Investment Interns
Current Interns
Melbourne
Ernesto Vargas PhD
Ernesto received a Melbourne International Research Scholarship to do his PhD at the Department of Genetics, University of Melbourne. After completing his degree in 2004 he joined the Department of Pharmacology before moving to Prince Henry’s Institute to continue researching the endocrine system, in particular cell signalling in the pituitary. During that time he collaborated with the Department of Biological Sciences at Monash University towards the characterization of novel receptors. In 2008, Ernesto commenced his Post-Doctoral research at the Florey Neuroscience Institute in the 'Ion Channels and Diseases' group, where he has investigated the role of mutations in epilepsy. Currently Ernesto is completing a Masters of Business Administration at the Melbourne Business School.
Sharad Rajendran PhD B.Tech(Hons)
Sharad has over six years of experience in scientific research and manufacturing. He started his career as a materials engineer in the biomedical implants industry. Following his research on composite biomedical polymers, he completed a PhD in chemical engineering (polyurethane barrier chemistry) funded by an ARC Linkage Grant project, for which he received the Dean’s Commendation. As an engineering scientist, he consulted on polyurethane product development for the resources sector. Prior to joining TTCF, Sharad managed corporate relations for high-impact research projects in partnership with industry and R&D providers from the University of Queensland. His portfolio included acquiring and developing new commercial opportunities for healthcare research projects and sourcing new research revenue streams. He was also involved in the brand development of bespoke research, which focussed on sustainable healthcare solutions to combat obesity and associated inflammatory conditions. He secured the Indo-Queensland Biotechnology Grant (2010-2011) through his involvement with the Smart Futures Fund (an intercontinental collaborative science and technology program). Sharad is completing an MBA at the Melbourne Business School, University of Melbourne.
Kom Yin BCom/BSc(Hons)
Kom holds a Bachelor of Science with Honours (1st Class) and Bachelor of Commerce degrees from Monash University. Kom's honours project was focused on compensatory growth of healthy cardiomyocytes in diseased fetal hearts in the laboratory of A/Prof. M Jane Black. Kom was placed as the top Honours Student in Anatomy and Developmental Biology class of 2010 and was awarded the Monash University Jubilee Honours Scholarship and Dean’s List Fellowship Award (Science).
Anne Nguyen BPharmSci(Hons) MBus(S&T)
Anne holds a Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science degree with Honours from Monash University. Anne's Honours project was focused on alterations to pharmacokinetics through drug/excipient interactions. This project was performed under the supervison of Professor Richard Prankard and Dr Michelle MacIntosh at the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS). Anne has also completed a Masters of Business (Science and Technology) from Monash University, earning the Golden Key International Honour Society award for her commercialisation project on the development of small molecule kinase inhibitors for oncology indications.
Katrina Sorocos BBiotech(Hons) MBus(S&T)
Katrina holds a Bachelor of Biotechnology with Honours (1st Class) from Monash University, specialising in Immunology and Developmental Biology, and received the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology top Honours student prize for 2009. Katrina has also completed a Masters of Business (Science and Technology) from Monash University, earning an inclusion on the Dean's Commendation List for 2010 for her overall results and was awarded 2nd place in the National Australia Bank Science in Business Awards for her commercialisation project on Nexpep Pty. Ltd., an early stage biotechnology company. Katrina is also a member of the Golden Key International Honour Society and AusBiotech.
Adelaide
Claire Hoban BSc
Claire joined TTCF in September 2011. Claire holds a Bachelor of Health Science from the University of Adelaide, specialising in Pharmacology and Physiology. While at the University of Adelaide, she also completed a research scholarship in Pharmacoepidemiology and is currently undertaking research in cellular physiology to attain Honours accreditation. Claire has further developed commercial analytical skills whilst working in engineering project services in the mining and resources sector and is applying these skills to TTCF related opportunities.
