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2010 Seminar Programme

University of Otago, Dunedin

The speakers in the Partnering for Innovation 2010 seminar programme have been involved with at least one stage of taking a technology to market. They have all had very interesting but very different lives. Please note that this programme is subject to change.

Programme:

Seminar 1:   30th April  Professor John Hampton (Seed Research Centre, Lincoln University)  

Seminar 2:   14th May   Associate Professor Magnus Thorn (Department of Surgery, University of Otago)

Seminar 3:   28th May   Associate Professor Parry Guilford (Pacific Edge Biotechnology and Department of Biochemistry, University of Otago)

Seminar 4:   11th June  Dr Brian Ward  (Mesynthes)

Seminar 5:   25th June  Dr Iona Weir (Vital Foods)

Seminar 6:   16th July   Dr Peter Foster (Symansis)

Seminar 7:   30th July   Richard Palmer (d3o)

Seminar 8:   13th Aug   Elizabeth Hopkins (Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, Innate Therapeutics Limited and Migco Pharmaceuticals Limited)

Seminar 9:   27th Aug   Michael Macknight (ADInstruments)

Seminar 10: 10th Sept  Damian Camp (Pacific Aerospace) 
 

Download the preliminary programme for the 2010 Partnering for Innovation Dunedin Seminar Series

Speaker Profiles:

JOHN HAMPTON

SOWING THE SEEDS OF SUCCESS?

John Hampton is Professor of Seed Technology and Director of the Lincoln University Seed Research Centre. John holds a BAgrSc and MAgrSc (Plant Pathology) from Lincoln, and a PhD in Agronomy from The University of Nottingham, UK. He began his working life as a seed scientist with MAF before joining Massey University’s Department of Plant Science in the late 1980s. In 1998 he came to Lincoln University. His time at Lincoln has been mostly focussed on teaching and research, but John has also been involved in academic administration, spending 3½ years as Director of the Bio-Protection and Ecology Division.

John has been involved with seed research for over 30 years. His research interests include seed production in conventional and organic systems, and seed quality, with an emphasis on seed pathology and seed vigour. He is a member of the NZ Seed Quality Management Authority, and represents New Zealand at meetings of the International Seed Testing Association (ISTA). John is the current 1st Vice-President of ISTA, and will become President in June this year. John is a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Science and a Fellow of the Agronomy Society of New Zealand.

MAGNUS THÖRN

FROM RESEARCH TO START-UP "A SWEDISH PERSPECTIVE"

Magnus Thörn holds a MD and a PhD in Medicine from Uppsala University in Sweden. For the last 20 years Magnus has worked as a colorectal surgeon and researcher in Sweden. In 1996 he was appointed as a Senior Lecturer at Uppsala University and in 2002 he became Associate Professor of Surgery at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm. In June 2009, in a lateral move, he took up a position as Associate Professor of General Surgery (Colorectal) at the University of Otago. His research has covered epidemiological, clinical and histopathological studies of malignant melanoma and other types of cancer as well as translational studies of cell biology and immunology in patients with colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel disease. He is currently focusing on immunologic mechanisms and experimental therapy in colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel disease.

Magnus has a special interest in innovative research with commercial potential. He has founded 8 start-up companies based on his own research and patents.

PARRY GUILFORD

FROM CLINICAL NEED TO CLINICAL USE: A NEW DIAGNOSTIC TEST FOR BLADDER CANCER

Associate Professor Parry Guilford is a Principal Investigator in the Cancer Genetics Laboratory, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand, and the Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder of Pacific Edge Biotechnology Ltd (PEBL). He completed his MSc at Otago in 1983, and his PhD at Cambridge University in 1989.

Parry’s research interests include the genetics of inherited and sporadic cancers, in particular stomach cancer. In 1998, he led the group which identified and first characterised the cancer syndrome Hereditary Diffuse Gastric Cancer (HDGC). Other active interests include the application of gene expression profiling to the development of diagnostic tools for early cancer detection and the identification of complex expression signatures that predict cancer progression and treatment response. These interests have led PEBL to develop a simple urine test for the rapid detection and stratification of bladder cancer which will be commercially available in mid 2010.

BRIAN WARD

MESYNTHESES REGENERATIVE TISSUE SUBSTITUTES

Dr Brian Ward, B.V.Sc, MBA(dist), is the Chief Executive and Director of Mesynthes. He is a Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (UK) and has held clinical and senior corporate roles in life sciences and health care companies, including Baxter, Beecham and SmithKline Beecham. His experience spans clinical, technical, sales, marketing, business development, corporate development and strategic roles. He also managed investments into New Zealand technology companies when he oversaw the economic investments team for the Foundation for Research Science and Technology. Dr Ward served as the founding CEO of NZBio and has served on a number of government and industry expert panels.

Mesynthes has developed and is commercialising regenerative tissue substitutes for use in reconstructive surgery. Endoform, the company's proprietary extracellular matrix technology, has been shown to encourage quantitatively superior vascular in-growth compared to leading US products. This is known to improve the rate and quality of tissue regeneration, and reduce the incidence of graft failure and infection. Mesynthes is initially focused on dermal applications and is also developing implantable products. These markets represent an opportunity in excess of $1B p.a.

