Meet Dr Anthony Sunjaya, Clinical Engagement Consultant at Tyree IHealthE. Anthony expresses his enthusiasm for his new role and highlights how he fosters successful collaborations between the university and clinicians.
Please tell us a little bit about yourself
I’m a practicing primary care doctor with postgraduate training in Internal Medicine and I recently completed my PhD on improving care for cardiorespiratory diseases using digital health at The George Institute for Global Health, UNSW Sydney. I’m also co-founder of BantingMed, a chronic disease management startup with a focus on delivering culturally appropriate care in the Global South and low resourced settings.
My current work spans the continuum from development of digital health and clinical AI to clinical trials and their regulatory evaluation in practice as well as translating research findings into policy. My experiences have allowed me to provide perspectives across the many hats I’ve worn including as a clinician, researcher, entrepreneur and policy influencer in the many countries I’ve engaged with including Australia, Indonesia, United Kingdom, India and many others.
Please describe what you do in the role of Clinical Engagement Consultant at IHealthE
In my role, I provide unbiased support to clinicians and groups, accelerating and de-risking the process from identifying unmet needs to designing solutions and implementing them in practice. Additionally, I help teams transition to a sustainable business model that supports continuous innovation and scaling beyond Australia.
What excites you most about this role?
I’m particularly excited about meeting clinicians and other experts passionate about improving the health system and patient care. Additionally, IHealthE's potential to facilitate multidisciplinary partnerships is enormous, bringing together global expertise in medicine, business, technology, and regulation. This approach goes beyond the current silos of clinical care and academic medicine, leveraging UNSW’s vibrant ecosystem and networks, including the Randwick Health & Innovation Precinct (RHIP). Collaboration is a key aspect of my work.
How do you foster successful partnerships with industry, hospitals, and other researchers?
A key aspect with successful partnerships is building mutual trust through clear communication of what it entails and the value for the parties involved. Furthermore, having a shared vision, which in many cases, involves improving the care and lives of those with the condition also helps ensure partnerships remain the focus of the end goal.
More practically, this also involves investment, including from IHealthE, to provide in-kind unbiased support to those in the very early stages where things are often the most tough and it’s not always clear whether there’s any viability in what one wants to pursue. In the end building relationships that last takes time and that is what we want to achieve especially with the often-long lead time in healthcare transformation and commercialisation.
From your experience, what are the key ingredients that drive success in health technology projects and innovations?
I find having a solid team and integrating into an ecosystem that fosters innovation and entrepreneurship as key ingredients that drive success. Healthcare transformation and commercialisation are often long journeys and to succeed you need to have a team that’s focused and committed to go along the whole way. Being a part of a vibrant ecosystem is also important as it de-risks and accelerates development through joint learning and access to resources that otherwise wouldn’t be possible to a single entity.
Are there any valuable resources or networks you'd recommend to our readers?
UNSW Founders Health10x Accelerator
How do people get in touch with you?
Email me at a.sunjaya@unsw.edu.au or connect with me on LinkedIn