Life Sciences Queensland Ltd (LSQ)

Welcome to 2025! Who’s excited about the year ahead?? 🙋♀️ LSQ is delighted to invite you to join us to for our first event for 2025, a welcome breakfast with Foundation Partner McCullough Robertson on Thursday 13 February 2025. As well as being an excellent opportunity to network with colleagues over coffee and breakfast ☕ 🥐 , this event will provide the opportunity to hear from McCullough Robertson's Corporate Partner and Head of Life Sciences, Reece Walker. Reece will reflect on the key developments that impacted the sector during 2024 and highlight what’s on the horizon for 2025. 🧐 The networking breakfast will be hosted at McCullough Robertson's CBD offices in Brisbane at Level 11, 66 Eagle St. Mark your diaries now and register at 👉 https://lnkd.in/gBUSZM9C. While you’re thinking about events, head over to our calendar at www.lsq.com.au/events and take note of some of our key dates. 🗓️ You can register for all the LSQ events, so take the opportunity to lock in the dates now. See you soon! 🤩 Hayley van der Meer | Charlie Moore

LSQ is signing off for 2024, but wanted to take a moment to reflect on the last incredible 12 months. What a year we’ve had supporting Queensland’s exciting and growing #LifeSciences ecosystem, connecting and showcasing the sector through a broad range of activities, from our: 🤩 famous  #networking events 💡 panel events such as Future of Health 🗯️ workshops on topical issues such as the Australian #mRNA landscape with partners such as Sanofi 👩🎓 information stands at student expos and EMCR days 💫 a revived #LSQHallofFame, with new inductee Dr Iris Depaz 🏆 our #GENEAwards, which this year saw a 33% increase in nominations and an 83% increase in award ceremony guests. 📈 See the graphic below for a summary of just some of the highlights of 2024 – you can see our small but mighty team has pulled out all stops to engage members and run a series of well-supported networking, showcasing and information sharing events. 🤌 🗓️ Mark your calendars with our key dates for 2025 – head on over to www.lsq.com.au/events for all the details. Thank you to Natalie Davis and Sally Dillon for your hard work, and thank you to our Board for their support – Chair Professor Trent Munro and Dr Kym Baker, Dr Denise Hodge, Sarah Meibusch and Professor Sagadevan Mundree. 🙏 With MOUs signed with AusBiotech, BioMelbourne Network and BioNSW, and our strategic review completed by Dr Ryan Parlett after long discussions with members and the broader sector, we are looking forward to returning in 2025 with a renewed sense of purpose and enthusiasm. Thanks to our loyal #members for your ongoing support this year, and welcome to the organisations that have joined the #LSQFamily in 2024: 👏 Aptium.ai 👏 Economic Development Queensland 👏 Emerson 👏 Engage and Create Consulting 👏 The Gild Group 👏 Infensa Bioscience 👏  IQVIA Asia Pacific 👏 Mater Research 👏 mexec 👏 Novartis 👏 ProSeek Bio 👏 Spatial Imaging Pty Ltd Our office will be closed from Monday 23 December through to Friday 4 January: have a wonderful break with your loved ones and we look forward to seeing you in 2025! 🥳

We’re excited to welcome IQVIA Asia Pacific as our newest #LSQMember. IQVIA is a leading global provider of #ClinicalResearchServices, commercial insights and healthcare intelligence to the #LifeSciences and #healthcare industries. IQVIA’s portfolio of solutions are powered by IQVIA Connected Intelligence™ to deliver actionable insights and accelerate innovations. With approximately 88,000 employees in more than 100 countries, IQVIA is dedicated to accelerating the development and commercialisation of innovative medical treatments to help improve patient outcomes and population health worldwide. We look forward to sharing more news about IQVIA in coming months. Welcome to the #LSQFamily! Audrey Comparet, PMP | Michelle Ng, PMP® MScMed | Jude Bonington | Melissa Groom | Howard Chan | Adrine Assabgy | Catrina Codd

