SPARK Melbourne Kick Off

SPARK Melbourne – a 12-month program to upskill researchers in the early stages of commercialisation with milestone-based funding and mentoring – kicked off in November 2018 with a boot camp for six teams from MDHS.

The teams were led by the six finalists from the Dean’s Innovation Grant Scheme who formed the inaugural SPARK Melbourne cohort:

• Dr. Laura Downie (Dept of Optometry and Vision Sciences)
• Dr. Brendon Chua (Dept of Microbiology and Immunology)
• Dr. Matias Maturana (Dept of Medicine, St Vincent’s Hospital)
• Dr. Farhad Goodarzy (Dept of Medicine, St Vincent’s Hospital)
• Dr. Fiona Brownfoot (Dept of Obstetrics and Gynaecology)
• Dr. William Figgett (Dept of Microbiology and Immunology)

The boot camp was facilitated by Professor Michael Wallach (Director of SPARK Sydney, SPARK Oceania) and Ms Samira Aili (UTS), and focused on creating project development plans to establish the milestones to reach over the year.