Professor Kris Thurecht: shaping AIBN’s next chapter

The first three months as AIBN’s director has confirmed what Professor Kris Thurecht believed when he took the job – AIBN’s great strength is its people.

Kris was appointed Director of AIBN in June, bringing to the role an 18-year career at The University of Queensland and a thorough understanding of the institute he now leads.

“At the time I said it was our people who made the difference and I looked forward to supporting them to deliver great science with real-world impact. That’s totally it.”

From discovery to impact

Kris’s vision for AIBN is firmly centred on championing discovery science that can be translated to real outcomes: taking discoveries from the laboratory and creating pathways for them to become products, technologies and treatments that benefit society.

AIBN has developed an impressive breadth of capability grouped around a significant line-up of research infrastructure. This enables foundational research and discovery in nano- and biotechnology across chemistry, biology, physics, maths, and advanced engineering and manufacturing. The institute already works to deliver solutions in health and the bioeconomy, and its research infrastructure gives it the ability to bring different disciplines together around complex problems.

Building partnerships for the future

Industry and government partnerships will continue to be another important part of AIBN’s future.

Kris has played a significant role in developing AIBN’s outward-facing approach, and he sees successful partnerships as something deeper than simply providing research services.

“At AIBN we strive to be the partner of choice to industries in our field – together we discover, innovate, build and translate ideas into impact,” he said.

The aim is to work with partners on shared challenges and to think beyond the immediate research project, developing capabilities and strategies that bring results five or ten years into the future.

“Transforming a discipline through research breakthroughs is often the long game. It takes time to line up the funding, access and build the infrastructure and the interdisciplinary groups needed to solve problems and then translate the solutions for the public. Our partners don’t bring their easy problems to the university – they bring us challenges that we solve at scale.”

Kris’s own career is an example of this interdisciplinary model. Beginning in physical chemistry, he moved into nanomedicine and molecular imaging and then into targeted radiopharmaceuticals, fields requiring expertise spanning chemistry, materials science, biology, imaging and engineering.

Professor Thurecht takes over AIBN at a time when the institute has an established international reputation in areas including precision nanomedicine, advanced biomanufacturing and nanoengineered materials. The challenge now is to continue the momentum while ensuring that the people delivering the next generation of discoveries have the opportunity to grow and lead, while having the agility to address emerging challenges.

Asked about what success in the role looks like, Kris commented that the next chapter of AIBN will not simply be about doing more research. It will be about creating an increasingly integrated research ecosystem in which discovery, technology, industry, government and academia continue to come together to tackle some of society's biggest challenges.

Three months, three big questions:

What challenges or new research areas will influence the institute’s focus in the next 5 years?

An integrated and mission-driven approach will become increasingly important to AIBN's future. Big problems require big solutions, and AIBN is uniquely placed to be part of the solution by bringing together our wonderful researchers and capabilities. Our future will be absolutely entwined with AI, and how we exploit the emerging opportunities that this brings to support our people. I see us building capacity in health translation, leading initiatives in partnership with clinicians to adopt our platform technologies to practice. Our role in building a sustainable future will be enduring, and relies on strengthening partnerships in food supply and resilience, solutions to long term energy supply and sustainable technologies. Underpinning all of this is our people, building a culture that includes adaptable, problem-solving people who don’t just address today’s problems, but also become the changemakers of tomorrow.

How do you balance the pursuit of fundamental discovery with the need to deliver real-world impact?

This is an easy challenge to address if we’re talking in terms of importance. We all know we can’t fix anything if the solution stays inside the lab or the institute. Sometimes these things are difficult to forecast and to fund. That’s why collaboration, AIBN’s partnership way of working, is critical. With industry and government in the mix we can negotiate that balance in a meaningful, practical way. We share the challenges, we share the burden of finding a solution, and together we can create impact.

What, outside of the science, excites you about working at AIBN?

Takes me back to the start, talking about people. Since I first started working here in 2008 I’ve seen the institute evolve through many stages of change and growth. I’ve been consistently inspired by the passion, generosity, and commitment our people bring to everything they do. There’s nothing more energising than seeing a postdoc. present their work to school kids, or a group leader showcase their vision to our stakeholders.

I'll continue working alongside UQ and AIBN’s leadership teams to build on AIBN's momentum, support great science, strengthen our culture and create opportunities for our people and partners.