Leading Cultures of Innovation and Impact
Idea to impact: Leading a culture of innovation in the health sector.
Leading Cultures of Innovation and Impact Program Overview
Ignite real change in healthcare by learning how to turn bold ideas into measurable impact.
This highly interactive course blends design thinking, innovation strategy, and creative leadership to help you unlock new pathways for meaningful change within and beyond the health system.
Through practical tools, collaborative exercises, and real-world applications, you will learn to frame problems effectively, identify problem–market fit, validate solutions, and navigate complex healthcare environments with confidence.
Build compelling cases for change, mobilise stakeholders, and cultivate a workplace culture that turns experimentation into execution and ideas into lasting impact.
Who Should Attend Leading Cultures of Innovation and Impact?
Future-Focused Leaders
- Leaders who see opportunities for system improvement and innovation and are ready to lean in.
Innovation-Focused Health Professionals
- Professionals with roles focused on innovation across clinical services, product development, strategy, policy, or organisational change.
Leaders Driving Innovation, Transformation, or new Models of Care
- Whether interested in building their own organisations or companies (entrepreneurs) or driving change inside healthcare organisations (intrapreneurs).
Leading Cultures of Innovation and Impact Key Takeaways
Apply Design Thinking to Complex Healthcare Challenges
- Apply innovative thinking methodologies (e.g. design thinking, systems thinking) to analyse complex problems in health and generate creative, high-impact solutions.
- Prototype, test, and validate innovative solutions using iterative processes that incorporate user feedback, feasibility assessment, and system impact evaluation.
Build an Innovation Mindset
- Demonstrate an entrepreneurial mindset, identifying opportunities, challenging assumptions, and advancing novel ideas that can drive meaningful innovation within healthcare systems.
- Critically evaluate emerging trends, technologies, and future scenarios in healthcare to inform strategic decision-making and long-term innovation planning.
- Cultivate an innovation-positive culture, demonstrating the ability to foster creativity, experimentation within healthcare environments.
- Acknowledge and work through the tension between perform and transform within an organisation.
Lead Teams to Support Experimentation and Change
- Lead and collaborate effectively in multidisciplinary teams, using contemporary leadership techniques to guide group innovation projects from ideation to actionable outcomes.
- Develop and articulate a compelling case for change, integrating evidence, user insight, system constraints, and value propositions that resonate with diverse healthcare stakeholders.
- Design strategies for implementing innovation at scale, considering organisational readiness, regulatory environments, funding pathways, and team requirements.
- Create strategic partnerships and networks that support innovation and entrepreneurship across clinical, academic, industry, and community sectors.
Leading Cultures of Innovation and Impact Topics Covered
Develop an entrepreneurial mindset that enables you to spot opportunities, challenge assumptions, and drive ideas.
Master design thinking and innovation strategy to tackle complex healthcare challenges with clarity and creativity.
Essentials to lead high-performing, innovation-ready teams through a hands-on, interactive live project.
Understand future opportunities in healthcare and apply practical frameworks to drive real-world implementation and system change.
Apply design thinking methodologies to diagnose problems, validate assumptions, and craft solutions that deliver measurable impact.
Communicate with influence by tailoring communication styles to build stakeholder buy-in for change, innovation, and technology.
Create a culture where innovation thrives, enabling rapid experimentation, learning, and cross-functional collaboration.
Upcoming Sessions
This is a residential program in which participants stay on campus and engage in workshop activities after hours. The program fee covers tuition, meals and accommodation.
Read our full Terms and Conditions and other Frequently Asked Questions for more information.
Applications close:
29 June 2026
Five-day program.
Prices Ex GST.
If the above dates don’t suit you, please register your interest for any upcoming courses by submitting an expression of interest here.
Leading Cultures of Innovation and Impact Key Facilitators
Buzz Palmer
Co-Founder and CEO, MedTech Actuator
Founding Investment Partner,Synthesis Capital
Professor, University of Melbourne
Professor Buzz Palmer is a globally recognised leader in MedTech innovation and health entrepreneurship.
