Sam John
Sam is a Senior Lecturer in Neural Engineering (within Faculty of Engineering and IT). He has a passion for translation of medical technology from the laboratory to real world application. He was part of the original team that developed the Stentrode technology at the University of Melbourne who were awarded the 2019 Eureka Prize for interdisciplinary research.
Prof Spencer Williams
Spencer is a Professor in chemistry in the Faculty of Science. His interests include the application of chemical synthesis, and in particular carbohydrate chemistry, to biological problems, and the development of new therapeutic agents for treatment of cardiovascular disease, pain and fibrosis in the treatment of diabetes. He is co-founder of the companies Fibrotech Therapeutics, OccuRx, Certa, and TianLi Biotechnology and recipient of multiple prestigious awards and fellowships.
Workshop 2: How to pitch your BIG idea
November 23rd 3:30-5:00pm
Associate Professor Jen Martin
Jen worked as a field ecologist before founding the University of Melbourne's Science Communication Teaching Program which teaches scientists across all disciplines to be engaging and effective communicators. She also practises what she preaches: she’s been talking about science weekly on 3RRR, Australia's largest community radio station, for more than 15 years, hosts podcasts, MCs events, teaches as part of the Homeward Bound Faculty, writes for a variety of publications and was named the 2019 Unsung Hero of Australian Science Communication.
Workshop 3: The BIG pitch
November 30th 3:30-5:00pm
Each guest speaker above will form the judging panel for the pitches, along with:
Professor Alicia Spittle
Alicia is the Associate Dean of Research in MDHS
Professor Peter Choong
Peter is the Associate Dean of Innovation and Enterprise in MDHS