Industry Advisory Committee

The ARMI Industry Advisory Committee (IAC) is a committee of the ARMI Leadership Advisory Board that ensures the Institute to links directly into the broader regenerative medicine ecosystem and the advanced therapies industry. The IAC generously shares expertise and advice to support the development and implementation of ARMI’s Industry Engagement Plan: updating the Institute on the latest market shifts, collaborative opportunities, news and policy changes, and developing a collaborative R&D pipeline delivered by a highly skilled workforce. The IAC also provides expert advice to the Board and Institute Executive on current and emerging technologies and network and engage with ARMI’s research leaders and students.

Dr Duncan Thomson (Chair)

DUNCAN THOMSON CONSULTING

Dr Duncan Thomson brings a pragmatic passion for translational commercialisation. He is an experienced executive with >25 years’ experience in animal health, healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, having worked in senior marketing, sales and management roles in Europe, the US and Australia.

Having graduating as a veterinarian in ’94 from Sydney, he worked in practice for 5 years in Australia and UK before completing an MBA (Cranfield, UK). In 2001 he joined Novartis Animal Health and held various senior sales and marketing positions in Switzerland, US and Australia.

In 2010, he joined Regeneus as the Head of Animal Health. During his time at Regeneus, he launched an adipose derived allogeneic MSC product into the veterinary market in a pre-registration phase; opened an INAD with the FDA; and conducted numerous trials on the product. Usage of the product became #1 globally with >4000 treatments administered across >90 Australian practices, including 80% penetration of specialist veterinary surgeons. This success paved for the development of the subsequent human MSC product which has had a successful Phase 1 for knee osteoarthritis. He also launched the first ever veterinary personalised cancer immunotherapy in Australia; initiating a multicentre trial in the US; and received the regulatory green light for commercialisation in the US in record time. In 2015, he subsequently became the VP Licenses and Alliances for Regeneus. In late December 2016, Regeneus secured a multi-million-dollar manufacturing license agreement with the largest biopharma manufacturer in Japan and became only the 17^th company to secure a significant licencing agreement in Japan in the previous 20 years.

Duncan is currently consulting in the regenerative medicine and animal health sectors.

Dr Alan Trounson

CEO, CARTHERICS PTY. LTD.

Alan Trounson is Emeritus Professor Monash University and Distinguished Scientist, Hudson Institute of Medical Research, and CEO of Cartherics Pty. Ltd. Melbourne Australia

He is the past President of the Californian Institute for Regenerative Medicine (2007-2014), the Californian state’s $3 billion stem cell agency driving research in stem cell biology and facilitating the translation of stem cell discoveries into clinical therapies.

He was a pioneer of human in vitro fertilisation (IVF) (1977-1996) and led the Australian team in the discovery of human embryonic stem cells in the late 1990’s.

He is also the founding (2016) CEO of Cartherics Pty Ltd. (www.cartherics.com) developing CAR-T therapies for treating cancer using patients own T cells and immune killer cells (T-cells and NK cells) derived from iPS cells of haplotype donors, gene edited to knock in targeting CARs and knock out of check point inhibitors.

Leanne Daly

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR, REAGENCY

Leanne has had 25 years’ experience in the Biotech, Life Sciences and Pharmaceutical industry.

She is an Entrepreneurial professional with an initial background in pharmaceuticals that developed into the life sciences, research sector. She has a solid track record in business development, B2B, sales and marketing, merger, and acquisitions for the Biotech / life sciences sector. Experienced in licensing from the academic sector and commercialized development of products. Implemented and participated on scientific advisory boards. Worked with CEOs and boards negotiating merger and acquisitions at a global level for startups and established biotechnology companies.

She has worked in London, New York, Sydney and now Melbourne. Leanne has been on the board of four Biotech companies. She is a member of AusBiotech, serving on their Victoria State Committee, and is also a member of Women on Boards, a graduate of The Governance Institute of Australia and a member Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Dr Paul Bello

INNOVATION LEAD – INDUSTRIAL BIOTECHNOLOGY, INNOVATE UK

Paul earned his PhD in 1993 at the Centre for Animal Biotechnology, Melbourne University, Australia, and his background now covers over 30 years in human stem cell R&D, product development and commercialisation, as well as cell automation platforms for drug discovery.

More recently, he led facility operations and research program management, partnering and contract technology transfer, and regulatory requirements for several stem cell biotechnology companies.

He has also been involved in the UK’s research council’s industrial biotechnology and post-graduate funding review committees, and EU Horizon 2020 strategic programs’ management contributing to international research and business efforts.

Paul is now the lead for Innovate UK’s Industrial Biotechnology portfolio, and currently based in the vibrant Cambridge biotechnology cluster.

Chris Alma

DIRECTOR – EXTERNAL INNOVATION, BIOPHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT, CSL

Chris Alma is currently Director, External Innovation, Biopharmaceutical Product Development at CSL and is based in Sydney, Australia. He is the global lead for evaluation of preclinical cell and gene therapy (CGT) and RNA platforms.

