Melbourne Ventures: Business Development

Business Development

Chief Executive Officer: Dr Charlie Day; Email: crbday@unimelb.edu.au; Phone: 03 8344 3186; Charlie has been the leader of Melbourne Ventures, the technology commercialisation company of the University of Melbourne, since its foundation in 2004. Melbourne Ventures provides specialist professional services to assist University of Melbourne academics with the commercialisation of their intellectual property, both through the creation of spin-off companies and through licensing deals. Melbourne Ventures is also responsible for management of the University of Melbourne's patent and trademark portfolio, and provides a range of other services to the University community related to innovation and commercialisation.; Charlie has held board positions with a number of early-stage technology companies, and has served on the commercialisation advisory boards of a number of Cooperative Research Centres. He has also been a member of the Investment Committee of Uniseed, a joint venture pre-seed venture capital fund which brings together The University of Melbourne, The University of Queensland, The University of NSW, and the superannuation fund Westscheme.; Prior to coming to the University of Melbourne, Charlie was a consultant with the Boston Consulting Group involved in developing strategic advice across a range of industries including airlines, banking, and software development. Prior to this Charlie was a consultant with Hagen & Co, an innovative startup consulting company focused on manufacturing process improvement.; Charlie has a degree in Classics and an honours degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Melbourne, along with a doctorate in jet engine design from Oxford University, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar.

Commercialisation Manager - Physical & Information Sciences: Ivan Mellado; Email: ivan.mellado@unimelb.edu.au; Phone: 03 8344 3192; Ivan brings extensive operational business experience to Melbourne Ventures, having held senior management roles in marketing, sales and distribution with leading organisations in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry. He has worked with vendors, systems integrators and resellers, including management roles with Nortel and Ericsson. His experience also extends to management consulting and investment banking, where he has assisted high growth companies under capital raising and M&A mandates.; In supporting Inventors at the University, Ivan focuses on the fundamental questions of strategic marketing - “Who will be the customer/user?”, “What exactly will they value?”, “Why they will choose one particular solution over another?”, “How will we reach them?”, and ultimately, “How much they will pay for the innovation”.; Ivan holds a Bachelor of Business (Marketing) from Monash University which he completed after commencing tertiary studies in Engineering at Melbourne University. He has completed numerous professional development programs in business management, strategy and finance.

Senior Business Development Manager - Chemical & Material Sciences and Bio-Engineering: Dr Sean Lumb; Email: sean.lumb@unimelb.edu.au; Phone: 03 8344 3199; Sean joined Melbourne Ventures in May 2006. With a Ph.D. in Chemistry, Sean focuses on assessing and commercialising technologies arising from research in chemistry, materials and life sciences at The University of Melbourne.; Prior to Melbourne Ventures, Sean was employed with The University of British Columbia in Vancouver , Canada , where he spent seven years at UBC's eminent University-Industry Liaison Office managing university intellectual property commercialisation. This work included assessing new opportunities, protecting intellectual property, international business development, and drafting and negotiating intellectual property agreements.; Sean completed his honours B.Sc. in Chemistry at Queen's University at Kingston and his Ph.D. in Organometallic Chemistry at The University of British Columbia in Vancouver , Canada Sean has completed numerous professional development programs in technology transfer, business development, and new company formation.

Senior Business Development Manager - Life Sciences and Aminal Health: Dr Christophe Demaison; Email: c.demaison@unimelb.edu.au; Phone: 03 8344 3086; Christophe Demaison joined Melbourne Ventures in September 2006. With a background in immunology and oncology, Christophe focuses on assessing and commercialising biotechnology opportunities arising from research in life sciences at the University of Melbourne. Christophe also represents Melbourne Ventures on the investment committee of Uniseed, the pre-seed venture capital fund established by the University of Melbourne, the University of Queensland, the University of New South Wales and Westscheme, a major Australian superannuation fund.; Prior to Melbourne Ventures, Christophe worked for four years in a business development role at Cancer Research Technology Limited, the UK-based oncology-focused commercialisation and development company focusing on exploiting technologies from publicly-funded research institutes around the world. In addition, Christophe has had the experience of working for Gendaq Ltd, a successful start-up biotechnology company later acquired by Sangamo Biosciences Inc.; Christophe completed his PhD in Immunology at the PasteurInstitute (Paris, France) before moving to the Institute of Child Health / GreatOrmondStreetHospital (London, UK) where he was later appointed Honorary Lecturer. His research on viral gene transfer into haematopoietic stem cells led in 2002 to Britain's first successful gene therapy clinical trial for the treatment of immune deficiencies in children.

Commercialisation Manager - Physical and Information Sciences: Richard Day; Email: richard.day@unimelb.edu.au; Phone: 03 8344 3066; Richard Day joined the Melbourne Ventures team in 2007, and brings with him immediate experience in the Management Consulting, and Corporate Advisory sectors, where he spent 4 years assisting technology companies to plan, prioritise, grow, commercialise products or services, raise capital and make acquisitions & divestments.; Richard has also worked in technical, operational and project management roles for IBM, Krupp and Ford. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) from Swinburne University, and a Graduate Diploma in Management also from Swinburne University.; Richard works very closely with Melbourne Ventures Commercialisation and Business Development Managers to support Inventors in maximising the commercial potential of their work.

