It’s been a busy few months here at mexec as functions and conferences get back into full swing after COVID lockdowns.
Sometimes it feels like things are back to ‘normal’, but then you see a mask or two which remind you again of the times we have been through together.
I attended the recent BioMelbourne seminar, which was a fascinating talk on innovative mRNA technologies and how they are being applied as preventative measures against COVID-19 and other infectious diseases (read more in our ‘events attended’ section below). I thought it time to try the Moderna mRNA vaccine – I noted they said that there was 13 billion that had their moderna vaccines – well now it’s 13 billion and 1!
Hope you’ve managed to keep up to date with the recommended booster roster, you can check out it here if you have not already? Link for Australian vaccination is here
Also, don’t forget to check out the list of events and conferences coming up in the next few months at the bottom of our emails – hope to see you there!
Also, if you have something you would like included in our events list, please reach out to us.
Cheers
Marilyn Jones
In this edition you might want to check out:
- Our mexec jobstrategy™ promotion
- Our latest guest mexec musings from Sue Forrest
- Current Opportunities
- Register for Upcoming events
Guest blog from Sue Forrest
At mexec, we assist a number of candidates in the latter years of their working life who raise the concern of ageism when considering a job opportunity and preparing their application.
My advice is always to own your wealth of experience, don’t try to hide it. Sometimes we can be our own worst enemy when applying for roles by second guessing what the employer is likely to focus on when they review our application…
Click here to continue reading the full Musing which includes tips on how to showcase your experience in the most effective way.
Undertake the mexec jobstrategy™ program
Be empowered to develop a strong CV and find new opportunities
to open the doors to interviews!
Book in before the 14th of June 2023 to receive a 20% discount
Current Opportunities Executive & Management: Experienced – Senior Level Opportunities: Associate Director Clinical Operations Service Manager & Field Service Engineer Mid Level Opportunities: We’ve filled a lot of roles recently with roles filling quickly. To make sure you don’t miss out on your ideal role create a job alert via our new website. |
PRAXIS Australia is exclusively offering mexec affiliates a 20% saving on all of their training solutions, including their online courses and virtual workshops.
Enrol now and enter the code MEXEC23 to take advantage of these savings.
PRAXIS offers are built on competencies developed by the Harvard Multi-Regional Trials Centre (MRCT) and aligned to NHMRC competencies. PRAXIS is developing training for the National Clinical Trials Governance Framework, so you can be confident that their offers are credible and relevant.
For more information click here
The Latest in AI for our Sector
The Automation of Mediocrity – AI is the opportunity to level up as humans
Work Trend Index Annual Report – Will AI Fix Work?
Day Of AI Australia – A free, full day of highly interactive learning designed to spark curiosity and ignite our future leaders, creators and innovators in the AI space.
Trinka – AI powered personal assistant designed for academic writing
ChatGPT vs. Bing Chat: Which AI chatbot should you use?
mexec memberships
mexec is proud to partner with organisations across the life sciences, pharmaceutical, and healthcare sectors. We understand the importance of embedding ourselves within these sectors, and these partnerships help us to understand and ask the right questions to meet our client’s and candidate’s needs.
Today, we highlight our long term membership of BioMelbourne.
BioMelbourne purpose is to grow an innovative, globally competitive healthtech industry in Victoria.
You can also engage with WILAM, no matter which state you are in as they are wishing to support the whole Australian ecosystem to connect.
Publications of Interest
Recent Events

mRNA Lecture 3
“1.3Billion people have been given the Moderna vaccine world wide”
Great insights from the BioMelbourne Network lecture onclinical trials and mRNA on Tuesday 2nd of May. Jason Lickliter from Nucleus Network spoke on clinical trial process and early phase trials. Liz Hartland explained the very innovative RNate technology being developed at Hudson Institute of Medical Research. Paul Burton from spoke on Moderna development of the mRNAvaccines and their mRNA platform.
Of particular interest was the use of mRNA vaccines in precision medicine for oncology.

VESKI – Inspiring Women Event
It was lovely to meet up with Sarah and Jess, two of the recipients of the VESKI Career Recovery Grants. I also felt very privileged to be on the selection panel and to attend this wonderful event.
Congratulations to the career recovery grant recipients:
Robyn Brown from University of Melbourne
Kirsten Ellis from Monash University
Samantha Grover from RMIT University
Jessica Holien from RMIT University
Sarah Jones from Monash University
Lisa Mielke from Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute & La Trobe University
Louise Olsen-Kettle from Swinburne University of Technology
Click here to read more about the career recovery grant recipients.
