ACADEMIC AND INDUSTRY HEALTH ALLIANCE TACKLE TOMORROW’S NATIONAL HEALTH CHALLENGES TODAY Trends report identifies prototyping targets for breakthroughs in digital and hybrid futures
With
Vishaal Kishore,
Professor of Innovation and Public Policy
RMIT University &
Executive Chair, RMIT-Cisco Health Transformation Lab &
Director – Impact, RMIT University, Melbourne
AUSTRALIAN HEALTH JOURNAL SEGMENT
Filmed in Melbourne | June 2025
Vishaal Kishore, a Professor of Innovation and Public Policy at RMIT in Melbourne, serves as the Executive Chair of the RMIT-Cisco Health Transformation Lab and RMIT’s Director of Impact. Led by the RMIT-Cisco Health Transformation Lab, the National Industry Innovation Network (NIIN) Health Alliance combines the best minds, technologists, industry capabilities and academic resources to solve pressing industry and social challenges through technology-driven innovation. The NIIN aims to pool insights and expertise to address national health challenges, marking its first vertical focus on health.
Last year a “Sandbox” was established to serve as a digitally rich collaboration and prototyping studio designed for privacy and security, ready to innovate in aged care and healthcare. The “Sandbox” housed at RMIT-Cisco’s Health Transformation Lab is a digitally-enabled mock care setting where researchers, startups and health system professionals work together on prototypes for the future of health. The Sandbox enables a frictionless pipeline from idea to implementation. The inclusion of autonomous robotics, has created a space where the most futuristic visions for health can be trialled, tested, and translated into practice.
The Health Transformation Lab emphasises user engagement, prioritising the voices of clients and clinicians to design solutions based on their needs rather than assumptions. This practice aims to ensure that any technology developed gains traction in health systems only if it genuinely reflects user requirements.
The NIIN Health Alliance has identified urgent needs in the healthcare system, considering the rapidly evolving technological landscape. As part of their strategic planning, they reviewed nearly 10,000 articles and reports to outline pivotal trends for the future in the publication “Health x Digital Transformation Report 2024-2025”.
In this report, a significant focus has been on the implications of augmented intelligence, remote patient monitoring, digital simulations, adaptable systems, and leveraging advancements in biotechnology, aiming to prepare the healthcare sector for emerging challenges and opportunities in the coming years.
Source: Written from transcript and health transformation lab website by AUDIENCED
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Global collaboration in pulmonary fibrosis research
Pulmonary fibrosis is a lung disease that occurs when lung tissue becomes damaged and scarred. The debilitating and fatal disease ended the life of an Australian man 8 years ago.
His son led philanthropic efforts to establish the connection between 2 Australian organisations; Lung Foundation Australia and Centre for Research Excellence in Pulmonary Fibrosis and the US based, Three Lakes Foundation. The three organisations recently announced a collaboration to create a global network for PF research.
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Family biz succeeds in vaccine approval & distribution
It’s been 10 years since Jenny and Karl Herz started in business. Over the past 10 years they’ve launched Biointelect and Biocelect businesses to help secure approval and distribution for new medicines into Australia.
In this Australian Health Journal interview, Jenny and Karl talk about the journey the husband and wife team took to get the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine (Nuvaxovid) approved and distributed in Australia. The journey didn’t just include talented and diverse skilled staff but also their children working in both organisations.
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Nuclear medicine funding a win for men with prostate cancer
Australian men with higher risk prostate cancer now have access to a nuclear medicine scan to help detect and treat metastatic disease, after it was listed on the Medical Benefits Schedule (MBS) from 1st July 2022.
In 2021 over 18,000 Australian men were diagnosed with prostate cancer, resulting in over 3,000 lives being lost – and making prostate cancer Australia’s second most common cause of cancer death in men.
Australian Health Journal spoke with AANMS President Associate Professor Sze Ting Lee and Dr Geoff Schembri on the MBS listing and the efforts to get it listed.
