Ian Smith is a Senior Advisor at SPP

Emeritus Professor A. Ian Smith

Ian completed his first degree in Newcastle upon Tyne England and moved to Melbourne Australia in 1984 to complete his PhD and embark on a post doc at Prince Henrys Institute. In 1991 Ian moved to the Baker Heart Research Institute and was Associate Director until his move to Monash University in 2004. Up until the end of 2020, Ian was Vice-Provost (Research & Research Infrastructure) at Monash University, where he played a university-wide leadership role, with responsibility for research strategy, infrastructure and alliances. A major focus was building linkages to industry and encouraging large companies and SMEs to use the university’s globally-recognised research capabilities and tools to innovate, capture new opportunities and solve problems.

Ian has a background in both industry and research. He is a leader in his field of medical research, which has resulted in over 260 publications and many patents. Ian still receives regular invitations to speak at international meetings and his research has had a direct impact on human health leading to changes in clinical practice. Ian also co-founded a proteomics-based, publicly listed, biotechnology company, which he helped build to IPO and trade sale and he continues to collaborate and consult widely with the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry.

Ian is now Professor Emeritus at Monash and as well as consulting, Ian is a board director and chair of a number of national and international senior government and non-government governing and advisory boards as well as serving on a number of national and international committees.

Ian’s unique background in business and research drives his passion to get entrepreneurs and industry collaborating and using university research capabilities to innovate. He believes that Australia lags behind many countries in utilising this enormous asset and is passionate about finding ways to make the collaborative process as efficient and effective as possible for industry, sharing outcomes and success stories to build awareness.