Danny specialises in the drafting and prosecution of global patent families for chemical inventions, with a focus on the pharmaceutical/medicinal chemistry sectors. Danny’s experience covers the entire patent life cycle. He advises clients at every stage, from the patent-related aspects of experimental design, development of appropriate IP strategies and drafting patent specifications to build investable patent portfolios, to obtaining globally enforceable rights, and advising on pre-product launch infringement risks. Danny holds a PhD in organic synthetic chemistry from Monash University. During his PhD studies, Danny was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship enabling him to further his research at Harvard University. Danny has worked as a senior scientist in drug discovery in the UK pharmaceutical industry. Danny also completed a course in technology-based entrepreneurship at the Saïd Business School at Oxford University. Danny’s experience gives him a deep understanding of the journey that an invention takes from conception through to commercialisation. This allows him to identify valuable aspects of an invention and build investable patent portfolios to help his clients succeed.

Currently, Craig is Director of SABRE at DST Group, this role involves engagement and the leveraging of capability in the Australian Biotechnology sector to assist in meeting requirements of the Australia Defence Force. Craig’s background is a combination of science and business, where he completed a PhD in biotechnology in 2003, a post-doctoral position in the Department of Clinical Pharmacology at the Flinders Medical Centre, and an MBA in Technology Management. Craig’s other roles at DST have included Director of Science Translation, Director of the Technology Partnerships Office and Program Lead for the Small Business Innovation Research for Defence (SBIRD) program under the Next Generation Technologies Fund. Craig’s career has also included a number of secondments, including 12 months to the UK’s Defence Science Technology Laboratory and 1 month to the Defence Science Organisation in Singapore where he undertook a study into Defence innovation and technology translation. Craig was also seconded to the Defence Innovation Partnership in Adelaide where he facilitated connections between Defence and the wider scientific community in South Australia.

Brittany has experience handling extensive patent portfolios for local clients, multinational pharmaceutical companies, and Australian universities. She provides a comprehensive range of patent services, including the drafting of patent applications and their prosecution, opposition and re-examination procedures, and pharmaceutical patent term extension. She also provides infringement and validity, freedom to operate, and strategic patenting advice. Brittany takes a practical approach to patent matters, always returning to the client’s strategic commercial objectives. Her client’s value her ability to relay complex strategic advice with clear and concise communication, and her friendly and approachable nature. To this extent, Brittany was awarded Best IP Specialist at the Client Choice Awards 2021. Prior to joining the IP profession, Brittany undertook a visiting Postdoctoral Fellow with National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States. She holds a PhD in medicinal chemistry from the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS), and has also undertaken research at the Burnet Institute and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research.

Brittany is a member and past Secretary of the RACI Victorian Committee, provides regular IP-related seminars at local universities, and is a regular contributor to Chemistry in Australia and a number of IP blogs, journals and magazines.

Chris has a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Melbourne and undertook postodoctoral studies at Penn State, USA. He started his career at Pfizer UK for 5 years, then returned to Australia as a Research Fellow at the University of Sydney and then with biotechnology company Ambri. Chris moved to the Melbourne-based biotech Cytopia in 2001 as Head of Medicinal Chemistry and later as Research Director. Over this time he led teams in the discovery of two drugs that entered clinical trials and led a multi-million dollar collaboration with Novartis. The lead asset from that period, Momelotinib, is slated for approval by the FDA in September this year. In 2010 Chris joined WEHI as a Laboratory Head before taking on executive and leadership roles with a number of privately-held biotechnology companies. Dr Burns is an inventor on over 30 distinct patents and a co-author on over 60 scientific publications. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (UK) and the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Chris was a founder of Amplia Therapeutics and has sat on the Board since 2018. He was appointed as CEO and Managing Director in December 2022.

In 2020, Dr. Tara Karnezis was appointed CEO and Managing Director of Gertrude Biomedical Pty. Ltd in 2020-a young biotechnology company invested in developing novel small molecule inhibitors against a transcription factor called Sox18, implicated in various aspects of cancer growth and spread. Dr. Karnezis was one of three co-founders who founded the company in 2019, raising over $14 million of capital. Dr Karnezis has more than 15 years’ experience in research leadership positions, heading scientific programs with significant commercial and clinical application at Stanford University and Peter Mac. She is an expert in vascular biology with an internationally significant track record in oncology. In addition to experience with target identification and validation, she has been involved in identifying druggable targets related to the interaction of vascular biology and oncology. Dr. Karnezis holds a PhD in Biochemistry from La Trobe University having conducted her doctoral studies at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and Peter Mac.

Associate Professor Tam Nguyen has over 20 years of working in the healthcare, health & medical research environment including tertiary teaching hospitals and research institute across Australia. Tam is the Deputy Director of Research at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, one of the largest tertiary teaching and research hospitals in Melbourne. He holds academic appointments with the Melbourne Medical School and Monash Medical and sit on the Investment Committee of Horizon3Biote Fund. Tam also invest and advise early stage biotech and medtech companies across Australia and Singapore.