Dr Jordan Nguyen - world-renowned AI and biomedical engineer, inventor, TV documentary presenter and author of A HUMAN'S GUIDE TO THE FUTURE presented a thought-provoking keynote at MTPConnect’s Accelerator Showcase in Melbourne recently. 

Jordan joins the MTPConnect podcast to discuss innovations in disability and aged care from his social business Psykinetic, where biomedical technology, AI, extended reality and robotics are applied to create inclusive technologies with positive and life-altering impact.  He shares his move from Resmed to set up his inclusive tech company Psykinetic, discusses his innovations including a mind-controlled wheelchair, and the importance of user-centred design.

We also meet Jordan’s companion robot friend, Koobo, created through inspiration from his grandmother’s experience in aged care and his lifelong love of robots. 

Check out our preview of the episode.

Are you developing a medical science innovation and need funding for your venture? 

MTPConnect and Wholesale Investor are collaborating on a dedicated capital engagement program designed for life science companies looking for private investment. 

Wholesale Investor Co-Founder and Managing Director Steve Torso is behind one of the largest capital raising platforms in Australia, and he joins the podcast to talk about how the MTPConnect Investor Ready program can help life science companies develop an investor network, build a skill base in investor communications and avoid some of the pitfalls when engaging with investors.

He covers what to expect at our upcoming inaugural Life Science Investor Day as part of Wholesale Investor’s Emergence 2026 conference, which will bring together ASX-listed innovators, breakthrough private companies, and global investors driving the future of health, diagnostics, and therapeutics. 

To find out more about the MTPConnect Investor Ready program and to register your interest, visit our website or contact Steve Torso. There are limited places still available. 

Tessara Therapeutics, a pioneering biotech start-up based in Melbourne, has developed a platform which creates 3D human brain models using stem cells.

Its RealBrain technology generates reproducible, scalable micro-tissues that mimic the complexity of the human brain. Ready to accelerate neural drug discovery – without using animal models.

From working with CSIRO’s Kickstart program, receiving a CRC-P grant with Xylo Bio, and the University of Sydney  to develop neuroplastogens to research the treatment of addiction disorders and inking a new agreement with Swiss based InSphero, Tessara Therapeutics is helping to unlock human neuroscience. 

Joining us on the MTPConnect podcast is Tessara Therapeutics CEO and Managing Director, Dr Christos Papadimitriou to tell us more about their innovation to accelerate neural drug discovery and their plans to take this technology global.

One of the challenges we face in Australia is getting more homegrown medtech products purchased and used by local hospitals and health services. 

MTPConnect’s Pathway to Market – Medtech Capability Uplift Program has been supporting ten market-ready Victorian medtech manufacturers to position themselves competitively for local health procurement opportunities. 

The recent Australian Medtech Manufacturing Alliance (AMMA) Medtech Showcase profiled Victorian-made products and innovations from 25 local manufacturers spanning surgical care and diagnostics to hospital consumables and equipment. From a new nasal swab designed for children to smart bedding systems for aged care and healthcare sectors, the lineup was impressive.

The Showcase highlighted ‘Better Health Made Here’ – and the MTPConnect Podcast was on the ground talking to companies involved, including those taking part in the Pathway to Market program - Ventora Medical’s Edward Buijs,  Rhinomed’s Michael Johnson, Dentalife’s Tom Stray, Sleeptite’s Cameron van den Dungen and Certius Medical’s Tim Stewart - as well as local leaders Care Essentials’ Helen Skazas and Lindo’s Robert Gangi. 

The Pathway to Market program is an initiative of the Australian Medtech Manufacturing Alliance (AMMA), delivered by MTPConnect in partnership with BioMelbourne Network and supported by the Victorian Government. 

Applications for the 2026 Pathway to Market program will open towards the end of 2025. 

Professor Sharath Sriram was recently appointed as the new Chief Scientist of WA, providing independent, expert advice to the WA Government on topics important to the future of science and technology in the State. At our WA Life Sciences Innovation Hub’s Spotlight event he joined MTPConnect’s Dr Tracey Wilkinson for a fireside chat sharing his vision for science and technology in WA, his ambitions for the three years ahead, and insights from his first few months in the role.

Accomplished nanotech researcher and commercialisation champion, Professor Sharath spent 16 years at RMIT University in Melbourne most recently as director of the Discovery to Device manufacturing facility. In the last two years he also co-founded healthtech startups Fragment BioTech and Lubdub AI, and is the current president of the national peak body, Science & Technology Australia.

To mark our 200th episode, we are taking you into Space to discover the benefits of microgravity for health and medical research and its real-world applications. Can we use space technology to advance medical discoveries to improve health here on earth? And should we be doing more to connect our life science sector innovators into Australia’s space research sector?

We meet leading Australian superstars working at the intersection of space and health technologies at MTPConnect SA’s Insights Series event “What’s Your Place in Space’, celebrating Australian Space Week in Adelaide.

Australia’s first astronaut, Katherine Bennell-Pegg, Director of Space Technology at the Australian Space Agency shares her view on why space matters, and the role of astronauts on the International Space Station as scientists in space. She reveals how biotech research in space using microgravity is revolutionising pharmaceutical development and unlocking treatments for cancer here on Earth.

Aerospace medicine specialist Dr Gordon Cable from Human Aerospace, is working on a spacesuit design program, developing compression garments that "trick" the body into thinking gravity exists, with applications for burns, lymphedema and post-surgical recovery. 