Business Development Manager - Chemical & Material Sciences and Bio-Engineering: Dr Greg Pullen; Email: gpullen@unimelb.edu.au; Phone: 03 8344 3191; Greg joined Melbourne Ventures in June 2010, bringing with him extensive experience in commercialisation of early-stage technologies. He holds a PhD in Immunology from Monash University, following undergraduate specialisation in Chemistry and Biochemistry at LaTrobe University, and also holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Deakin University.; Prior to Melbourne Ventures, Greg worked in business development and commercial roles at a number of listed Australian biotechnology companies including CSL Limited, where he was part of the licensing team for Gardasil®, and was General Manager Technology Development at Auckland Uniservices Ltd., the technology transfer company for the University of Auckland. In this role he was responsible for identifying, protecting and commercialising new technologies and products, as well as project-managing complex, multi-party, research collaborations. He has also consulted with a number of universities and small companies around development of their technologies and business strategies. In addition, Greg has sales and marketing experience in the medical devices and diagnostics sectors of the healthcare market.

Business Development Associate - Life Sciences and Animal Health: Dr Ruth Park; Email: rapark@unimelb.edu.au; Phone: 03 8344 3198; Ruth joins the Business Development Team at Melbourne Ventures from a research background in pharmacology and immunology, specialising in animal models of lung inflammation. In her previous role as commercial projects manager in the Lung Disease Research Group at the Department of Pharmacology, Ruth managed the COPD drug-candidate screening service with a client base including numerous domestic and multinational biotech and large pharma companies.; Ruth has a specific interest in intellectual property management and is currently completing a Graduate Diploma in intellectual property law at Melbourne Law School. Less studious interests include snowboarding, waterskiing and shopping.; Ruth: "Coming from a research background, I have experienced first-hand some of the issues facing researchers in getting their innovations commercialised, not the least of which being the need to transform exciting ideas into marketable products. My new position at Melbourne Ventures provides the ideal opportunity to assist researchers in identifying and evaluating the commercial potential in their research. The University of Melbourne has an excellent reputation for conducting high calibre research, so I am looking forward to hearing about all of the exciting new ideas being generated."

Business Development Associate - Chemical and Material Science and Bio Engineering: Dr Sabina Zahirovic; Email: sabina.zahirovic@unimelb.edu.au; Phone: 03 8344 3067; Sabina joins the Business Development Team at Melbourne Ventures from Plantic Technologies Limited, where she spent three years working in research and development with supporting roles in marketing, manufacturing and production. Her work included collaborating with various industry partners, DuPont, Amcor and Bemis in addition to working with the CRC for Polymers.
Sabina focuses on assessing and commercialising technologies arising from research in chemistry, materials and life sciences at The University of Melbourne.
Following a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and a Postgraduate Diploma in Science from the University of Melbourne, she concurrently conducted her PhD whilst fulfilling her roles at Plantic. Sabina’s PhD, an ARC-Linkage project with Orica focusing investigating the interfacial tension and rheology of highly concentrated water-in-oil emulsion explosives, was conducted in the School of Chemistry and Department Chemical and Bio-molecular Engineering at the University of Melbourne.
Business Development Associate - Life Sciences and Animal Health: Dr Andrew Leech; Email: aleech@unimelb.edu.au; Phone: 03 8344 3197; Andrew joins the Business Development Team at Melbourne Ventures to focus on the evaluation and commercialisation of the world-class research performed in the faculties of Medicine, Science and Veterinary Science at the University of Melbourne.; Andrew has significant experience in both scientific and legal fields, with a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Queensland, a Masters of Industrial Property Law, and a 3 year postdoctoral research fellowship in the United States. Andrew is a registered Patent and Trade Marks Attorney and has also worked as a Patent Examiner at IP Australia. Previously, Andrew has worked for IMBcom at the University of Queensland where he was involved in all aspects of biological science commercialisation, with a focus on small molecule drugs and stem cell technologies.

Business Development Associate - Life Sciences and Animal Health: Dr Simon Wilkins; Email: simon.wilkins@unimelb.edu.au; Phone: 03 8344 9376; Simon joined Melbourne Ventures in November 2009. With a scientific background in molecular and cell biology, Simon is focused on the development and promotion of commercial opportunities arising from research in life sciences at the University of Melbourne.; Prior to Melbourne Ventures, Simon worked as a post-doctoral researcher and facility manager in the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) at the University of Queensland. It was also at the IMB that Simon completed his PhD in Developmental Genetics and Functional Genomics. During his PhD, Simon also gained significant experience in commercialisation working as an analyst with the technology transfer office of the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMBcom Pty Ltd), where he was involved in assessment of technologies relating to biotechnology tools, small molecule drugs and stem cell technologies.; In addition, Simon has five years of sales and marketing experience in the European and US biotechnology tools industry from his work as an application specialist with Ambion (now Life Technologies Inc). He is also currently studying towards a Graduate Certificate in Applied Finance.

Marketing Manager: Priscilla Mellado; Email: priscilla.mellado@unimelb.edu.au; Phone: 03 8344 3195; Priscilla joined the Melbourne Ventures team in 2006 on a part time basis. Her focus is to build awareness of Melbourne Ventures amongst the academic community at the University and key stakeholders. Priscilla works with the business development team to communicate the services and capabilities available from Melbourne Ventures, and to make it easy for academics to initiate contact with the team.; Priscilla is a tertiary qualified marketing executive with over 12 years experience in developing and implementing successful marketing programs across consumer goods, marketing services, fast food, grocery, telecommunications, retailing and commercial & residential real estate.

Marketing Assistant: Shirley Zapata; Email: shirley.zapata@unimelb.edu.au; Phone: 03 8344 3187