Robert Shepherd
Professor Rob Shepherd is the Director of the Bionics Institute and Head of the Medical Bionics Department at the University of Melbourne. In the 1980s he led the preclinical team that demonstrated the safety and efficacy of Cochlear's bionic ear in both adults and children, and more recently his team developed a prototype bionic eye as part of an Australia-wide collaboration – Bionic Vision Australia – to develop a commercial bionic eye. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed papers, given 90 invited international keynote conference presentations, received $90M of research funding as a chief investigator. Professor Shepherd has overseen the expansion of the Bionic Ear Institute into the Bionics Institute, broadening its research portfolio to include retinal prostheses, neurobionics - a platform technology for diseases such as epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease and the stimulation of visceral nerves, and introducing a contract research organisation specialising in in vitro and in vivo R&D associated with neural prostheses and drug delivery technologies. In 2014 he was awarded the Garnett Passe Medal at the Royal Society of Medicine, London for his contributions to Otolaryngology and in 2015 he was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences and a member of Knowledge Nation 100.