A former politician's perspective of Australia’s med tech industry with The Hon. Jaala Pulford

11/17/23 • 37 min

In the latest episode of Med Tech Talks, Robert Klupacs is joined by the Honourable Jaala Pulford, Chair of MTPConnect, Vice Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of Melbourne, and former Minister of the Parliament of Victoria.

Jaala is well known for her career in public service where she has held several significant portfolios, including Minister for Agriculture, Minister for Small Business and Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy.

In her role as Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy, Jaala was at the forefront of agendas to boost Victoria’s innovation ecosystem including the $2 billion Breakthrough Victoria Fund and the securing of both Moderna and BioNTech vaccines for Melbourne.

In this episode you will hear about:

Jaala’s career as a politician and her journey from Castlemaine, Victoria to the being a Minister in the Victorian Parliament.
Insights into her time as Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy which coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Her mission as Chair of MTPConnect and her thoughts on how Australia can improve its innovation ecosystem.

Learn more:

Learn more about Jaala Pulford.

Find out more about MTPConnect.

Updated version 05/08/22

In this episode you will hear about:

Jaala’s career as a politician and her journey from Castlemaine, Victoria to the being a Minister in the Victorian Parliament.
Insights into her time as Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy which coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Her mission as Chair of MTPConnect and her thoughts on how Australia can improve its innovation ecosystem.

Learn more:

Learn more about Jaala Pulford.

Find out more about MTPConnect.

Updated version 05/08/22

Previous Episode

Equalising access to antenatal healthcare through med tech with A/Prof Fiona Brownfoot

In the latest episode of Med Tech Talks, Robert Klupacs is joined by Associate Professor Fiona Brownfoot, specialist obstetrician at the Mercy Hospital for Women, clinician scientist at the University of Melbourne and Co-Founder of Kali Healthcare.

Kali Healthcare is undergoing an exciting commericalisation journey and aims to transform pregnancy monitoring through the development of a wearable device that will allow expecting mothers to monitor foetal heartbeats at home.

In her role as Associate Professor of Obstetrics at the University of Melbourne, she heads the Obstetric Diagnostics and Therapeutics Group – a multidisciplinary team of scientists and engineers focused on developing new treatments for obstetric conditions – whilst mentoring PhD students to become the next generation of clinician scientists.
In this episode you will hear about:

How Kali Heathcare aims to improve foetal monitoring with new portable, wearable technology in order to detect and prevent pregnancy complications
The commericalisation journey of Kali Healthcare
Fiona’s thoughts on the power of mentorship to propel the next generation of clinician scientists.

More information:

Learn more about Associate Professor Fiona Brownfoot.

Next Episode

Grit and sacrifice on the journey to commercialisation with Dr Dean Freestone

In the latest episode of Med Tech Talks, Robert Klupacs is joined by Dr Dean Freestone, Co-Founder of Seer Medical.

A modern Australian innovation success story, Seer Medical was founded in 2017 and specialises in the early detection and diagnosis of epilepsy.

The company has developed a highly innovative, portable video-EEG-ECG recording system that patients can take home with them, rather than being limited to hospital use.

Dr Freestone was one of three co-founders of Seer and was CEO until 2023. Today, he holds a board position at Seer Medical.

In this episode you will hear about:

Dean’s unique journey from his school days all the way to being Co-Founder at Seer Medical.
How Seer Medical provides revolutionary new care and patient monitoring practices for patients with epilepsy.
The sacrifices and challenges Dean faced on the commericalisation journey to make Seer Medical a success.

Learn more:

Learn more about Dr Dean Freestone.

Find out more about Seer Medical.

Updated version 05/08/22