Franklin Women_Stories from the sector

It’s no secret that Franklin Women loves networking! So, we are thrilled to be Partnering with Cicada HealthTech Hub to deliver a fun (and free!) event at their Westmead campus on the art of networking. Here Lilly Bojarski, General Manager of the Cicada Innovation Health Tech Hub, tells us more about the Hub and why an event like this is so important now more than ever:

Prof Heiko Spallek

Our team at the Cicada HealthTech Hub have been working with the Franklin Women team to present a co-hosted event not to be missed in the 2024 calendar. Wednesday August 28th we will be co-hosting the gala at our Innovation Quarter Building on Hawkesbury Road in Westmead. The vibe will definitely be social with ample time for connecting with fellow audience members and networking – in fact that’s the theme of the night!

Our headline speaker, Julia Palmer, is the founder of Relatus, a consultancy she runs to help organisations and individuals maximise the impact of their professional networking activities.

Julia is an acclaimed writer, having published three books, and a powerful speaker on the subject of creating and managing viable networks. She sees networking as a vital professional skill in all industries.  

We concur with this and have observed networking to be a vital skill in the life sciences as well, not only in academic circles but also, and perhaps even more so, for those seeking career trajectories away from academia post graduation. So we encourage everyone to register to learn from this master of the art of networking.  

So what’s the Cicada HealthTech Hub? With the support of Investment NSW and our partner, Brandon Capital, we launched the Cicada HealthTech Hub at the end of March of this year. Our mission is to support translation of the world-class research produced from across the Westmead Health and Innovation District. We are executing on this mission by bringing the educational programming which Cicada is famous for, as well as the world-class Incubator resident support which Cicada has built it’s 24-year reputation on to the extraordinary innovations in health and biotech that are emerging in our region.  

My role at the Cicada HealthTech Hub sees me supporting research translation in a variety of ways. Identifying and welcoming new residents and leading an amazing team – including our Program Manager, Dr. Angelica Lau, and Community Coordinator, Kim Steel. The Hub delivers a packed calendar of events and programs – including social night Open Houses, educational monthly lunchtime Masterclasses, our Pre-Accelerator -”Elevate”, which runs twice a year, and our Advanced Accelerator, “Fast-Start” for more mature ventures and startups. We also co-host events from time to time with partner organisations, allowing us to provide a forum for Industry to interface with the Westmead-based research and clinical communities.

We’re really looking forward to co-hosting our upcoming Open House this August with the Franklin Women team – I’ve been a real fan since I first met Melina at the Garvan Insitute soon after arriving in Australia! It will be a terrific night and professional networking opportunity for women in science (and their supporters of all gender identities) from Western Sydney and beyond.

See you there! 

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Sign up to receive our newsletter and updates

Our monthly e-newsletter keeps you up to date on the news from our sector, shares stories by women on their career journey, and provides updates on our events and initiatives. You will also find bits and pieces on our favourite things – good food, health and wellbeing, and maybe a few cute animals.

Thanks for subscribing to the Franklin Women Newsletter