Exploring the Pathways of a Regional Founder

In this week’s episode, the MTPConnect podcast team follow the trailblazing journey of a regional founder in Australia. We speak to Anna Barwick, a Clinical Pharmacist and researcher, at the University of New England (UNE) in Armidale, NSW who is lecturing to the next generation of pharmacists, podcasting a show ‘Indispensable’ for Australians who want to know how to use their medications effectively and improve their health with tips from expert pharmacists, and running a family farm. Anna is just about to launch her new digital health business called PharmOnline, which will provide telehealth consultations [via an App] for patients to access pharmacists to get answers in real-time about their medications, instead of turning to ‘Dr Google’. The idea is to use technology to provide a virtual advisory service in community pharmacy to improve the lives of people living remotely. PharmOnline was also one of 12 digital health start-up companies accepted in to ANDHealth’s BRIGHT Workshop NSW held virtually in July which supports founders. We also hear from Dr Lou Conway, who connected with Anna at the beginning of her founder’s journey, as the Director of the UNE’s Smart Region Incubator, a place where new founders can find support and mentorship to kickstart their business ideas. Some of the programs offered at UNE start linking with innovators as young as 15 years of age. Lou discusses the value of involving research practitioners from rural areas, and how important it is to be part of a larger community focused on innovation and creativity.