I graduated from the University of Melbourne with honours degrees in both law and science, and I recently submitted my PhD at the University of Tasmania. My PhD examined whether Australian patent law is handling emergent technological and legal issues consistently with its underpinning justifications.

I am broadly interested in the development and use of new technology. I am interested in this because it has the ability to drive economies forward and increase public welfare. To this end, and as a lawyer with scientific training, much of my research focuses on the ability of patent law to meet its welfare-enhancing goal of incentivising the creation of new technology. In medicine and life-sciences — special interests of mine — this focus is particularly important, but it is also quite complex, often requiring multi-disciplinary analysis and research beyond doctrinal-legal reasoning. I enjoy this challenge and enjoy designing research to answer questions in these and related fields.

I am currently working with Dr Kathy Liddell on a research project titled, “Realising Genomic Medicine: Intellectual Property Issues Beyond the ‘Old’ DNA Patent Debates”. In this project we are investigating two ways in which intellectual property interacts with the realisation of clinically-useful genetic developments.