Antoine Larchez PhD M.Eng
Antoine completed a PhD involving adaptive predictive control, signal processing and mechatronics from the University of Wollongong. He has expertise in power systems and has been working as a consultant on major engineering projects for international engineering consultancies. He has additional background in micro-electronics, microprocessor design, communications, computer science and takes a hands-on approach to all forms of electrical and IT work. In 2005, Antoine was involved in the Young Achievement Australia Entrepreneur Program as Sales Director. He received several awards including winner for the Trailblazer invention competition after inventing and pitching a water saving device in 2007. He also received the Judge’s choice Award in the Innovation Idol competition for 2007. He has a competent communicator and competent leader award from Toastmasters international and received several awards for his technical presentations.
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Past Interns
Melbourne
Elena Toh PhD GCCRS
Elena completed a PhD in Peptide Biochemistry from the Oral Health CRC/University of Melbourne and a Graduate Certificate in Commercialisation for Research Students (GCCRS) from the Melbourne Business School. Elena was awarded numerous awards and scholarships throughout her PhD and GCCRS years, including the Victorian Division 2009 GSK-Student Excellence Awards, the ANZ Division 2009 IADR Colgate Travel Awards and received the Dean’s Commendation for a subject in GCCRS. She was involved in the Young Achievement Australia Biotechnology Entrepreneur Program, in which her team was awarded the Bio21 BEP™ Innovative Product Award and Mentors Marketing Initiative Award for their company Scyagenics Ltd. She is also a member of AusBiotech.
Ina Sambor PhD GCCRS
Ina has extensive national and international experience in both the information technology and natural sciences research sectors. Ina completed a PhD in free radical chemistry from The University of Melbourne and Graduate Certificate of Commercialization (GCCRS) from the Melbourne Business School. Prior to undertaking her PhD Ina worked in the USA and Israel providing performance improvement automation solutions for healthcare and not-for-profit organizations. Ina was involved in the Young Achievement Australia Biotechnology Entrepreneur Program as both, a PR Director of Yabbipharm, in which she achieved a nation-wide exposure for the company through a creative PR campaign, and as a mentor to a team from Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, which under her mentorship won the Bio21 BEP™ Innovative Product Award and the Mentors Marketing Initiative Award. Ina is now a Senior Business Development Associate in the faculty of Engineering at Monash University.
Louise Wong BSc
Louise has managed human clinical drug trials for the last three years at Quintiles East Asia. Prior to her role at Quintiles, Louise worked in commercialisation at Exploit Technologies (Singapore), the commercialisation arm of A*STAR (Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and Research), where she steered the development of a brain imaging technology towards stroke diagnosis and care. Louise has a BSc in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (University of Melbourne). Louise is currently employed at Syngenta in Singpore and is pursuing a Law Degree at Monash University.
Kristian Jones PhD MBus(S&T)
Kristian has 10 years experience in life Science research. This includes 3 years at Cancer Research UK as an NH&MRC CJ Martin Postdoctoral Fellow working on the regulation of immune cells and 2 years on adult tissue stem cells in immune disease models at Monash University. Kristian holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours - First Class), a PhD in inflammatory Pathways and a Masters of Business (Science & Technology) from Monash University. Kristian is now a Medical Science Laision Officer with Boheringer Ingelheim in Sydney.
Lily Chisholm BSc(Hons) MBus(S&T)
Lily joined the TTCF team in April 2009. Lily holds a Bachelors of Science degree with Honours (1st Class) from the Department of Medicine at the University of Melbourne and also recently completed a Masters of Business (Commercialising Science & Technology) from the Monash University Graduate School of Business. Lily finished as the top student in her business studies class making the Dean’s ‘Honour List’ and was a recipient of the NAB Capital Science in Business award for her business development role in the commercialisation of technology originating from Monash University. Lily is now a Project Officer with the Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research and Research Infrastructure) at Monash University. Part of her role is Business Development in the coordination of the establishment of the new Monash Obesity and Diabetes Institute (modi) led by VESKI fellow, Professor Michael Cowley.
