Tuesday, 10 May 2022

Ministers statements: BioMelbourne Network Women in Leadership Awards

Ms PULFORD (Western Victoria—Minister for Employment, Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy, Minister for Small Business, Minister for Resources) (13:32): It is my great pleasure to advise the house about the recent BioMelbourne Network Women in Leadership Awards. It was my absolute privilege to attend. Now in their seventh year, these awards shine a much-deserved spotlight on the remarkable women leading our health tech sector. The awards demonstrate what talent we have here and also serve as a reminder of why we must continue to raise the voices of women in this sector and indeed in all sectors. Victoria’s medical research sector leads the world in so many ways, but like many industries, we are still working towards gender equality in leadership and in opportunity.

I would like to recognise this year’s nominees, incredible women who have made outstanding contributions to advancing our biotech, medical tech and pharma sectors. I would like to extend a massive congratulations to the award winners. This year’s event celebrated three winners across three categories. The Emerging Leadership Award went to Associate Professor Lauren Ayton, principal research fellow at the University of Melbourne. Lauren was recognised for her research in the field of low vision and blindness. Lauren leads a team at the University of Melbourne and the Centre for Eye Research Australia investigating inherited retinal diseases, which are the most common cause of legal blindness in working-age Australians.

The Inspiring Leadership Award went to George Kenley, co-founder and chief operations officer at Seer. As co-founder and chief operations officer at Seer, George and the team have fundamentally changed epilepsy diagnostics. The world-first technology offered by Seer means that patients can receive diagnostic monitoring from the comfort of their own home, avoiding lengthy stays in hospital. The Distinguished Leadership Award went to Dr Emma Ball, head of Illumina for Startups Australia. As the head of Illumina for Startups Australia, Emma is responsible for supporting founders and building an ecosystem of entrepreneurs and investors to create, launch and grow genomics and omics startups in Australia.

Congratulations to these incredible women. It was a pleasure to hear what they have achieved so far and to see what they will achieve in the future.