7 YEARS OF IMPACT FOR THE WA LIFE SCIENCES INNOVATION HUB

The University of Western Australia (UWA) team delivering the portfolio of Perth Biodesign programs was very pleased to join our partners from the WA Government and MTPConnect to celebrate seven years of impact for the WA Life Sciences Innovation Hub (WALSIH).

The celebration on Wednesday 5^th November featured speeches from: Minister for Medical Research, Science and Innovation, Hon Stephen Dawson MLC; MTPConnect CEO, Stuart Dignam; UWA Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Professor Anna Nowak; 2019 Perth Biodesign alumnus and winner of the 2025 Prize for New Innovators at the Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science, Dr Nikhilesh Bappoo; and hub Directors Professor Kevin Pfleger and Dr Tracey Wilkinson.

Perth Biodesign is very grateful to: Premier Roger Cook and Minister Dawson; everyone from the WA Government's Department of Energy and Economic Diversification and Department of Health that has been instrumental in supporting WALSIH and Perth Biodesign over the years; UWA, notably Professor Nowak; MTPConnect, notably Stuart Dignam; and all of the amazing alumni, represented by Dr Bappoo.

The UWA members of the WALSIH team delivering Perth Biodesign are: Professor Kevin Pfleger, Director Biomedical and Health Innovation of UWA and the WA Life Sciences Innovation Hub, as well as Chair of Perth Biodesign and Biodesign Australia; Perth Biodesign and Biodesign Australia co-Directors Chloe Goodred and Oliver Bazzani; iPREP Program Manager, Dr Sandra Medic; and Biomedical Engineering Lead, Dr David Morrison.

The UWA/Perth Biodesign team acknowledges and thanks the MTPConnect members of the WALSIH team for their dedication to supporting and promoting the health and medical life sciences sector in WA: Director Stakeholder Engagement, Dr Tracey Wilkinson; Head of Commercialisation, Dr Roop Judge; Engagement and Communications Manager, Rebekah Hinton; and Operations Coordinator, Nellie Valentine. 

Perth Biodesign also acknowledges everyone else involved in the journey, including co-founders Dr Matthew Oldakowski and Dr Intan Oldakowska, and Ruth Seeber who was until recently Perth Biodesign’s Senior Project Officer.

To read about the impact of WALSIH over the last seven years, click here.