'Women Making History' in recognition of Women's History Month 2022

Annie is an inspiring entrepreneur based in Melbourne who created an innovative platform that combines language and technology. She was impelled to create TalkiPlay to encourage her daughter Grace to speak following a delay in language development. With a PhD in Medical Science Annie applied her research background with her own experience of language loss, due to a devastating head injury in her teenage years, to help children experiencing speech and language development issues. Fuelled by the imagination of Grace’s older brother Hayden, Annie embraced a new world encompassing medical and education technology, supported by experts in speech pathology and early childhood education, in addition to tackling the challenges of establishing and managing a startup business. The dramatic increase in numbers of children experiencing speech and language delay due to the pandemic has given new TalkiPlay fresh impetus to work with preschools, speech pathologists, trauma specialists and parents so that all children might find their voice, like the little girl who inspired its creation. A great technological innovation that empowers and motivates children to learn language via play-based activities.

Professor Mimi Tang, is the CEO and Scientific Founder of Prota Therapeutics, lead researcher at Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI), clinical immunologist at The Royal Children's Hospital, and principle investigator of the pioneering study on peanut and other common food allergies. Professor Tang, her team of researchers at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, and the team at Prota Therapeutics have been working hard to combat this fear in parents with a world-first peanut allergy treatment. Prota is developing a proprietary high dose peanut OIT that induces remission of peanut allergy, allowing kids to eat peanuts freely without the need for ongoing treatment. Prota and the MCRI team have recently completed a Phase 2b trial in 201 children with peanut allergy which found 51% of children who received Prota's proprietary peanut oral immunotherapy could safely eat peanuts after treatment. Prota is now focused on raising funds to advance a phase 3 program, with plans to conduct a Phase 3 clinical trial in Australia and the US. It is not common for an Australian drug developer to undertake Phase 3 trials domestically, with most companies taking the trials internationally or selling their technology to an offshore company - this is quite the achievement. Inventing a world-first peanut allergy treatment… that’s what we call “making history”.

Introducing Flavia Tata Nardini, space engineer, CEO, and co-founder of one of Australia’s most exciting space startups, Fleet Space Technologies. Fleet was founded to help industries connect their devices on a massive scale without 3G. Having started her journey in Adelaide, the Italian-born rocket scientist is putting South Australia on the map. Flavia along with Co-Founder Matthew Pearson had a clear mission to further Australia's space industry; to connect people and devices on Earth and eventually the moon and Mars through a constellation of satellites - by building an IoT network in Space. Their revolutionary technology creates connectivity anywhere. It enables industries to operate more sustainably and efficiently beyond planet Earth by unlocking new datasets and discovering unseen efficiencies. Flavia is not only leading a worldwide team at Fleet, she is actively encouraging both females and the younger generation to pursue careers in STEM. “A career in science and research is an opportunity to solve humanity’s problems” – Flavia Tata Nardini. Thanks to Flavia and her team, the dreams of many young, want-to-be Astronauts may become a future reality.

Medicinal cannabis is one of the world’s fastest-growing industries, and has the potential to become one of the largest sectors of the healthcare market. Meet Jo Patterson, Managing Director, and CEO of Bod Australia Limited - the science-led business leading the way in this exciting, rapidly evolving industry. Bod Australia is dedicated to uncovering the therapeutic benefits of medicinal cannabis, they’re on a mission to innovate and transform the way people live and enjoy life. Jo is somewhat of a serial entrepreneur having developed several businesses from start-up, and driven established organisations towards growth and merger trajectories, both in Australia and overseas. Jo leveraged off her 20+ years of experience in business and corporate strategy to grow Bod Australia from start-up to being publicly listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and expanded the business on an international scale. Jo gives credit to creating a culture where diversity can thrive. She saw this as a fundamental business strategy and created an inclusive culture that empowers women and cultural diversity.

Over 60 million people worldwide suffer from hearing loss that could be treated with a cochlear implant. But because of the associated stigma around hearing loss a lot of those people are hesitant to seek treatment. A common deterrent is that the treatment devices are often indiscreet. Dr Liz Williams (CEO) and Dr Kate Lomas (Chief Scientific Officer) are using disruptive technology to eliminate this stigma. The female-founded medical technology startup Hemideina recently closed a fully subscribed $10 million capital raise to create a solution to suit patients’ everyday lifestyle. Hemideina’s product, Hera Wireless Implant System, is an architectural redesign of the cochlear hearing implant. Dr Lomas has developed a very small and discreet sound processor that sits in the ear, reducing the visible stigma of a hearing disability. Other advantages are its performance and less invasive surgery. Believe it or not, the technology was inspired by co-founder Dr Lomas’ studies of an insect, the New Zealand tree weta. She discovered they are wired with the same auditory range as humans, but at a much simpler and smaller scale. Having mentored early stage start-ups through customer validation and product-market fit, Dr Williams brings her understanding of commercialisation to the business. Together they are on a mission to enable those with severe-to-profound hearing loss to access a world of sound like no other device on market.

