June 2010
www.ausbiotech.org
AusBiotech – GSK Student Excellence Awards
“... It was a supreme thrill to find out that I was the national winner
of the AusBiotech-GSK student excellence award...” Tony Carlisle,
AusBiotech-GSK Student Excellence Award, national winner 2009.
Sometimes, while doing our research, tolling away at numerous assays,
sample preparation and data analyses, it’s easy to forget why we do it in the
first place. The AusBiotech-GSK Student Excellence Awards are one great
way in which to remind us how our research and those many hours in the lab
are to help society.
In this Issue
Edited by Narelle Jay,
ABSA NSW
Page 1:
•Feature article – The
importance of earnest
networking
•Student Excellence
Awards
The AusBiotech-GSK Student Excellence Awards are aimed at recognising
and encouraging promising research students and to raise awareness of
research translation and applications.
•You know you’ve worked
By entering you get the chance to win a trip to the AusBiotech conference (1922 Oct 2010, Melbourne). SA winner, Tony Carlisle, was awarded the national
prize in 2009 for his work designing an upper body training manikin - allowing
medical students to learn how to insert a nasogastric tube into the nose and
successfully manoeuvre it down into the stomach.
•A day in the life of …
This year the national winner (to be announced at the 2010 conference) will
receive a $7,000 travel grant to be used to present their research at an
international conference. In addition, the national winner’s principal supervisor
will receive a $2,000 research grant.
•QLD state report
in a lab too long when…
•Page 2:
•Industry spotlight
•Dr Doctor
Page 3:
•VIC state report
•SA state report
•NSW state report
Page 4:
To find out more please visit www.ausbiotech.org/studentexcellenceawards.
The importance of earnest networking
ABSA NSW held a networking hour featuring three prominent members of the
science community, Dr Colin Sutton (Director, NewSouth Innovations Pty Ltd),
Dr Kathy Kociuba (Associate Director, Baxter Healthcare) and Dr Lisa
Springer (Maia Partners & Neuromodics Pty Ltd) who were very forthcoming
with networking advice.
Given the majority of jobs in the industry are unadvertised, it is very important
to have a ‘foot-hold’ in the scientific community. This may seem like quite a
daunting task for those who have found themselves nestled in academia for
many years. But this does not have to be the case. Volunteering is an age old
way of getting in the right place at the right time. However, just getting to the
right place at the right time is not all you will need, it is very important to have
the right thing to say.
All of the speakers from the networking night agreed that a 30-second sales
pitch on yourself is essential. Meaning, prepare a short and sweet
introduction to you and what you can bring to the table. Additionally joining
organisations such as ABSA can lead to attending events that put you face to
face with leaders in the scientific community.
Mark William King
•BioBuzz-a-razzi
Contact Details
ABSA NSW:
absa.nsw@ausbiotech.org
ABSA QLD:
absa.qld@ausbiotech.org
ABSA SA:
absa.sa@ausbiotech.org
ABSA VIC:
absa.vic@ausbiotech.org
Are you a
Member?
The AusBiotech Student
Association (ABSA) links
students with industry.
Gain a competitive
advantage by becoming
an AusBiotech student
You know you’ve worked in a lab too long when… member today.
“You get excited when a science sales representative drops in for a
visit and gives out free pens”
www.ausbiotech.org
Page 1 of 4
June 2010
www.ausbiotech.org
A day in the life of Ben Herbertt
MQ VC Innovation Fellow, Macquarie University
After finishing high school, Ben began his career in
science working in New Zealand before moving into
university studies in the wool industry - combining
university study with part-time work studying the
proteins of wool fibre. Five years later Ben travelled
across the Tasman to Macquarie University
and started his PhD studies. During his PhD, Ben was
exposed to the commercial side of science, when he
and his colleagues began working with Biorad developing protein gel
technologies.
In 1999 he and a number of colleagues left Macquarie University and started
Proteome Systems. It was here that he learned many important things about
starting a new company. Among these were networking and securing
contacts, not only in the science field but also money raising, venture
capitalists and the legal system. After seven years, Ben moved to UTS,
starting a new research team, forming their core proteomics facility. However,
even though he was back in academia, he still worked closely with industry,
working again with Biorad, where his former contacts from Biorad were helpful
in building new working relationships.
Ben is now back at Macquarie University and focussing on his newest venture
into the biotech industry, with his new company Regeneus. This company
uses stem cells collected from fat cells to treat arthritis. The treatment is
focussed on dogs and horses, but the work is slowly being adapted to treat
humans as well.
With all this, Ben finds the opportunity to help students not only with their
study but introducing them to others in the field and helping build their
networks, as well as the chance that he may be involved in the next
breakthrough or idea - a rewarding and motivating factor in his interest in
science. He also enjoys seeing the end users of Regeneus’ stem cell
treatment and seeing how he and his team have been able to improve others’
lives.
Throughout his career, Ben has found that networking and making contacts is
invaluable to a successful career. He also feels that, if possible, being able to
combine work and study is beneficial and suggests students when looking for
work, look around and see if a company will help support or provide further
training. The one last piece of advice Ben offers is to be brave and take a
chance on something.
Industry spotlight
Bioplatforms Australia (BPA) is a not-for-profit company aimed at building
networks between Australian universities and the biotech industry. It covers
four main areas; proteomics, genomics, metabolomics and bioinformatics. A
number of industries are currently supported by BPA and include plant and
agriculture research, biomedicine, pharmaceutical research, diagnostics and
environmental research.