With a background in orthopaedics, microsurgery, and regenerative medicine, he has supported more than 1,000 startups across Europe, North America, India, Africa, the Gulf, and Asia-Pacific. A serial clinical entrepreneur, Buzz integrates academic insight with hands-on venture building and global impact.
He is the Co-Founder and CEO of the MedTech Actuator and the Founding Investment Partner at Synthesis Capital, a mission-driven fund backing early-stage deep-tech in health and medical domains.
Buzz also advises major national and international bodies, including the European Commission, the WHO Foresight Committee, and the Victorian Government’s Innovation Expert Panel.
As a Professor at the University of Melbourne, Buzz combines academic leadership with practical impact; mentoring founders, shaping innovation ecosystems, and empowering the next generation of global health leaders.
Lauren Ayton
Optometry, Vision Sciences and Ophthalmology, University of Melbourne
Deputy Director, Centre for Eye Research Australia
Professor Lauren Ayton AM is a clinical researcher and innovation leader with nearly 20 years’ experience translating ophthalmic research into real-world impact. She holds joint appointments in Optometry, Vision Sciences and Ophthalmology at the University of Melbourne, and is Deputy Director at the Centre for Eye Research Australia.
A former Director of Clinical & Regulatory Affairs for a US start-up affiliated with Harvard and Cornell, Lauren has led global collaborations bridging science, technology, and commercialisation - most notably as Clinical Research Lead for the world-first bionic eye trial. As Associate Dean (Innovation & Enterprise), she drives strategy to translate discovery into implementation across Australia’s largest health faculty.
Lauren has authored over 150 publications, secured more than $24M in funding, and was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2025 for her contributions to medical research, innovation, and science communication.
Kwanghui Lim
Associate Professor of Strategic Management, Melbourne Business School
Kwanghui Lim is an Associate Professor of Strategic Management at Melbourne Business School, where he works with senior leaders on strategies to foster innovation and manage scientific talent. He earned his PhD in the management of technological innovation and entrepreneurship from MIT.
Kwanghui’s expertise lies in helping organisations leverage intellectual property, scientific capabilities, and internal knowledge to drive innovation-led growth. His research is published in top journals such as Organization Science, Academy of Management Journal, and Research Policy.
He co-founded the award-winning BioDesign Melbourne program which helps teams develop medtech innovations, and created the MBS Innovation Bootcamp to train future innovators and entrepreneurs. He also mentors teams at startups and established firms trying to innovate, including at MAP, TRaM, Velocity and other programs.
Related Programs and Courses
Activating Your Health Leadership
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Health Leadership for Impact
Health Leadership for Impact
Influence, align, and thrive in healthcare complexity.
Leading Through Complexity in Health
Leading Through Complexity in Health
Strategic acumen for adaptive leadership.
Bastas Academy for Health Leadership Scholarships
We are committed to supporting bright and ambitious leaders to take part in Bastas Academy for Health Leadership courses.
Thanks to a generous gift from Dennis Bastas and the support of DBG Health, scholarships of up to 75% of course fees are available for successful applicants.
These scholarships aim to foster diversity, improve access and opportunity, and recognise talent across the Australian health sector. Preference is given to under-represented groups who may face barriers to accessing formal learning.
Please note: Scholarships are not available to employees of DBG Health or affiliated companies.
Scholarship Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible you must:
- Be currently employed in the Australian health sector
- Be an Australian citizen or Permanent Resident
- Intend to complete a Bastas Academy for Health Leadership course and apply your learning to improve the health sector
- Commit to enrolling in and completing the course
*Subject to the scholarship application process.
How to Apply
Scholarships are applied for as part of the course application process.
To be considered:
- 1. Click the “Apply” button next to your chosen course.
- 2. Complete the application form.
- 3. When prompted, select “Yes” to indicate that you would like to be considered for a scholarship.
There is no separate scholarship application form.
Key Dates
- Scholarship applications are now open.
- Applications close four weeks prior to the course start date..