Nada Abubakr ME, Btech(Hons)
Nada joined TTCF in April 2009. Nada holds a Bachelor of Biotechnology (1st Class) from the University of Auckland. Nada also completed a Masters of Chemical Engineering with a Graduate Certificate Scholarship in Commercialisation Research from Monash University. Nada has previously worked as an intern with the Industry, Engagement & Commercialisation office at Monash University and as a patent examiner in the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand where she developed strong patent searching skills in addition to an in depth understanding of patent law in Australia and New Zealand. Nada is a Business Development Associate at UoM Commercial Ltd. (Melbourne Ventures), the commercialisation company of the University of Melbourne.
Adelaide
Victoria Kopetz BHlthSc(Hons), GCertSc&TComm
Victoria holds a Bachelor of Health Science with Honours (1st Class) from the University of Adelaide, specialising in Microbiology, Immunology and Human Physiology and was the top ranked Honours graduate in the Discipline of Medicine for 2005. While completing her PhD in Cardiovascular Medicine, Victoria completed a Graduate Certificate in Science and Technology Commercialisation at the University of Adelaide. In addition, Victoria gained hands on experience at ITEK performing early due diligence work on potential commercial projects. Victoria is a member of the South Australian Branch of the AusBiotech Committee. Victoria is now a member of the R&D tax advisory team at PWC.
Ben Longstaff B.E(Mecht), M.Sc&TComm
Ben holds a Bachelor of Mechatronic Engineering with Honours (1st Class) and a Master of Science and Technology Commercialisation from Adelaide University. In 2006, Ben's team won Adelaide University's Entrepreneur's Challenge and was first runner up in the John Heine Entrepreneurial Challenge. In the same year Ben co-founded a start-up to develop a vine pruning robot. In 2007 he was awarded the Premiers Enterprise Scholarship. In 2008 he co-founded and raised seed capital from Angel investors to build Facebook Applications. In 2010 he worked on a video game engine as a Software Engineer at the start-up Run With Robots. Later in 2010, Ben took a role as lead Software Engineer on a Capability and Technology Demonstrator project for an image search engine at the Australian Centre for Visual Technologies. He is now a programmer with Venture backed start-up company 'Chirpme' in San Francisco.
Ty Yengi MBA M.Sc&TComm
Prior to joining TTCF, Ty worked as an entrepreneur acting in management roles of several start-up companies as well as consulting to SME’s. His responsibilities ranged from Managing Director to leading the finance and operations, business development and client engagement/management with these enterprises. Ty holds an MBA (University of South Australia) and a Master of Science and Technology Commercialisation (University of Adelaide) where he graduated at the top of his class, and in 2008 won Australia’s National John Heine Entrepreneurial Challenge. Ty was appointed as an Investment Manager at TTFM in Adelaide.
Masako Amemyia BCom BSc
Masako joined TTCF's Adelaide team in May 2009 following the completion of a Bachelor of Commerce (Management) & Bachelor of Science (Biochemistry, Chemistry) at the University of Adelaide in 2008. Masako also completed Research Scholarships in Oenology and Reproductive Health at the University of Adelaide where she developed research and analytical skills and an attention to detail, whilst gaining valuable commercial insights into the applications of research activities. Masako is now a Commercialisation Analyst at ITEK.
Auckland
Ashlee Van der Heyden BSc, MBioEnt
Ashlee holds a Bachelor of Science (Biological Sciences and Pharmacology) and a Masters of Bioscience Enterprise (First Class Honours) from the University of Auckland. Prior to her role with the TTCF, Ashlee gained experience in university technology transfer at Auckland UniServices Ltd, most recently as their Technology Development Intern. Ashlee was amember of the advisory board for the Bioscience Enterprise programme. Ashlee is currently based in London working with Cancer Research UK.
