Medtech Actuator Menzies Scholarship

MedTech Actuator Menzies Scholarship 

• Offered to 10 junior scientists
• Each Scholarship valued at $10,000 (including a $1,000 stipend)
• 3-month Scholarship (approx. 1-2 days/month) including an intensive one-week program focused on the commercialisation of research, including intellectual property, pitching, start-up 101, finance for beginners, business modelling, design thinking, path-to-market, and market analysis.

The Foundation is delighted to announce the following ten high-potential health, medical and biotechnology researchers have been selected to each receive a 2022 MedTech Actuator Menzies Scholarship – supporting them to develop a career that fuses science, research, and entrepreneurship.

2022 Scholarship recipients are:

• Dr Andrew Lewis Foster, PhD Student, Queensland University of Technology, Research Fellow, Jamieson Trauma Institute, and Orthopaedic Principal House Officer, Redcliffe Hospital Project: Developing an antibiotic hydrogel for locally applied treatment of surgical infection

• Angus Weekes, PhD Student and Sessional Academic, Centre for Biomedical Technologies, Queensland University of Technology Project: Off-the-shelf vasculature: Biofabrication of non-immunogenic decellularised human vascular grafts

• Helen Elizabeth King, PhD Student, Garvan Institute Project: Revolutionising the accuracy of the CRISPR-Cas system through guide design.

• Ishara Paranawithana, PhD Candidate, Bionics Institute and Monash University Project: Exploring language development in infants by measuring brain connectivity using functional near-infrared spectroscopy

• Muhammad Nouman, PhD Candidate, Deakin University Project: An AI-aided mental health prediction platform

• Nina Langer, PhD Student, Monash University Project: Developing a heart-assist pump to improve the quality of life of patients with heart failure

• Oyime Poise Aula, PhD Student, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute and the University of Queensland Project: Developing molecular point-of-care tests for neglected tropical diseases

• Shiva Pedram, Research Fellow, the University of Wollongong Project: Developing remote mental healthcare support using Virtual Reality

• Urwah Nawaz, PhD Candidate, the University of Adelaide and University of New South Wales Junior Computational Scientist, Pending AI Project: Developing a low-cost lateral rotation mattress that has the capacity to adjust patient positions

• Zachary Rochecouste, Bachelor Student, and Researcher, Mending Broken Hearts Program, the University of New South Wales Project: Creating a total artificial heart

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 Previous Scholars (2021): 

• Dr Sohyb Basir: A digital waiting-room for emergency departments to capture real-time data from patients through their own mobile devices.
• Ritesh Warty: Developing a pessary with embedded technologies to rehabilitate the pelvic floor.
• Dr Chia-Chi Chien: Conducting controlled experiments using an innovative 3D microtissue-on-a-chip approach for precision medicine applications.
• Julie Dao: Australian first repository platform which enables clinicians to make more efficient and effective decisions whilst simultaneously accelerating the translation of research into better patient outcomes
• Ethan Grooby: Mobile based audio-visual system for accessible newborn monitoring.
• Alinta Furnell: Simple and discreet way to test for sexually transmitted infections.
• Debolina Majumdar: To develop an AI based cough sound monitoring for early diagnosis and monitoring of various respiratory infections.
• Dr Luke Visscher: A clinical applicable software pipeline for automated fracture CT segmentation and virtual reduction for computer-aided orthopedic surgery.
• Dr Martina Barzan: Through the development of patient digital twins and 3D printed surgical guides, this project aims to optimize patient outcomes and improve the technical performance during complex pediatric orthopedic surgeries
• Hope Newman: Investigating potential biomarkers of egg quality in assisted reproductive technology.