Lauren Kelly

Senior Director, Targeted Translation Research Accelerator (TTRA) for diabetes and cardiovascular disease

Lauren is an experienced and dedicated research and alliance management professional, with over 12 years’ experience in the translation of science and technology and a passion for driving medical research collaborations at the nexus between academia, industry and not-for-profits to improve human health.

Since 2019, Lauren has led the strategic delivery of over $97 million in MRFF funding across MTPConnect’s TTRA and BTB accelerator programs, establishing two national Research Centres and supporting 37 translational research projects from across Australia, and counting.

Before joining MTPConnect, Lauren was involved in coordinating multinational, industry and academic drug discovery and development programs centring around metabolism and cardiovascular disease at Monash University, and management of the research portfolio and establishment of biobanks at the Cooperative Research Centre for Mental Health focused on finding new biomarkers to develop diagnostic tests for neurogenerative diseases and mood disorders.

Lauren has a keen interest in corporate governance and has served as a Company Secretary for a number of start-ups as well as sitting on several Industry Advisory Committees. Lauren has also co-founded a research services company.

Lauren holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of Business (Science and Technology) from Monash University, and a Graduate Diploma of Applied Corporate Governance.