Dr Richard Harvey from the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space explains how the international research consortium is engineering smart plants in space labs, that operate as programmable biological factories for biomolecule synthesis, to produce pharmaceuticals, including compounds that protect against radiation and improve cancer therapies. 

And Tiffany Sharp from Cambrian Defence and Space discusses launching medical research into space on a rocket in the Arctic circle - looking into the gut microbiome which shows how certain bacteria affecting anxiety and depression decline in microgravity, offering insights for mental health treatments.

As the world’s largest biotech partnering event took place in Boston in June, MTPConnect was there introducing an Australian delegation to the Boston ecosystem, hosting business events to drive international collaborations and leading the Australian Pavilion to highlight Australia's fast-growing life sciences sector to the international biotech industry.

Our CEO Stuart Dignam was on the ground to find out why people are making the trip to BIO and what the buzz is all about. 

In this episode, Stuart speaks to Brent Owens, co-founder of Ballarat-based Vitrafy Life Sciences – a company pioneering cryopreservation technology and Brent Barnes, CEO and Manager Director of Adelaide-based Clever Culture Systems - inventor of APAS Independence, an intelligent microbiology culture plate reading technology that is revolutionising pharmaceutical lab work. These Australian start-ups have established a foothold in the US and are looking to expand and navigate the new tariff regime. 

Stuart also catches up with Professor Chris Molloy from the UK’s Medicines Discovery Catapult to get his take on BIO and find out more about the BIOBridge initiative and why collaboration is key to solving the world’s health challenges. 

For the support and partnership, MTPConnect would like to thank the state governments of NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia, and the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, Austrade, CSIRO and AusBiotech.

And thanks for the industry support from Moderna, Novartis, Australia & New Zealand, Cytiva, Sanofi, Arrotex Pharmaceuticals and Nutromics, and support for MTPConnect’s Australian delegation site visit program from CSL and Global Pharma Solutions. 

Queensland Health is one of the largest employers in the state with some 130,000 full-time employees, geographically dispersed with 16 hospitals and health services across the country. 

The Office of Research and Innovation (ORI) hosts the ‘Queensland Health Research Excellence Showcase’ to celebrate how translating research into practice is advancing medical research, workforce development and healthcare. 

The Showcase’s theme - Fast, Fearless and Future – is a unique opportunity for Queensland Health employees to promote their translation-ready research. 

MTPConnect partnered with ORI to deliver a research poster and pitch session for the Showcase – attracting more than 40 entries from across Queensland.

In this episode, we head to Brisbane for the Showcase event to meet some of Queensland Health’s research champions working on major healthcare challenges in mental health, kidney disease, hand therapy, pain education and diabetes-related ulcer care, to find out more about their posters – Dr Mike Trott (University of Queensland), Emma Taylor (STARS Hospital), Hannah Kennedy (Gold Coast Health), Ifeoluwapo Tokun (Townsville Hospital and Health Service) and Margie Conley (Metro South Hospital and Health Service). 

And Tammy Sovenyhazi Acting Executive Director, Queensland Health’s Office of Research and Innovation, explains what the Showcase is all about! 

NB. Findings from Dr Trott’s research were recently published internationally in a world first in The Lancet Psychiatry journal https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(25)00129-4/abstract

Medical device innovator Laronix aims to give people who have had their larynx removed due to laryngeal cancer, their voice back. And not a robotic voice, but a natural sounding voice for both men and women where even laughing and singing is possible.

The pioneering company has worked with speech pathologists and surgeons around the world to develop the world’s first smart, wearable (non-invasive), electronic voice box - the first new voice technology in forty years! It uses the power of AI and a person’s respiration signals to generate a natural-sounding voice.

In this episode, we meet Laronix co-founder siblings, CEO Dr. Farzaneh Ahmadi and Chief Operating Officer Dr. Mousa Ahmadi, who share their success story, creating a Brisbane-based manufacturing site, expanding to New York, launching their voicing devices in Australia and the US, and changing the lives of those living with a voice disability and giving hope to cancer survivors (half a million people around the world live with this condition). 

Tune into hear a Laronix voice in action! 

Dr Farzaneh Ahmadi, an expert in artificial voice research, was named as one of Australia’s top 100 Innovators in The Australian in 2024. 

In a special series dedicated to the Australian Clinical Entrepreneur Program (AUSCEP) we introduce you to some of the passionate health professionals taking part in this 12-month program to develop their innovative ideas into products and enterprises.

Ibrahim Samaan is a senior physiotherapist and Managing Director of Purifas, an award-winning company developing and manufacturing clinically proven hygienic products for allied healthcare - like its FaceShield - now available in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Japan and the UK. 

The company is now branching out to develop a new innovation - Recyclable Single-use Hospital Bed Linen for hospitals and the aged care sector. Ibrahim shares his company’s journey and how being part of AUSCEP with like-minded innovators was important in nurturing his entrepreneurship and business acumen. 

The program’s third cohort has been delivered in NSW and Victoria, in partnership with MTPConnect and Australian Society for Medical Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ASME) and supported by LaunchVic and NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation (ACI). The next 2025/26 cohort is open for Victorian applications until 20 June 2025 – apply at auscep.au.

This episode is hosted by MTPConnect’s Caroline Duell and Elizabeth Stares.