#77 🍩 Brain controlled iPads, Preventative MRIs & Epic's AI Scribe
Whats happening in health tech & innovation?
Happy Friday Friends!
Don’t know about you but BOY, am I ready for a weekend.
Big thanks to everyone who attended our The Future of Mental Health sesh Wednesday 🧠 where we delved deep into the exciting innovations, complex issues, and potential for actually effective, meaningful mental health innovation, reform and systemic change.
Huge thanks again to our incredible lineup:
💜 Prof. Ian Hickie – Co-Director, Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney
💜 Isar Mazer – Co-Founder & Chair, Tacklit
💜 Dr. Angela Lim – CEO & Co-Founder, Clearhead
💜 Steve Duke – Author, The Hemingway Report
Okie dokes, into the news…
🍩 TODAY’S ISSUE
Newsworthy
Sick Science
AI Updates
Startup Stuff
Events
Cool Content
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Noteworthy 🗞️
Funding
🧠 OneMRI landed $2.5M to expand its whole-body MRI startup, launched by Go1 founders & Gopi Sara to bring radiation-free, preventative scans to Aussies using underutilised imaging clinics
🔬 Mirugen secured up to $4.5M in seed funding to accelerate its gene-reprogramming therapy for retinitis pigmentosa
🦴 SDIP Innovations snagged $3.95M in federal funding to develop an implant system that manufactures bone fillers for orthopaedic surgery
🧪 Lucia Bio, a Brisbane biotech, raised AU$3M in seed funding from UniQuest & Uniseed to advance its selective spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk) inhibitors
🌏 Teladoc Health is acquiring virtual care provider Telecare to expand specialty access & hospital partnerships across the country
🧵 Southern Cross Uni & NACCHO bagged $2.5M to codesign a program offering cervical screening during pregnancy for First Nations women
Newsworthy
🚀 Startmate announced its Winter ‘25 Cohort ft. 4 Healthcare companies:
Care GP, run by WTH’er Melvin Chen: AI infrastructure for Healthcare provider admin
HeySTU: A desk companion robot to help people with ADHD stay focused
Medlo: AI-powered hybrid staffing and care delivery for hospitals
June Health: At-home STI & cervical screening kits
🏥 Luye Medical, a Chinese healthcare group, hired Citi to sell Aurora Healthcare, owner of 17 hospitals with 1000+ mental health beds & 500 rehab places in Aus, with bids expected around $500M after a failed $800M+ sale attempt
🧠 Monash Uni won the AFR Higher Ed Award for Research Commercialisation for Phrenix Therapeutics, a biotech company developing next-gen psychiatric & neurological disorder treatments backed by $20M+ in funding
📈 Aus’s drug use has hit record highs, with wastewater analysis revealing a 34% year-on-year spike in cocaine, heroin, MDMA, & meth consumption, totalling 22.2 tonnes
📞 Healthengine launched Helen, an AI receptionist for GP clinics that handles routine calls 24/7
🍻 Robbie Williams invested in Aussie no-alc beer Heaps Normal after discovering it on tour, backing its global push as sales jump 20% and UK & US expansion kicks off.
💻 Pro Medicus, a medical imaging software group, posted a 40% profit jump to $115.2M on $520M in new US contracts & will launch a cloud-based pathology platform this year
💳 Labor will split its bulk-billing incentive payments equally between GPs & practices from Nov 1 under its $8.5B plan to make 9/10 doctor visits free
🤖 The TGA calls for stronger AI regulation in therapeutic goods sector, incl. clearer definitions, improved oversight, & regulation of digital scribes & wellness apps
🩸 Baymatob kicked off patient recruitment for its pivotal clinical trial of Oli-PPH, an AI early warning system for postpartum haemorrhage (PPH), at Syd’s RNS
📱 RCH survey found 63% of Aussie teens get health advice from social media, 77% struggle to tell what’s accurate, & 40% have considered trying something they saw online, with parents still their top trusted source
US & Beyond Borders
🧠 An ALS patient became the first to control an iPad with thought alone, using Synchron’s brain implant & Apple’s BCI protocol in a public demo showing hands-free, voice-free device access for people with severe paralysis
🧬 MIT-led researchers built an AI model that predicts any protein’s location in any human cell using sequence & imaging data
😴 Eight Sleep, the AI-powered smart mattress, raised US$100M to expand globally and move beyond just tracking into proactive, personalised sleep interventions with its new AI “Sleep Agent.”
