Delegates from Australia and around the world have convened in Melbourne as the city's biomedical and health innovation precincts take the spotlight, including the Monash Technology Precinct (MTP), Victoria's largest employment hub outside the CBD.
This is the first time Melbourne has hosted the annual National Health and Innovation Precincts Summit. As Australia's leading biomedical hub and one of the most significant in the Asia-Pacific region, Melbourne serves as the ideal backdrop for an event dedicated to shaping the future of health and innovation precincts.
The Summit commenced with a tour of the MTP where Monash University's Vice Chancellor and President, Professor Sharon Pickering, along with Victoria's Minister for Tourism and Major Events, the Hon Steve Dimopoulos welcomed the delegation. The tour encompassed the Monash Innovation Labs, including the mRNA Workforce Training Centre; the Victorian Heart Hospital and The Australian Synchrotron.
Victoria's biomedical and health innovation infrastructure and talent are concentrated in four major innovation districts, anchored by leading institutions including Monash University, the University of Melbourne, RMIT University and La Trobe University.
The MTP is at the heart of one of the largest innovation districts globally and has generated 115,000 jobs and serves as a training ground for tens of thousands of students, all while injecting up to $11.5 billion into the Victorian economy each year. Over the past five years, Monash University-developed intellectual property has led to 33 spinouts and 169 licensed deals, with AU$1.55B total capital raised by Monash spinouts during this period.
Through the University's Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences and Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash has a well-established footprint within other notable precincts including the Parkville Precinct, Alfred campus and the Peninsula Health Precinct. Monash is also home to the School of Rural Health comprising eight clinical teaching sites with a footprint stretching from Mildura in the north-west to Bairnsdale in the south-east.
Melbourne plays a key role in contributing to 60 per cent of Australia's pharmaceutical exports and is home to 70 per cent of Australia's top pharmaceutical and medtech companies.
"Melbourne's health precincts, such as the Monash Technology Precinct, are vital engines of innovation and economic growth," Professor Pickering said. "Not only do they drive advances in medical research and patient care, they also create high-skill jobs, attract global investment and strengthen Australia's reputation as a leader in health and biomedical innovation.
"Through Monash University's investment in MAVERIC, an Australian-first advanced AI supercomputer, we're further strengthening the Monash Technology Precinct's capacity to solve complex problems across a vast and multifaceted span of human endeavours. By embedding AI expertise within the Precinct, we're enabling faster data analysis, stronger trial design and more effective collaboration with global partners, including through our connections to the Boston biotech precinct ecosystem in the US where the University recently established its Monash Boston Hub."
Monash University's Director of Precincts, Mariella Smids, said the Summit highlights how Victoria's precincts collaborate both within their own boundaries, across the state and globally to accelerate innovation.
"We're demonstrating how researchers, clinicians, industry and government share infrastructure, talent and capability to move new ideas into clinics and communities faster. This coordinated approach reinforces Victoria as a globally competitive destination for research, health, industry and investment," Ms Smids said.
Cardiologist and researcher Professor Stephen Nicholls, Director of the Victorian Heart Institute, Victorian Heart Hospital and the Velos research accelerator, said precincts like the MTP play a critical role in lifting Australia's innovation capability.
"Australia consistently punches above its weight in research, but the real challenge is turning that strength into impact. Precincts like this create the environment to think differently, work differently and ultimately deliver better outcomes for the community.
The level of integration is a benefit to many. The MTP ecosystem sharpens the questions we ask in research, brings industry, government and regulators into the development process, and ensures our clinical decisions are guided by the latest evidence and innovation."
The National Health and Innovation Precincts Summit is being held at Melbourne Connect from December 2 - 3. Keynote speakers and panel moderators from Monash include Executive Director, Government, Policy and Precincts, Ben Vivekanandan; Acting Chief Commercialisation Officer & Senior Director New Ventures and Investments, Dr Ingmar Wahlqvist and Associate Dean (Innovation) and Director, Monash AI Institute, Professor Shonali Krishnaswamy.
