[Music plays and the Coat of Arms and an image appears of a Prime Minister’s Prize for Innovation badge and text appears: 2022 Prime Minister’s Prize for Innovation, SpeeDx, Dr Elisa Mokany, Adjunct Professor Alison Todd]
[Image changes to show Adjunct Professor Alison Todd on the right talking to the camera, and Dr Elisa Mokany on the left listening]
Adjunct Prof Alison Todd: I’m Adjunct Professor Alison Todd.
[Image shows Elisa talking on the left while Alison listens]
Dr Elisa Mokany: And I am Dr Elisa Mokany.
[Image changes to show Alison and Elisa descending some stairs inside a building and walking towards the camera]
Adjunct Prof Alison Todd: And we're the co-founders of SpeeDx.
[Image changes to show a close view of Alison talking to the camera]
SpeeDx is tackling two of the major problems of modern medicine: cancer and antibiotic resistance.
[Image changes to show a view looking up at the National Innovation Centre, and then the image changes to show a researcher at work in a laboratory, and the camera zooms in on her hands]
Dr Elisa Mokany: At SpeeDx, we make tests that look to address unmet medical needs.
[Image changes to show Elisa talking to the camera, and then the image changes to show a close view of Elisa talking to the camera]
So these tests could be for oncology or infectious diseases.
[Images move through to show test tubes in a tray, Alison, Elisa and another researcher at work, and then hands pushing a door shut on a machine in the laboratory]
And they look to do more than just tell you what you're sick with. They look to provide information for your doctor or your clinician on how to treat you and get you better, quicker.
[Images move through to show Alison and Elisa looking at test tubes in a tray, a close view of the tray, and then Elisa holding up a test tube and Alison looking at it]
Adjunct Prof Alison Todd: Our inventions have been incorporated into hundreds of commercialised products for research and clinical diagnostics.
[Images move through to show a close view of liquid being syringed up from a test tube, and a researcher working at a table in the laboratory]
Dr Elisa Mokany: SpeeDx has developed over 45 tests that are sold across 19 countries.
[Image changes to show a close view of Alison talking to the camera]
Adjunct Prof Alison Todd: One in two men and one in three women will develop cancer in their lifetime.
[Images move through to show a medium view of Alison talking to the camera, a robotic machine filling test tubes, and five test tubes with different coloured lids next to a box of SpeeDx]
To date, nearly 4 million patients have received a test powered by our technology, which guide the most appropriate therapy to give them the best chance of a positive outcome.
[Image changes to show a side view of Alison and Elisa walking through a building]
Dr Elisa Mokany: We are part of an Australian Research Council hub to combat antimicrobial resistance.
[Image changes to show Elisa talking to the camera, and then the image changes to show a close view of Alison wearing PPE while she works]
This has brought together 21 groups across the globe in industry, academia and institutes to help address the rising challenges of antimicrobial resistance.
[Image changes to show Alison syringing liquid into a test tube in a tray]
Adjunct Prof Alison Todd: I've just always really loved DNA.
[Image changes to show DNA symbols on a computer screen]
I play with it as if it were molecular Lego and trick it into revealing its innermost secrets.
[Image changes to show Alison talking to the camera]
I do this with a team of spectacular co-inventors.
[Images move through to show Alison and Elisa and colleagues in conversation, Alison and a colleague walking towards the camera, and Elisa and a colleague walking towards the camera]
Dr Elisa Mokany: At SpeeDx, we pride ourselves on nurturing the next generation of scientists.
[Image changes to show Alison and Elisa working in a laboratory, and then the image changes to show Alison pointing to information on a Smart screen]
I myself was a PhD student for Alison, who was brought on to invent some really cool technology, which then could lead to the starting of SpeeDx.
[Image changes to show Alison talking to the camera]
Adjunct Prof Alison Todd: We are extremely honoured and humbled to receive the Prime Minister's Prize for Innovation.
[Images move through to show a close view of Alison writing on a tablet, Elisa watching Alison as she writes, Elisa talking to the camera, and Elisa and Alison turning and smiling at the camera]
Dr Elisa Mokany: What this recognises is two female scientists who developed some innovative DNA technology, which then turned us into entrepreneurs and enabled us to build a company based on this novel technology.
[Music plays and the image changes to show the Coat of Arms and the Prime Minister’s Prize for Innovation badge and text appears: 2022 Prime Minister’s Prize for Innovation, SpeeDx, Dr Elisa Mokany, Adjunct Professor Alison Todd]