Researchers from the Wal-yan Respiratory Research Centre went head-to-head in a Shark Tank-style competition earlier this month for the chance to secure seed funding to help get a bold idea off the ground.
The funding competition was the highlight of the Wal-yan Centre's annual Scientific Retreat on Wadjemup (Rottnest Island).
The Wal-yan Respiratory Research Centre – a powerhouse partnership between The Kids Research Institute Australia, Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation and Perth Children’s Hospital – has a united goal to prevent childhood respiratory illnesses and ensure healthy lungs for every child, for life.
The much-anticipated inaugural Shark Tank session took place on the final day of the retreat, where researchers competed for the three lots of $20,000 in seed funding to help progress bold research ideas to the next stage.
Finalists Professor Peter Le Souef, Assoc Professor David Martino, Dr Thomas Iosifidis, Dr Samuel Montgomery, Dr Nina D’Vaz and PhD student Katherine Landwehr were each given five minutes to pitch their idea and had 10 minutes to answer questions from the judging panel and audience.
Congratulations to Dr Montgomery, Dr Iosifidis and Dr D’Vaz whose winning ideas related to swab collection for nasal microbiome, drug discovery using lung-on-a-chip technology and improved virus data collection, respectively.
The Shark Tank process was supported by two workshops on idea generation and planning, and the art of storytelling and pitching, as well as one-on-one coaching – with the idea that these learnings will help Wal-yan Centre researchers with future grant applications.
Other Retreat highlights
Walter McGuire and his family, of Go Cultural Aboriginal Tours and Experiences, performed a beautiful Welcome to Country Smoking Ceremony and Sand and Water Ceremony to start the conference.
This year’s retreat was an opportunity for researchers to present and get feedback on raw data, as well as share new projects within the Wal-yan Centre, which over the course of the two days led to further collaboration between Centre teams.
Guest speakers Professor Jane Pillow, Professor Peter Gething and consumer advocate Mitch Messer provided valuable insight into the Circa Diem preterm research project, COVID-19 modelling and life with cystic fibrosis, respectively.
The annual retreat is a highlight on the respiratory researcher’s calendar and this year did not disappoint with a change in program providing fresh perspectives with the addition of a lunchtime poster session, Shark Tank pitch and a shake up to the New Investigator student session.
This year the Wal-yan Centre students were challenged to present their research in a lay style with only five slides and one image per slide. Congratulations to New Investigator Award winner Denby Evans and runner-up Dr Rhea Urs, who both received some financial support towards professional development.
Also, congratulations to Cristina Gamez, Daniel Laucirica, Alexia Foti, Jenny Lam and Jane Choi, who judges voted as having the best poster presentations.