🍷 US alcohol use has hit a 90-year low at 54% as more Americans now believe even moderate drinking is bad for health, especially among women & young adults
🌿 Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa, a 400-year-old Chinese cough syrup, is trending among Western Gen Z consumers, with global sales surging 30% & TikTok driving hype
💉 Novo Nordisk dropped the self-pay price of Ozempic to $499/m & partnered with GoodRx to expand access through 70,000+ pharmacies & home delivery
Novo Nordisk’s ex-CEO warned obesity drugs alone won't solve the crisis, urging global action on prevention & policy reform to avoid a $4.3T economic burden
🤖 AI Updates
🧠 OpenEvidence became the first AI to score a perfect 100% on the USMLE, using gold-standard medical sources to explain answers & support over 40% of U.S. physicians
📈 Hinge Health is riding high after a strong first quarter post-IPO, reporting 55% y-o-y revenue growth & sending shares up 18% in after-hours trading
📄 Highmark Health partners Abridge to codesign a real-time prior authorisation tool that could let clinicians approve care during visits across its 14-hospital network
🧩 Synchron enables ALS patients to control an iPad using only brain signals, in a world-first public demo powered by its Stentrode implant & Apple’s BCI standard
🚀 Google & NASA tested an AI assistant to help astronauts diagnose & treat medical issues autonomously during deep space missions
🧠 Illinois bans AI therapy tools under a new law, making it the first U.S. state to explicitly prohibit AI from delivering mental health or therapeutic decisions
📝 Epic, used by nearly half of U.S. hospitals, enters the AI scribe race with plans to launch its own ambient note-taking tool
🧠 Doximity acquired AI startup Pathway Medical for $63M to power its clinical platform with one of the largest structured datasets in medicine
🤝 Stanford expands its partnership with Qualtrics to build AI agents that improve patient experience by predicting missed appointments & resolving care barriers
Sick Science
💊 Does gabapentin raise dementia risk in people with back pain?
In a retrospective cohort study published in BMJ, researchers analysed 26,416 U.S. adults with chronic low back pain using records from 2004–2024. After matching for age, comorbidities, & other pain meds, those with six or more gabapentin prescriptions had higher rates of dementia & mild cognitive impairment. In adults aged 18–64, risk more than doubled. Risk rose further with 12+ prescriptions.
🦾 Can an AI trained on Fitbit data coach you better than a human?
In a Nature Medicine study, researchers from Google DeepMind & Fitbit developed a LLM, fine-tuned from Gemini to act as a personal health coach using wearable data. They tested it on 857 real-world sleep & fitness case studies, expert-level exams, & prediction of self-reported sleep quality.PH‑LLM scored 79% on sleep medicine & 88% on fitness board exams, beating expert averages. It matched experts on fitness coaching tasks & outperformed the base model on personalised sleep advice.
Startup Stuff 🚀
Got a stem cell therapy ready for the next step?
The MRFF’s Stem Cell Therapies Grant is a pool of up to $31.5M to back early-stage clinical trials of novel stem cell treatments & research that builds community trust in these therapies - More here
Looking to crack the US digital health market?
ANDHealth is taking EOI’s for its 2025 international delegation to HLTH US in Las Vegas (19–22 Oct), with an SF pre-program (15–17 Oct) packed with investor meetings, site visits, & expert sessions - More here
Looking for commercialisation pathways at UNSW?
Barker Street Ventures (UNSW’s early-stage venture fund & commercialisation platform) connects industry partners & investors with breakthrough tech incl. medtech, biotech, & AI, originating from UNSW’s deep‑tech research ecosystem - More here
Working on a game-changer for dementia or aged care?
The MRFF Dementia, Ageing & Aged Care Mission has an open funding round, with $24.3M on the table for projects that help Aussies age better. This includes research to boost preventive health uptake in Indigenous, rural, & CALD communities, & to improve the adoption of high-quality care for older Aussies - More here
Got global medtech ambitions?
MTPConnect’s Trade Mission to The MedTech Conference 2025 is open for apps to join the Aus delegation in San Diego, including a 2-day commercial visit program beforehand for site visits, networking, investor insights, & US market briefings - More here
Want to level up your health startup know-how?
The NSW Health Commercialisation Training Program is offering a free 3-day Business Fundamentals bootcamp for budding healthtech entrepreneurs. It covers how to form a company, navigate regulations, get funding-ready & build your team – all taught by industry experts in law, finance, sales & - More here
Ready to transform your lab from chaos to credibility?
Zero to Quality empowers life science researchers & small startups to implement a professional, ISO-aligned Quality Management System without needing specialist hires or consultants. It’s a structured online training, ready-made templates, expert support, audits, & certification - More here
Got a women’s health research idea ready to go?
The Foundation for Women’s Health is accepting Letters of Intent for projects tackling critical gaps across the female life course. Focus areas this year include mental health in teen girls, uterine cancer, CVD in pregnancy, vaccine uptake, autoimmune disease, & fibroids – More here
Building the next big healthtech startup in Australia?
LX is a leading accelerator backing 10 Aussie health startups with up to $200k in funding, plus hands-on support, expert coaching, & access to 300+ clinicians, investors, & operators – More here
Got a Health Care Innovation Idea?
CSIRO’s Innovate to Grow program is open for Aussie SMEs looking to turn their health care ideas into R&D projects. This free 8-week course provides guidance, expert feedback, & funding pathways to bring your innovation to life - More here
Events💥
21st Aug: Heidi Health Roadshow (Melb)
27th Aug: MedTech on the Hill 2025 (Canberra)
27th Aug: Heidi Rounds (Online)
28th Aug: Heidi Health Roadshow (Perth)
2nd Sept: Healthy People, Healthy Planet (Melb)
2nd Sept: Women's Health & Wellbeing Summit (Syd)
3rd Sept: Heidi Health Roadshow (Bris)
10th Sept: Cicada x Tech23 (Syd)
16 - 17th Sept: HIKM 2025, Empowering Health: AI Innovations (online)
16 - 18th Sept: Australian Public Health Conference 2025 (Wollongong)
5 - 8th Oct: The MedTech Conference (San Diego)
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Til next time legends
👋 Emily,
Mariah & team WTH
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