During his time at CSL, Chris has demonstrated strong gene therapy knowledge, strategic leadership and project management skills through significant contributions to CSL’s gene therapy and gene editing research projects. Chris has contributed to CSL’s external collaborations, innovations and partnerships with key stakeholders, a highlight assisting in the initiation, development and management of CSL’s strategic Seattle Children’s Research Institute alliance in the gene therapy space. Chris has been with CSL since 2017, joining with the acquisition of gene therapy Biotech Calimmune, where Chris was part of the Scientific Affairs and Collaborations team led by the late Geoff Symonds AM.

Prior to this, Chris spent six years with EnGeneIC, a Sydney-based small Biotech delivering cancer therapeutics with novel nanoparticles, and is an alumnus of the University of Technology, Sydney and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

Dr Linda Somerville

DIRECTOR, LINFAWS CONSULTING LIMITED

Linda started her career as a Research Technician in Queen’s University Belfast, where she also completed a Ph.D. in Haematology on a part-time basis.  She has almost 30 years of experience working in a variety of environments from Biotechs to Global Pharma. Linda’s experience is broad with specialist scientific experience in cellular biology in early to late stage R&D programmes in support of product development and market authorisation. Over the course of her career to date, Linda has gained expert knowledge in the detail required for successful product development in areas such as technical support, troubleshooting and quality applications in roles across a variety of locations including the UK, Ireland and Germany. Linda is well respected in an advisory capacity and has worked as an independent consultant to numerous Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology companies.  Since 2011 Linda has worked mainly as a contractor for the UK’s Innovation Agency, Innovate UK; engaging at the coal-face with UK SMEs, large organisations and academic institutions. Linda has a passion for science and technology and lives in Scotland, UK.

Gordon Waldron

CEO, SEQUOIA BUSINESS SOLUTIONS, FRANCE

Gordon Waldron has over 25 years’ experience working for innovative start-ups in the biotech, med tech and high tech sectors. Over the course of his career, he has raised in excess of €140 million from an international, blue chip venture capital investor base and a further €50 million via an IPO on the Euronext stock market in Paris. He has completed nine (primarily cross-border) M&A transactions including the trade sale of a venture capital funded biotech for cash consideration in excess of $500 million.  He has generated over €100 million in cumulative cash proceeds through the negotiation of several business development and other non-dilutive funding agreements. He has implemented organizational restructurings and established subsidiaries in the USA, Hong Kong and China

Gordon is a graduate of Duke University (USA) and is a dual UK / USA national.

In July 2015, he founded Sequoia Business Solutions to provide non-executive director services as well as financial, operational and strategic advice to innovative start-ups internationally.

Dr William Roman

GROUP LEADER, AUSTRALIAN REGENERATIVE MEDICINE INSTITUTE

Appointed as the EMBL Australia Thomas Baker Foundation Group Leader in 2023, Dr William Roman has established an impactful research program on intercellular communication within muscle at the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute (ARMI), an international centre of excellence in regenerative medicine and advanced therapies at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.

Dr Roman obtained his PhD from the Paris Descartes University and the Freie University of Berlin working on nuclear positioning during skeletal muscle development. He then completed his post-doctoral training in the laboratory of Pura Munoz in Barcelona studying how myofibers respond to discrete injuries. In parallel, William leads the tissue engineering MyoChip team in Lisbon aimed at supplementing neurons and a vasculature to in vitro muscle culture. At Stanford University, he applied imaged-based spatial genomic techniques to muscle specimens.

Dr Roman leads the Institute’s Industry Engagement leadership portfolio.

Dr Marguerite Evans-Galea AM

With a finger on the pulse of Australia’s STEM ecosystem, Dr Evans-Galea is an accomplished executive and board director change-making at the interface of industry, academia and government. In 2025, Dr Evans-Galea was appointed Deputy Director, Strategy and Planning and is part of ARMI’s Executive. She leads the development and implementation of the Institute’s strategy and vision to drive sustainability and growth, develop the Institute’s diverse research leaders and rising stars, and support ARMI’s mission: the discovery and innovation of regenerative medicine and advanced therapies.

Dr Evans-Galea is also an internationally recognised advocate for diversity, inclusion and allyship. She co-founded Women in STEMM Australia and served on the SAGE Expert Advisory Group and the Victorian Council for Women’s Equality. A graduate of the Women in Leadership Development (WILD) Program, she currently serves as a Non-Executive Director with Melanoma Patients Australia.

Dr Evans-Galea’s leadership and impact have been recognised with an Australian Leadership Award, the University of Queensland’s Vice-Chancellor’s Alumni Excellence Award, and as an inductee of the Victorian Honour Roll of Women. She is also a Member of the Order of Australia.