The Medtech Platform at the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies at the University is holding it final webinar for 2022.
Professor Jess Snedeker, Professor of Orthopaedics, Institute of Biomechanics, ETH Zurich will deliver the keynote address.
A/Professor David Ackland, Deputy Director at AR CMIT will lead a panel discussion.
Monday, December 13, 2021, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM AEDT
Register at
Keynote, Panelists and Chair:
Jess Snedeker, Professor of Orthopaedics, ETH Zurich and Balgrist Campus, Switzerland (Keynote)
Prof. Snedeker is an American and Swiss citizen. He received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Lehigh University in 1995. After several years in industrial research and development, Prof. Snedeker earned his M.S. in Bioengineering from Penn State University in 2000, and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the ETH Zurich in 2004.
Since 2006, Prof. Jess Snedeker has held faculty chairs at both the ETH Zurich (Department of Health Sciences and Technology) and University of Zurich (Medical Faculty). In 2020 he was appointed to Vice Chair of the Department of Orthopaedics at the University Hospital Balgrist. Since 2015, he has served as Chief Scientific Officer of the Balgrist Campus, a federally funded musculoskeletal research centre.
The Snedeker Lab is a leading research group focused on tendon mechanobiology and regenerative orthopaedic surgery. The group has over 150 peer reviewed original publications in print and has received numerous scientific awards for its work. Beyond basic research, the group actively develops and clinically translates next-generation orthopaedic devices for improved patient outcomes and better quality of life.
David Ackland, ARC Future Fellow, Deputy Director, ARC Training Centre for Medical Implant Technologies, the University of Melbourne (Chair)
A/Prof Ackland is an Australian Research Council Future Fellow and Deputy Director of the ARC Training Centre for Medical Implant Technologies. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Neuroscience) and Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical), and went on to complete a PhD and postdoctoral studies in musculoskeletal biomechanics at The University of Melbourne. A/Prof Ackland’s research focuses on computational modelling and simulation of human movement biomechanics, as well as design and evaluation of joint replacements for the treatment of end-stage bone and joint conditions in orthopaedics and maxillofacial surgery. He employs medical imaging, human motion experiments, musculoskeletal modelling, and in vitro joint-biomechanics experiments as his primary research techniques.
Claudia Di Bella, Orthopaedic Surgeon, St Vincent's Hospital
A/Prof Claudia Di Bella is an academic orthopaedic surgeon with a specific interest in advanced technologies for musculoskeletal regeneration.
A/Prof Di Bella is the leader of the Cartilage Regeneration Program of Research at the University of Melbourne (Australia), focused on the use of advanced 3D printing technologies, including surgical 3D bioprinting, robotics and stem cells for musculoskeletal regeneration. A/Prof Di Bella was the recipient of the 2017 Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Senior Lecturer Fellowship and the 2020 NHMRC-MRFF Emerging Leadership Investigator Grant (EL1). A/Prof Di Bella has led her team to successfully secure more than 20 national peer reviewed grants, reinforced and strengthened national and international collaboration with key players in the field, and strongly contributed to the advances of the Biofab3D, the first Australian bio fabrication hub embedded in the hospital setting.
A/Prof Di Bella is Vice-Chair in the Board of Directors of the Australian Orthopaedic Association Research Foundation, faculty member of the Academic Section of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and chair of their annual conference.
A/Prof Di Bella is very passionate about gender equality in STEM-M, she is a mentor in the academic surgery program of the University of Melbourne as well as a mentor for women in medicine and women in surgery nationally.
Rob Wood, Senior Director of R&D, Stryker Digital, Robotics and Enabling Technologies
Rob Wood is the Senior Director of R&D for Stryker’s new Digital, Robotics, and Enabling Technologies organisation. Rob joined Stryker in 1989 and has worked across a number of roles in the U.S. and Australia during his 32 years with the company including engineering, marketing and R&D.
In 2000 Rob relocated to Australia to lead Stryker’s research and product development strategies in the Asia Pacific region. He is passionate about bridging the gap between researchers and industry in order to translate and commercialise innovative Australian research and bring new health and medical technology to market.
Rob has developed Stryker’s network of university partnerships in Australia and has secured several partner grants including the Advance Queensland Research Fellowship in 2016, Innovative Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre in 2017 and ARC Training Centre for Multiscale 3D Imaging, Modelling and Manufacturing (M3D Innovation) in 2019.
In September 2021, Stryker announced the establishment of the R&D Lab in Queensland, Australia that builds on existing partnerships with hospitals, researchers, universities, and local governments to drive the transformation of research into viable, commercially available precision medical device technology.