Clinical nurse turned entrepreneur Lauren Barber has won the Innovation Leadership Award at the InnovationAus 2024 Awards for Excellence for her pioneering work founding and developing MedTech startup NeedleCalm.
The InnovationAus 2024 Awards for Excellence were presented at a black-tie gala dinner at The Venue Alexandria in Sydney on Wednesday night.
The Innovation Leadership Award was presented on the night by University of NSW pro-vice chancellor (Industry & Innovation) Professor Stephen Rodda.
The Innovation Leadership award honours entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs and ecosystem leaders who have made a huge impact in the organisations, the market and the wider community.
These individuals have built successful companies offering innovative products and services and have demonstrated an ability to get individuals and teams working together effectively and efficiently to build maximum commercial and social value from these products.
The Innovation Leadership award was sponsored by the University of New South Wales.
Ms Barber received the Innovation Leadership award for her outstanding leadership at NeedleCalm and in the wider MedTech sector, with a focus on improving outcomes for patients.
Ms Barber started her career as a clinical nurse before becoming an entrepreneur and founding the startup NeedleCalm.
After earning a Bachelor of Nursing from Charles Sturt University in 2009, Ms Barber began working as a nurse and saw firsthand the impact that a fear of needles was having on patients, and how it sometimes led them to avoid healthcare.
It was her own experience of a needle stick injury at work that led to her developing NeedleCalm and her passion for addressing this major issue.
She developed an innovative medical device that dulls the pain when someone is receiving an injection, helping the estimated one in four Australians who have a fear of needles.
Through this time, Ms Barber has also championed education in needle procedures and she is also readying to launch two more products aimed at improving patient experiences related to these processes.
She has been able to identify a number of unmet needs in the healthcare industry and translate them into groundbreaking solutions with real commercial benefits and tangible improvements to the care of individuals.
Ms Barber was also named the Health Minister’s Trailblazer Award Winner in 2023.
The other finalists for the Innovation Leadership Award were Queensland University of Technology pro vice-chancellor, entrepreneurship and regional innovation, Professor Rowena Barret, UNSW Founders director of entrepreneurship David Burt and Smart MCs CEO and co-founder Payar Radfar.
The InnovationAus 2024 Awards for Excellence are supported by the Australian Computer Society, Investment NSW, Department of Industry, Science and Resources, Technology Council of Australia, TechnologyOne, National Artificial Intelligence Centre, CSIRO’s ON Innovation Program, Reason Group, Q-CTRL, University of New South Wales, South by South-West Sydney and IP Australia.
Protecting your great ideas with intellectual property (IP) rights can lead to lasting benefits for your growing business. IP refers to creations of the mind, such as a brand, logo, invention, design or artistic work. Head to the IP Australia website to find out more about IP, and how it might help your business.
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