BioMelbourne Womens Awards
‘Clinical Trials equals hope’
Congratulations to Rima on her award and recognition as the BioMelbourne 2023 Emerging Leadership Awardee, Rima Darwiche – Chief Executive Officer, Central Pharmacy Logistics Australia.🏆
Also Congratulations to the 2023 Distinguished Leadership Awardee, Professor Sharon Lewin AO – Director, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity and 2023 Inspiring Leadership Awardee, Professor Susie Nilsson – Research Director, Biomedical Manufacturing, CSIRO.
BioMelb – BioSymposium – Point of Care Diagnostics
BioMelbourne held a full day in April covering off a range of capabilities, markets, cutting edge technologies, navigating the commercialisation and also designing diagnostics with the end user in mind.
We heard from a wide range of presenters that included Carla from Sento Solutions, Dean Whiting from Pathology Technology Australia and many more from government, industry and universities
RhinoSwab Junior by Rhinomed
Great to see Peter from one our Clients Rhinomed do an ‘off the cuff’ pitch at the recent BioMelbourne POCD day.
Have you seen the Rhinoswab Junior as yet? it takes the greif out of nasal swabs for children (and adults!), yes that is a fake moustache.
Bioforum: Continuous Improvement – Strategy and Company Culture
Sue attended this forum hosted by BioMelbourne Network. An impressive cast of presenters engaged the attendees about the critical importance of continuous improvement, the perceived costs involved and the relevant guidelines that need to be considered.
AusBiotech Women’s Lunch in Sydney
The NSW Women in Life Sciences Luncheon, co hosted by AusBiotech and Medicines Australia, was a must attend event on the annual Life Sciences calendar. I thoroughly enjoyed this years event as I aslo noted it had been the first event in 2022 for me outside of COVID lock down. Where had the year gone?
The event welcomed over 500 professionals including CEOs, biotechnologists, researchers, intellectual property specialists, related service providers and other leaders in life sciences and mentoring roles.
BioMelbourne Women’s Lunch
After having COVID last year for the BioMelbourne womens lunch it was lovely to attend in person this year. Thanks to all the speakers and BioMelbourne and their team for putting on another fabulous event.
ANDhealth Launch
I was privileged to be invited to the launch of ANDHealths new connected health innovation and commercialisation centre in Victoria. CHICC.
The Victorian Connected Health Innovation and Commercialisation Centre (CHICC), powered by ANDHealth, was formally opened by the Minister for Industry and Innovation, The Hon Ben Carroll MP.
The Victorian Government has invested $2.4 million towards the establishment of the CHICC, which will engage over 500 participants per year and bring together innovators, industry leaders, healthcare professionals, and investors to collaborate, connect and access free services and support.
ANDHealth CEO Bronwyn Le Grice said, “We have seen a remarkable 84% increase in the number of digital health companies in Victoria since June 2020, indicating the huge potential of the Victorian digital and connected health sector to drive new, high-value jobs and better health outcomes.”
Delivered by ANDHealth, Australia’s leading digital health commercialisation organisation, the CHICC’s launch is a significant step forward for Victoria’s digital health ecosystem.
CUREator: Opportunity in Preparedness
What an amazing career journey to hear from Julian Clark and insights into Opportunity and Preparedness.
Congratulations also all the awardees from the Brandon Biocatalyst CUREator round 2.
Delivered by Brandon BioCatalyst, CUREator is backed by the Australian Federal Government’s Medical Research Future Fund. The MRFF’s $80 million Medical Research Commercialisation Initiative aims to support early-stage health and medical research and innovation in Australia through to proof-of-concept and beyond, providing opportunities for commercialisation. CUREator is responsible for managing a $40m portion of this fund, dedicated to supporting novel therapeutics and preclinical medical research. CUREator has an additional $3 million in funding from Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, to support Australia’s health security and protect against emerging infectious diseases and pandemics.
Watch out for the next round coming out very soon!
Tripe Club Victoria
I recently attended an event at the RACV club that was called the Tripe Club. Yes! Agreed on the name and although I refused to eat tripe more than ½ of the over 80 attendees quite happily tucked in.
