Women in Biomedicine: Clare Fedele and Kate Hoy

Join us for an inspiring event celebrating Women in Biomedicine! Discover the remarkable contributions of women in accelerating scientific progress and fostering innovation in the field of biomedicine. We'll feature the inspiring journeys and achievements of Clare Fedele of CSL and Kate Hoy of the Bionics Institute. Learn about what drew them to science, challenges faced, and the impact they aim to make. Let's honor their accomplishments and inspire the next generation of female scientists!

Our presenters:

Clare Fedele

Clare is currently a Senior Research Scientist in Translational Research at global biopharmaceutical company, CSL. She completed her PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 2009 before moving to the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in 2011 to research melanoma skin cancer. Before joining CSL Clare held Science Communications and Senior Postdoctoral positions at Peter Mac and the University of Melbourne Centre for Cancer Research.

Over her career Clare has received multiple awards, including prestigious fellowships from the NHMRC and Victorian Cancer Agency. In 2017 Clare was named a Superstar of STEM by Science and Technology Australia.

Clare combines her passions for medical research and science communication to answer important biological questions focussed on improving the lives of people living with disease.

Kate Hoy

Professor Kate Hoy (she/her) is a Clinical Neuropsychologist and head of Cognitive Therapeutics at the Bionics Institute.  

Professor Hoy is a leading clinical researcher and has been awarded three sequential NHMRC Fellowships; an NHMRC excellence award (Top Ranked CDF); and a 2017 Victorian Telstra Business Women’s Award. Her vision is to transform the existing therapeutic landscape for cognitive disorders by developing, for the first time, truly effective therapies. Over the last 15 years, Professor Hoy has built an internationally unique program of clinical research investigating non-invasive brain stimulation for the treatment of cognitive impairment. She has led a number of world-first brain stimulation clinical trials, including trials for the treatment and prevention of dementia.  She has received over $22M in funding to date (including as an Investigator on a $12M clinical trial network) and has published over 130 scientific journal articles. Professor Hoy is on the editorial board of Cortex and is the immediate past president of the Australasian Brain Stimulation Society.

She is also a passionate and active science advocate and mentor, particularly around issues of equity, diversity and inclusion and career sustainability. Professor Hoy has mentored extensively, including into the ATSE Industry Mentoring Network, the NHMRC Dementia Fellows Sponsorship Program, the Global STEM Alliance initiative – 1000 girls, 1000 futures, and the Monash Business School’s Your Leadership Voice program. Professor Hoy also worked with the Australian Academy of Science for over a decade on several national diversity and inclusion initiatives.

In 2016 she founded the WomeninBrainStim.com initiative, a database website highlighting female scientists in the brain stimulation field for conference organisers, journal editors and research institutions. Her initiative has had a positive impact in addressing the extreme gender imbalances at international brain stimulation conferences, highlighted in Science Careers (2019) and eLIFE (2021)