If you’re keen to present at the 8th annual #Microneedles2025 conference, and you haven’t already submitted your extract, you’ll need to get your skates on, as submissions are due 7 January. ☄️ Vaxxas and The University of Queensland have teamed up as presenting partners to bring the conference to the southern hemisphere for the first time, making it an excellent opportunity to showcase the #HealthcareInnovation sector in Queensland. 👏 👏 👏 So mark your diaries for 11 to 14 May, when the conference will be held at Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre. 🗓️ If you’re interested in presenting your original work you can submit an abstract for inclusion as either an oral presentation or poster display. The best posters will be considered for a flash presentation. Submissions from students and early career researchers (especially researchers based in low- and middle-income countries) are particularly encouraged: Microneedles 2025 will review abstracts based on merit-based, gender equity and diversity principles. 👍 [Note that early-career researchers are individuals who are within their first 10 years of academic or research-related employment following the completion of their PhD.] Submissions may cover, but are not restricted to: 💡 #mRNA vaccines 💡 Preclinical – vaccine delivery 💡 Clinical research 💡 Drug delivery 💡 Global health 💡 Costing/economic evaluation 💡 Regulatory development 💡 Innovative application of #microneedles 💡 Microneedle fabrication 💡 Device Manufacture 💡 Diagnostics, sensors and monitoring 💡 Microneedle useability 💡 Human factors and acceptability 💡 #Immunology 💡 Coatings and formulation 💡 Fabrication and materials 💡 Skin biomechanics Submit your extract at 👉https://lnkd.in/gX5s9KTB 🫰 Now is also a great time to take advantage of early-bird pricing for registrations – https://lnkd.in/gaFjy6Wm

LSQ has joined the Translational Research Institute Australia community in saying farewell to CEO Professor Scott Bell after five years at the helm. #LSQChair Professor Trent Munro was among the speakers giving a vote of thanks to Scott at yesterday's TRI end-of-year event. Professor Munro thanked Professor Bell for supporting the local #medtech and #biotech ecosystem by recognising the importance of industry partners, telling him: “There’s probably 300 or 400 jobs just in startups that are either still at TRI or have just  graduated – that just wouldn’t have happened without the leadership that you’ve provided,’ he said. Thanks Scott, from LSQ, for all you've done for the sector! TRI Board Chair, Emeritus Professor David Siddle, praised the soft skills Professor Bell used to transform TRI, from harnessing the expertise and collaboration of shareholder groups in the building during the COVID pandemic, to nurturing early to mid-career researchers, and his unwavering commitment to TM@TRI. With Professor Patsy Yates, Professor Helen Benham, Professor Gabrielle Belz, Dr Lauren Aoude  and Dr Lisa Philp all giving accolades from different TRI user groups, it was a moving send off for Professor Bell. Thanks also to Dr Mark Jacobs, Deputy Director-General, Science Division in the Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation, for representing the Queensland Government in talking about the impact of Professor Bell’s tenure. The farewell coincided with the OneTRI Awards, and LSQ congratulates the winners: 🏅 OneTRI Unsung Hero Award – TRI Engagement Team: Glenda Colburn, Benedette Watson and Julia Renaud 🏅 Discovery Platforms Award – Professor Ranjeny Thomas, The University of Queensland (a big year for our QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute Woman of Influence #GENEAward winner!) 🏅 Connecting with the Clinic Award – Professor Josephine Forbes, Mater Research 🏅 Developing and/or Manufacturing Diagnostics and Therapeutics Award – Vaxxas, accepted by CEO David Hoey 🏅 Clinical Trials and Industry Growth Award – AdvanCell 🏅 One TRI Award – Michelle Spraggon, UQ LSQ is proud to be part of the TRI community. 💜 Water cooler conversations are always fascinating, and the OneTRI end-of-year party was no different, providing an excellent opportunity to catch up with our extended network. 😄

It was great to join the PsiQuantum team for today's official opening of their Asia Pacific Head Office in #Brisbane today. With the building of their #QuantumComputing facility at Eagle Farm scheduled to be completed in 2027, opening their CBD office is an important milestone for the company. Cofounder Terry Rudolf flew in for the launch, joining Chief Technical Director Geoff Pryde and Australia's #quantum movers and shakers at the event. We enjoyed seeing renders of the site, talking about workforce needs, and examining samples of the quantum hardware. If you wanted to talk finer details of quantum computing, this was the place to be this morning! The potential for advances in drug discovery using the power of quantum computing is incredible and, along with so many others in our #LifeSciences community, we can't wait to see what the future brings. It's exciting to have this facility being built in Queensland, thanks to support from the Queensland Government and a consortium of Queensland universities: Griffith University, QUT (Queensland University of Technology), The University of Queensland, University of Southern Queensland, University of the Sunshine Coast. 👏 Stuart Mansbridge | Erin Clark | Brisbane City Council | Brisbane Economic Development Agency | Dylan Saunders | Shannon Willoughby