The most interesting part though was the guest speaker Professor David Bowtell, co-Head of the Women’s Cancer Program at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
He gave a fascinating talk on “How the Blueprint for Cancer was Discovered and how it has Revolutionized Treatment”
Programs of Interest
VESKI –Inspiring Women STEM sidebyside program of workshops and networking opportunities is designed to empower woman with the skills, networks and mindset to develop and achieve their career goals
CSIRO – Innovate to Grow
ARCS Grow Program – Addresses the well documented shortage of Clinical Research Associates by using a three-pronged approach to increase skills
ARCS Signature Program –For executives to build competency in providing a development framework for people with ambition for senior leadership
Praxis course and trainings – Special offer for mexec members

Upcoming events
Is your conference not listed here? mexec aims to be inclusive of conferences and events across the STEM sector in Australia for both academia and industry. Reach out to us if you are not listed and we are very happy to include your event.
May | |
![]() | MTAA Cyber Security Symposium 30 May 2023 Sydney Register Now |
![]() | Bioforum – Regulatory Essentials for Medtech Manufacturing 30 May 2023 Melbourne Register Now |
June | |
![]() | Digital Health Festival 2023 6-7 June 2023 Melbourne Register Now |
![]() | ARCS Annual Conferences 2023 6-8 June 2023 Sydney Register Now |
![]() | The Global Stem Cell Event 14 – 17 June 2023 Boston or Online Register Now |
![]() | SA Insight Series – Featuring NovaEye 15 June 2023 Adelaide Register Now |
July | |
![]() | ASM National Meeting 2023 3 – 6 July 2023 Perth Register Now |
![]() | CliniCon 2023 6 – 7 July 2023 Perth Register Now |
![]() | EduCon 2023 6 – 7 July 2023 Perth Register Now |
![]() | 19th World Congress on Medical and Health Informatics 8-12 July 2023 Sydney Register Now |
![]() | ANZSMS29 9 – 13 July 2023 Wollongong Register Now |
![]() | Collaborate Innovate 2023 10 – 12 July 2023 Adelaide Register Now |
![]() | International Congress of Genetics 16-21 July 2023 Melbourne Register Now |
![]() | Bio Connections Australia 24 July 2023 Melbourne Register Now |
![]() | SA Insight Series – Featuring GPN Vaccines 27 July 2023 Adelaide Register Now |
August | |
![]() | SA Insight Series – Featuring Advancell 17 August 2023 Adelaide Register Now |
![]() | Medical Technology Workshop: Pre-market Regulatory Affairs for Medical Devices 24 – 25 August 2023 Sydney Register Now |
September | |
![]() | Tri-State 8 – 10 September 2023 Darwin Register Now |
October | |
![]() | HLTH 2023 8 – 11 October 2023 Las Vegas Register Now |
![]() | ANZBMS 2023 22 – 25 October 2023 Newcastle Register Now |
![]() | SA Insight Series – Featuring MicroX 26 October 2023 Adelaide Register Now |
![]() | AusBiotech 26 – 28 October 2023 Brisbane Register Now |
![]() | AusBioInvest 30 October 2023 Melbourne Register Now |
November | |
![]() | MedTech23 Annual Conference 30-31 October 2023 Sydney Register Now |
![]() | Medical Technology Workshop: Post-market Regulatory Affairs for Medical Devices 15 November 2023 Melbourne Register Now |
![]() | Medical Technology Workshop: Pre-market Regulatory Affairs for Medical Devices 16 – 17 November 2023 Melbourne Register Now |
Links of Interest
The Conversation – Are there too many PhD’s?
The Scientist – Finally, Scientists Sequence Single Cells with Long-Read Technology
HRDaily – Average Tenure Slashed Among Older Workers
Global Talent Trends – Data-driven Insights into the Changing World of Work
Forbes – Does Tally Health have the Pill to Reverse Aging and Live Longer?
Venture Valkyrie – A Mental Health Detour to Margaritaville
Careers with STEM – 2023 LinkedIn Top Companies
Regulation of Software Based Medical Devices
Don’t Forget!
Undertake the mexec jobstrategy™ program
Be empowered to develop a strong CV and find new opportunities
to open the doors to interviews!
Book in before the 14th of June 2023 to receive a 20% discount
A quick tip!Chef Hacks |
Please don’t hesitate to contact us if we can be of assistance with your job search or executive recruitment.
With best wishes,
Marilyn Jones
Executive Director
mexec
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