Welcome

Acknowledgement of Country

BrainTech 2025 State of Play

Discover how advances in brain and imaging technologies are changing surgery, and how investment trends are defining the future of neurotech.

• Adam Caplan – Founder and General Partner, Jumpspace Ventures
• Andrew Morokoff – Neurosurgeon and Associate Professor, The University of Melbourne

An Epic Journey – The Epiminder story

A founder’s account of how collaboration and persistence have powered a homegrown innovation transforming epilepsy care.

• Prof Mark Cook – Director of Clinical Neurosciences, St Vincent’s Hospital

Sex Differences in the Brain

Get ready to be convinced on why we need to consider sex-differences in the design and translation of braintech.

• Prof Cassandra Szoeke – Lead, Women’s Healthy Ageing Program

The Promise of Big Data

Lianne will share her work with the world’s largest international neuroimaging consortium and explain how collaboration and large-scale data are driving breakthroughs.

• Prof Lianne Schmaal – Head of the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Research program, Orygen

Towards Patient Outcomes

How to best integrate patient and carer perspectives in braintech development? Short presentations are followed by a combined Q&A.

• Rachel de las Heras – CEO, Ceretas
• Dr Avinash Singh – Senior Lecturer, School of Computer Science, University of Technology Sydney
• Jeremy Steele – CEO, Control Bionics
• Moderator: Simon Goodrich – Co-founder, Portable

The role of Digital Tools for Healthier Brains

This session features three presentations covering: MCRI’s HeadCheck concussion tool, scaled through AFL partnerships; the Rhythms in Physiology Lab (RiPL), mapping multiday cycles to inform personalised brain health and Dementia Australia’s Brain Track, empowering users to actively monitor their own cognition.

• Alexandra Brassert – Senior Manager, Concussion Clinic, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
• Pip Karoly – Senior Lecturer, Department of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Melbourne
• Dr Helen Macpherson – Senior Research Fellow, IPAN, Deakin University
• Moderator: Camille Shanahan – General Manager, Jumar Bioincubator

Who pays? The Reimbursement & Regulatory Landscape

This panel will explore practical strategies from real-world examples to navigate R&D, align commercialisation with payer expectations and plan market entry.

• Adele Barnard – Clinical Research Director, Nutromics
• Michelle Burke – Chair, Cell Therapies Pty Ltd
• Harikesh Pushpapathan – General Partner, Stoic VC
• Andrew Maxwell – Wavewise Analytics (Cyban)
• Moderator: Tim Mahoney – CEO, Fluent

Getting off the Island: Pathways for Australian-born BrainTech Companies

What are the challenges and opportunities for braintech startups scaling locally versus internationally? These speakers will provide their insights on navigating regulatory, funding, and market barriers and offering guidance on the preferred pathways to market.

• Adam Caplan – Founder and General Partner, Jumpspace Ventures
• Andrew Maxwell – Wavewise Analytics (Cyban)
• Dr Kathryn Sunn – CEO, Celosia Therapeutics and Director of Commercialisation, Macquarie University
• Moderator: Dr Chris Vindurampulle – Principal, Griffith Hack

The future of BrainTech is….?

Who knows what’s next for BrainTech? We have an amazing lineup of startups and researchers, each with three minutes to make their case for what the future holds. Expect to hear some deep dives into their own research and innovations, bold bets, fresh ideas, and a glimpse into the next frontier of brain health.

• Ruwini Cooray – Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Neurogen
• Colin Denver – CEO, SMarT Minds Dx
• Tim Mahoney – CEO, Fluent
• Professor Colette McKay – Founder, EarGenie®
• Associate Professor James McLoughlin – Co-founder and Chief Academic Officer, Your Brain Health
• Dr Catherene Pham – inventor of NEUROsense
• Dr Avinash Singh – Senior Lecturer, School of Computer Science, University of Technology Sydney
• Dr Qiang Sun – Research Fellow, Department of Physics, RMIT University

Final Remarks

Hosted by:

• Dr Brett J. Kagan – Chief Scientific Officer & Chief Operations Officer, Cortical Labs
• Harikesh Pushpapathan – General Partner, Stoic VC