Do you know a superstar of STEM? Nominate them for one of the 2025 Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science. 🤩 👩🔬 🧑🏫 Nominations are open now for the awards, which acknowledge scientists and innovators across diverse disciplines and career stages, as well as STEM teachers inspiring the next generation. 🏆 There are five science prizes ranging between $50,000 and $250,000, including one just for #LifeSciences, and two teaching prizes giving winners $250,000 in prize money. The Frank Fenner Prize for #LifeScientist of the Year awards $50,000 for an exceptional achievement in life science that benefits, or has the potential to benefit, human welfare or society by early to mid-career scientists. This award recognises achievements within 10 years (full time or full time equivalent) of completing relevant studies. Other categories include prizes for: #Science, #Innovation, Physical Scientist of the Year and New Innovators, as well as teaching excellence prizes for high school and primary school teachers. Nominations close next week, on Tuesday 17 December at 5pm AEDT, so get your entries in quickly. ☄️ If you’re looking for a few tips, experienced nominator Distinguished Professor Calum Drummond AO makes some suggestions in this article https://lnkd.in/gD7yd3iz Read all the details and nominate here 👉 https://lnkd.in/dmeA-Rf

What a fabulous evening we had last night at our second joint end-of-year celebration with #LSQ and AusBiotech members! Held at the iconic Cloudland, the event was a resounding success, with a packed room and lively conversations flowing over drinks and canapés. Huge thanks to AusBiotech for partnering with us, and our generous co-sponsors, 360biolabs, a BioAgilytix company and James & Wells IP, and our event supporters, Minter Ellison, for making it all possible. As we celebrated another exciting year for the Queensland #biotechnology sector, we also took a moment to thank Acting CEO Ryan Parlett for his incredible efforts over the past few months. Ryan has worked tirelessly on a strategic review of LSQ, engaging deeply with stakeholders to chart a revitalised path forward for the organisation. The preliminary findings, which we presented at last week's #AGM, mark an exciting opportunity to strengthen LSQ's role as the peak body supporting our vibrant sector. We'll share more updates with you in the weeks ahead, and we’re grateful for the insights and enthusiasm many of you have contributed to this process. Thank you, Ryan, for your dedication and for weaving together a cohesive vision for LSQ’s future. We wish you all the best in your next chapter in 2025. Here’s to an exciting year ahead for #LSQ and the Queensland biotechnology community. #LifeSciences |

Thanks so much to #LSQMembers and the broader #LifeSciences community who joined our networking breakfast and AGM last week. It was a wonderful opportunity to catch up with colleagues and reflect on the successes of 2024. Many of our event attendees told us how fascinated they were to hear from Associate Professor Arutha Kulasinghe about how his spatial biology approach to studying disease is shaping the future of #PrecisionMedicine. Dr Kulasinghe’s team is able to extract a huge amount of data using this approach, which is then processed using AI to develop detailed tissue atlases that can be used to personalise head, neck and lung cancer treatments. Not only is the science fascinating, it’s also beautiful, as we saw from the gaming consoles that Xbox had wrapped in some of the images to raise funds for #CancerResearch: thanks for bringing these along Arutha! The talk was a treat, and it was an excellent opportunity to think about the science that underpins the success of the life sciences sector. Dr Arutha Kulasinghe leads the Clinical-oMx Lab at The University of Queensland's Frazer Institute and the Queensland Spatial Biology Centre (QSBC) at the Wesley Research Institute. He is based at the Translational Research Institute Australia (TRI), our generous breakfast sponsors: TRI is a world-class medical research facility where leading scientists and early-phase biotech companies are focused on driving scientific excellence in complex global health problems, including in immunology, cancer, chronic and severe diseases and neuroscience. It was also our great privilege to induct the late Dr Iris Depaz to our #HallOfFame, in recognition of her contribution to Queensland’s #biotechnology sector. Thank you everyone for being part of this amazing community that has such a huge economic and social impact. Cure Cancer | PA Research Foundation | Passe & Williams Foundation | Tour de Cure Australia | Can Too Foundation |

Are you joining us this week for the second annual #LSQ–AusBiotech end-of-year celebration??? Exclusively for members of either organisation, we'll be gathering at the wonderful Cloudland for an evening of networking to celebrate the achievements of the sector in 2024. Thanks to the generosity of our co-sponsors 360biolabs, a BioAgilytix company and James & Wells IP, and supporter MinterEllison, the event is free for #LSQ or #AusBiotech members. 🤩 🥂 🧀 Thank you to our sponsors for helping us bring together our community: it's often the connections made at such informal events that lead to impactful business and research partnerships . 🤝 👏 There's still time to book, so if you've been meaning to renew or join, get in touch. Our Member Engagement and Events Manager Natalie Davis would be delighted to talk to you 👉  ndavis@lsq.com.au 🎟️ 🎟️ Reserve your place at https://lnkd.in/ge_C7upa Angela Luttick | Andrew Clarke | Sonja Read