ANFF’s new CEF team. From Left to right, Matt Chong, Navin Chandrasekaran, Oded VanHam.

Today ANFF unveils a new dream team – three specialised Client Engagement Facilitators (CEFs) hired to make it easier for industry to engage with our equipment and expertise.

The CEF team will be the primary contact for any industry client whose needs transcend a single ANFF Node, or for those that require assistance finding the best way that ANFF can support a project. They will also be responsible for the network’s presence within their respective specialist areas, and for matchmaking between businesses and academia where required.

The focus areas the CEFs specialise in have been identified as national priorities that ANFF is best positioned to support, they are: Medical Technologies, Quantum and Photonics, and Space and Defence. While the CEFs will be located in areas of high activities in these areas, their services are available nationally and they operate as part of the HQ team, overarching the network’s Node structure.

The Dream Team

The three members of the new team have been selected due to their extensive familiarity with innovative organisations, ability to understand their research and commercialisation strategies, and their ability to help navigate both the technical and commercial obstacles that stand in the way of a project’s success.

Oded VanHam: Medical Technologies

Oded will focus on serving ANFF clients working in MedTech. He has a background in both project and partnership management, having worked to support the development of companies with the Medical Devices Partnership Program (MDPP) and more recently handling relationships for Monash University’s Artificial Hear Program.

Before this, Oded has been a Business Professor teaching post-graduate courses, a Strategic Initiatives Manager, a Director Research Innovation and Development, and a Project Manager at Canada’s Hospital for Sick Children where he coordinated Canada’s largest genomics study, a multi-centre, international cystic fibrosis research project.

You can contact Oded via oded.vanham@anff.org.au.

Navin Chandrasekaran: Quantum and Photonics

Navin has a background in research commercialisation, research co-ordination, and business development in addition to several of his own patents and papers. His experiences will be used to aid our Quantum and Photonics clients – having walked the path that many ANFF clients are taking, Navin is more than capable of helping our users reach their project goals.

Following a PhD in Biotechnology at UQ, Navin transitioned into business development holding roles with the British Council and Charles Darwin University where he helped to secure grants for clients, organise commercially relevant workshops, and to prepare R&D for investment opportunities.

Contact Navin via navin.chandrasekaran@anff.org.au.

Matt Chong: Space and Defence

Matt has worked in the life sciences industry for over 20 years, with experience in business development, consulting and strategic planning roles across industry, government and academia.

Matt holds a Bachelor of Biotechnology with first class honours, a PhD in Medicine and a graduate certificate in applied finance.

He is passionate about the “bench to bedside” translation of research and supporting genuine collaboration between industry and research organisations, and was recently appointed to the board of the Cure4 CF Foundation, a registered not for profit charity that invests in translational research to develop a cure for cystic fibrosis.

His career has spanned a diverse range of disciplines, including business management, technology commercialisation, grant administration, contract research and consulting management. He will bring these acquired skills to the CEF team, specializing in Space and Defence.

Reach out to Matt by emailing matt.chong@anff.org.au.