Meet Ros Harvey, Founder and CEO of The Yield Technology Solutions. Driven by a core belief that technology can solve some of the world's biggest challenges, and she is on a mission to help feed the world without wrecking the planet. The Agtech solutions company uses the Internet of Things (IoT), data science, and technologies including artificial intelligence (AI) to solve commercial growers’ production challenges. Their technology creates crop recommendations and predictions so that growers are better equipped, enabling them to grow more profitably with less environmental impact. The Yield’s success was largely shaped by Ros’ diverse professional background. In looking at her CV it is clear to see that Ros has dedicated much of her time to creating public good through innovative technologies. Just four years after its inception in 2014, The Yield was profiled in Microsoft’s global AI campaign as a leader in how to use AI to solve global challenges. Ros has also made the AFR’s 100 most influential women and was awarded the emerging leader in technology prize at the Women’s Agenda Leadership Awards. Last year, Ros also featured in The Australian Top 100 Innovators List. The Yield has raised US$24.6 million to date with major name investors, with a patent granted in Australia, the US, and Singapore, and more jurisdictions to follow. Ros is on a mission to drive positive change and transform food and farming practices with scalable digital technology.

Anna Carrabs, CEO of King Living, saw the potential in the family-run business renowned for the creativity and functionality of its award-winning designs. She is a firm believer in having a strong support network of women, along with male champions of change to support business success. She believes this solid network, along with the hard-working ethic of her parents and role models, has played an integral role in her success in growing an iconic Australian designer furniture brand. Featured in the top five Australian companies with patents on products, the brand is recognised globally for its innovative design and attention to detail. Anna's extensive business knowledge allowed her to implement the robust systems and organisational structure the business required to expand into global markets. Having started her journey with King in 2015, Anna believes her biggest strength is the excellent team and strong company culture. King is a unique business model in that it manages the entire product life-cycle, from design to sales and manufacturing. Innovation is centric to the King business model, demonstrated by unmatched product design and quality customer experience.

Introducing Dr Marguerite Evans-Galea AM MAICD, an accomplished scientist, executive, board chair, and director. She is Director, STEM Careers Strategy at the Australian Academy of Technology & Engineering (ATSE) and co-founder and co-chair of Women in STEMM Australia. Outside of these initiatives, Dr Evans-Galea holds a PhD in molecular biology and is an Honorary Fellow at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and The University of Melbourne. She is a regular mentor to students, postdoctoral fellows, early-career professionals and faculty – having dedicated the past 20 years to developing mentoring programs across Australia and in the United States. She has also led pre-clinical medical research programs at world-leading organisations. Her research and leadership have been recognised internationally with several awards. Her ongoing commitment to empowering women throughout all stages of their careers is impeccable. Dr Evans-Galea has served with advisory groups in State and Federal Governments and communicates regularly on a range of science-related topics via social and mainstream media. Anyone that has come across Dr Evans-Galea will be aware of her enormous contributions and the time she has dedicated to advocating inclusion, diversity and allyship within the industry. It is with thanks to Dr Evans-Galea that many women in STEMM have had access to the support, resources, and networks to further excel in their careers. We look forward to being further inspired by Maggie and her team as ATSE delivers Elevate, ATSE’s $41.2 million Boosting Women in STEM Scholarships program. Funded by the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources, Elevate will award up to 500 undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships to #womeninstem across seven years.

Meet Amy Yu, co-founder and CTO at Ventora Medical, a Melbourne-based medical device start-up with a mission to help premature babies breathe. She was recently recognised on the 2021 Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia Healthcare & Science list. It was in 2018 while studying at the University of Melbourne that Amy, along with co-founders A/Prof Christiane Theda, Edward Buijs, and Alan Haszard, came up with their remarkable idea which developed into Ventora’s neonatal airway pressure monitor, providing clinicians with the tools and information necessary to support clinical decision making and improve respiratory care. Their classroom concept turned into reality to become an award-winning startup whose innovations have been recognised by awards from the Melbourne Business School, the Wade Institute of Entrepreneurship, the Graeme Clark Institute and the MedTech Actuator's MedTech's Got Talent (now Origin). Amy believes the collaboration between researchers and clinicians has been a vital ingredient in the startup’s success. Ventora Medical, now a venture-backed company, has completed the MedTech Actuator, an Asia-Pacific wide venture-backed accelerator program for MedTech startups, and has raised over $1.25 million in funding. Many babies will have a better start in life thanks to Amy and the team at Ventora.

Meet Nidhi Nahar, Head of Patents and Open Source at Block (formerly Square, Inc.). For more than 7 years, Nidhi and her team have worked to build and manage Block’s patent and open source strategy. She is also responsible for global patent operations, which encompass portfolio strategy and development, patent quality, analytics, and data science. Block (formerly known as Square, Inc.) was founded in 2009 when it introduced a little white reader designed to help business owners accept card payments. Today, Block is playing a key role in creating a more inclusive future through its purpose of economic empowerment across its complementary ecosystems of Square, Cash App, Spiral, TIDAL, and TBD. Guided by this purpose, Block is helping its diverse audiences — sellers, individuals, artists, fans, developers, and all the people in between — overcome barriers to access the economy. Earlier this year, Block also acquired Afterpay, the pioneering global 'buy now, pay later' platform, bringing together two of the fastest-growing global fintech companies to advance their shared mission of economic empowerment and financial inclusion. Block has become a game-changer for so many businesses. It is with thanks to Nidhi that the innovators at Block feel supported — through management of a balanced patent system that protects the freedom to build new technologies while ensuring that incentives for abuse are minimized.