BPA works in order to help build infrastructure networks and help Australian
scientists remain competitive in the international world of science. It also aims
to help provide advice and advocacy to Australian life scientists in regards to
public policy matters.
Dr Doctor
Q. How important is it
for me to get involved
in networking events,
and how do I do this?
A. Dr Olgatina Bushi
suggests:
Networking
is
very
important for two main
reasons, the first is that it
allows you to enhance
and
practise
your
communication
skills.
Communications skills are
integral to your career
whether you choose a
research career path or a
job
within
industry.
Learning to communicate,
informally
through
networking can prepare
you for life within the
workforce, where you will
need to communicate with
a range of people. The
second reason is that you
can use this to gather
information about career
options, research, talk to
potential employers and
meet contacts that may
be useful to you in the
future. You can start by
attending
ABSA’s
Network Club, an informal
event series that aims to
assist
students
with
networking.
Have you got a question
for Dr Bushi?
Email her at
obushi@ausbiotech.org
Page 2 of 4
June 2010
www.ausbiotech.org
ABSA SA Update…
ABSA VIC Update…
Hello everyone. It’s getting close to the business end of
semester one for undergraduates, so best of luck for
everyone’s final assignments and exams this month!
On Friday 2 May we held an industry site visit to the
Waite Campus. Numbers were lower than expected but
this enabled those who did attend to have more intimate
and specialised tours, and had an ideal opportunity to
meet our hosts and guest speakers. A highlight was a
tour of the exciting new Plant Accelerator. And we
enjoyed hearing about lucrative student opportunities.
“The site visit was great as it gave me an insight into
Australia's leading agricultural science research cluster
with the privilege of meeting some of the field’s leading
researchers,” said a Flinders University Student.
Our committee is still growing, however we’re seeking
some more University of Adelaide students to contribute;
so please get in touch and find out how you’ll benefit.
In our continued efforts to bridge the gap between
academia and industry, ABSA VIC launched its first
Network Club event for 2010, a group of eager budding
young scientists and engineers all gathered at the local
pub in Parkville to hear some inspiring and helpful tips
regarding networking and all seemed particularly eager
to put their newly taught skills into practice. I would like
to thank Geraldine Farrell and Tom Williams for their
commitment in helping our members, with their inspiring
insights. The past month has proven to be quite a step
forward for Victoria and as we approach the inevitable
exam period of June, I would like to wish our members
good luck for all their end of semester assessments, and
keep in touch with ABSA VIC as we will be holding our
Research to Revenue seminar soon.
Michael Webber
Chair ABSA SA
absa.sa@ausbiotech.org
Anastasios Mallis
Chair ABSA VIC
absa.vic@ausbiotech.org
ABSA QLD Update...
Queenslanders already knew that the outcome of State
of Origin wouldn't be a surprise, so we decided to run
one of our events on the same night! That's right - we
ran our first Research to Revenue seminar on
Wednesday 26 May at the Institute for Health and
Biomedical Innovation at the Queensland University of
Technology. Three guest speakers were invited along to
speak about their career paths from the bench to
business, showing just how research can be turned into
a commercial prospect. Tony Webber and Dr Dietmar
Hutmacher were very excited at the prospect of sharing
their life's work with a good crowd of postgraduate
students, who also turned out for the free pizza and the
opportunity for some great networking. Last year’s state
winner of the Student Excellence Awards, Matthew
Cook, was also invited to show students how his
research project was entered into the competition and
how pitching a plan to commercialise his research won
him a ticket to the AusBiotech national conference.
ABSA NSW Update…
This month was fruitful for ABSA NSW as we kicked off
the first of our social events: the Network Club at the
ever-popular Bank Hotel in New Town.
A solid turnout of 20 was drawn by the trio of veteran
speakers of Colin Sutton (NewSouth innovation), Lisa
Springer (Maia Partners), and Kathy Kociuba (Baxter
Healthcare).
With the gears in motion, ABSA NSW is hatching the
"Research to Revenue" lecture, which will serve as a
prelude to the AusBiotech-GSK Student Excellence
Awards for Research. Be sure to keep your eye out for
updates on these events on the mailing list news.
Remember as Colin Sutton said:
"Turning up is half the success to establishing a
meaningful network“.
John Ng
Chair ABSA NSW
absa.nsw@ausbiotech.org
Our next Research to Revenue seminar will be hosted at
UQ on 3 August. On 5 August, Queensland members
can also attend the next AusBiotech breakfast where
some great conversation can be shared with the industry
over a hot coffee. Finally, this July will see 16 ‘staff’
members, who have been selected, take on the role of
BioFutures mentors. We would like to wish all mentors
an amazing experience over the week-long forum! If you
are interested in seeing what it is all about, feel free to
attend the public Keynote Address where Professor
Jimmy Botella will showcase his amazing work on
genetically manipulating the ripening and odours of fruits.
To register for these event, check out the AusBiotech
Student Associsation website.
Chris Gaffee,
Chair ABSA QLD
absa.qld@ausbiotech.org
Page 3 of 4
June 2010
www.ausbiotech.org
BioBuzz-a-razzi…
Left and below ABSA VIC
Network Club
Above ABSA QLD Research to Revenue
Dietmar Hutmacher giving advice to ABSA SA
members
Left Prof. Tony Weber (CEO of Clinical Network
Services) and Alex Selivanova
Right ABSA NSW Network Club
MC for the night, John Ng in action
Left ABSA NSW Network Club (left to right)
John Ng, Mark King, Kathy Kociuba, Ting Wai
Yiu, Lisa Springer, Colin Sutton, Ascar Yu,
Narelle Jay
Page 4
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