IONA WEIR

SUCCESSFUL COMMERCIALISATION THROUGH CLINICAL TRIALS

Dr Iona Weir has over twenty years research experience in both the academic and commercial arenas.  She gained her PhD from Auckland University comparing plant and mammalian apoptosis, and has received international awards for Outstanding PhD and Young Scientist. Iona has over 40 peer-reviewed international publications and numerous conference presentations.  She worked for HortResearch for 12 years establishing the flow cytometry screening platform, undertaking a Marsden-funded sabbatical at the Ontario Cancer Institute in Toronto, and as Chief Scientist for Aegis BioActives, a joint venture between ENZO Nutraceuticals and HortResearch.  In 2003, she became the Research Director for BioDiscovery NZ a privately owned company focused on high throughput bioactives screening. 

In 2006, Iona established the consulting company TSI NZ Ltd working with a number of New Zealand and overseas companies in the areas of nutraceuticals, functional foods and pharmaceuticals.  Iona is the Chief Scientific Officer for Vital Foods and has managed their research for their new product Phloe Healthy Bowel, a long term gut health and IBS product developed from kiwifruit.  Iona has successfully turned a nutraceutical company into a pharmaceutical company including opening an IND with the USFDA.

PETER FOSTER

Peter Foster has been the CEO of Symansis since July 2007. Before that he spent 30 years in the medical diagnostics industry in Europe firstly at two established companies; Amersham International and Serono Diagnostics before being involved in two biotech start-ups; Shield Diagnostics in Dundee, Scotland (as Research Director) and Euro-Diagnostica based in Arnhem, The Netherlands, and Malmo, Sweden (as CEO). Both start-ups are now successful medium-sized companies making significant profit.

Symansis is a company that produces high quality reagents for the use of researchers in the field of cell biology, including cell signaling research and drug discovery. Symansis was the 2009 NZBio Emerging Company of the Year.

RICHARD PALMER

TAKING IDEAS TO MARKET - THE IMPACT OF DESIGN

Richard has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College and also has graduated in Design from the Royal College of Art in London. He began his career at Du Pont in the UK and Scandinavia and then established an award winning innovation consultancy in London, with many prestigious clients including Levis Strauss, Du Pont and Herman Miller. Whilst working as an innovation consultant Richard was involved with developing a range of products utilising materials with unusual and useful properties, and this was where the idea for his next project d3o was initiated.

d3o is a soft flexible material containing intelligent molecules that lock together on impact to absorb the force, and has been adopted by a large number of sports brands (Puma, The North Face, Scott, Head, Burton, CAT, Spyder, and many more) in products ranging from footballs, ski race suits, mountain biking knee pads and even ballet shoes. d30 is now sold in over 50 countries, and patented in nearly as many. To take d3o from the laboratory to the market Richard has raised over £6m ($NZ12.7m) of finance with investors from Europe and the US. The brand & trademark have been an integral part of the marketing strategy. d3o now a well recognised name in impact protection worldwide and attracts customers in a wide variety of applications from sports, to electronics and military. The company has just under 20 employees, and will be profitable this year.

ELIZABETH HOPKINS

Elizabeth is acting Director of Biocommerce for the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology. She is also an Executive Director of Innate Therapeutics, which is developing immune modulators to target Multiple Sclerosis and other immune-based diseases. In addition, she is Deputy Chair of Canterbury Polytechnic Institute of Technology, Deputy Chair of NZBio and is a member of the Testing Laboratory Registration Council and Canterbury University’s Technology Transfer Advisory Board. Previously Elizabeth was CEO of Wool Equities, a publicly listed New Zealand company focusing on the bio-tech sector and the commercialisation of technologies derived from pastoral sector research.

She has spent 20 years successfully commercialising science outcomes and has been involved in senior management of a number of NZ Biotech start-ups, including Migco, EnCoate and Neuren Pharmaceuticals. Before coming to New Zealand she worked for many years as a senior scientist for Pfizer, at their European headquarters. Elizabeth trained at Oxford University and holds a First Class Honours degree in Pharmacology.  She was also a member of the New Zealand Biotechnology Taskforce.

MICHAEL MACKNIGHT

Michael Macknight was a student at Otago from 1983 until 1988 studying Computer Science and Physics. In 1985, shortly after the original Macintosh computer had come out, he needed a project for 3rd year computer science. His Father was in the Physiology Department and they had the need to replace some of their lab Oscilloscopes. The Macknights had the idea of replacing these with a Macintosh plus software and hardware, as a cheaper option than buying new Oscilloscopes.

In 1986, Analog Digital Instruments (now ADInstruments) was formed. From this start, they have built a company with offices around the world and over 150 staff. The R&D and product direction still comes from Dunedin.

DAMIAN CAMP

Damian is CEO of Pacific Aerospace Limited and is on the advisory boards for the NZ Aviation Industry Cluster, and the University of Otago Bachelor of Applied Sciences. His previous roles include Director of NZBio and CEO of Ovita, a Dunedin-based biotechnology company. Damian's experience extends to the consultancy field, where he worked for Chicago-based management consultants, A.T. Kearney Ltd. He is a graduate of the University of Otago holding a BCom with honours in Marketing Management and a BSc in Biochemistry.