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A message from our CEO, Alex Newton

Navi is a company focused on delivering innovations that help children live brighter, healthier futures. Since 2017, our dedicated team has devoted thousands of hours to a singular task: to build and commercialise a medical device that enables doctors and nurses to deliver better care for newborn and pediatric patients.

The team has spent countless days in neonatal & pediatric intensive care units, observing lifesaving procedures first hand, talking to clinical staff to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges they face on a daily basis, and coming up with innovative solutions to the engineering problems. But this is so much more than just a technical or business challenge - it has become a truly personal labour of passion.

Navi has taken on a much more personal meaning for each and every one of us. Every day we take pride in getting one step closer to realising our vision of giving children everywhere brighter, healthier futures.

Founders

Management Team

The Navi team is an award-winning mix of business experts, biomedical engineers, and a senior neonatologist, who are passionate about improving pediatric patient outcomes.

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Alex Newton

CEO & Executive Director

Alex Newton

BEng (Aerospace) RMIT, MBA Dean’s List Scholar MBS

After completing an aerospace engineering degree in 2004 Alex spent a decade in technical and management roles, working for Boeing, Lockheed Martin & Airbus before becoming interested in medical device commercialisation.

He studied an MBA at Melbourne Business School where he focused on strategy and finance, and received a Dean’s Commendation and Dean’s List Scholar awards. His role in Navi focuses on team building, business strategy, fundraising, and governance.

Alex also holds board positions in a global health NFP improving medical education in LMIC regions, and the Melbourne Space Program.

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A/Prof Christiane Theda

CMO (Medical) & Executive Director

Christiane Theda

Doctor of Medicine University of Cologne, Neonatal Fellowship & MBA at Johns Hopkins University

Christiane completed her basic medical training in Germany before completing training in paediatrics in the United States.
She worked for more than 20 years in the Johns Hopkins NICU and received an MBA from Johns Hopkins University. She moved to Melbourne and commenced work at the Royal Women’s Hospital as a Senior Neonatal Consultant, and works in the PIPER paediatric retrieval team at the Royal Children’s Hospital.

Christiane leads clinical research and supports the engineering activities at Navi.

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Shing Yue Sheung

Chief Operating Officer

Shing Yue Sheung

BCom (Economics & Finance) UoM, M.Eng (Biomedical) Dean’s List Scholar UoM

Shing completed a Bachelor of Commerce focusing on Economics and Finance before pursing a Master of Biomedical Engineering from the University of Melbourne.

Shing leads daily operations and product development activities with Navi.

He has a wide range of business consulting and biomedical engineering skills developed through roles at the Bionics Institute, ETH Zurich and Pricewaterhouse Coopers.

In 2018 Shing was named a Forbes ‘30 Under 30’ for his contributions to the medtech industry.

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Wei Xin Sue

Co-CFO & Executive Director

Wei Xin Sue

BSci Hons (Biotech) Monash University, MBA Dean’s List Scholar MBS

Wei completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Biotechnology at Monash and worked for a decade with government and authorities in the environment and climate industries.

In 2017 she completed an MBA at the Melbourne Business School where she focused on finance and strategy, and earned a Dean’s List Scholar award.

Her role in Navi sees her managing finance activities, supporting business strategy, and frequently representing for Navi.

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Mubin Yousuf

Chief Technology Officer

Mubin Yousuf

BEng (Biomedical) NED University of Engineering and Technology, M.Eng (Biomedical) UoM

Mubin is originally from Pakistan and studied his Masters of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Melbourne commencing in 2014 after completing his Bachelor of Biomedical Engineering degree at NED University of Engineering and Technology in Karachi.

Mubin leads the benchtop research and software development activities in Navi, and supports clinical research.

Since 2016 he has also held an appointment as a Research Engineer at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in the Cardiovascular Bioengineering division where he develops software algorithms for medical device applications

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Brad Bergmann

Co-Chief Financial Officer

Brad Bergmann

BCom/BSci (Accounting w/distinction & Genetics w/distinction) Deakin University, Qualified Chartered Accountact ICAA, MBA MBS

Brad received a double Bachelors degree of Science (Genetics) and Commerce (Accounting) before working as a Business Analyst at NAB and a Senior Analyst at Deloitte where he received his professional qualification as a Charted Accountant.

Since 2012 he has been the Managing Director of a boutique health and beauty importation business that comprises of a portfolio of global beauty brands, where he managed national operations.

In 2015 Brad studied an MBA at the Melbourne Business School where he focused on entrepreneurship and marketing.

At Navi, Brad supports daily operations, marketing, and finance activities.

 
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Lance Chia GAID

Independent Director & Chairman of the Board

Lance has over 40 years’ experience in the healthcare industry, 20 of which were in executive leadership roles with NYSE-listed multinational medical device manufacturers and suppliers. Previous roles included Marketing Director at ResMed, one of Australia’s most successful medical device companies.

He currently leads and facilitates the development, establishment and operation of the Liverpool Innovation Precinct, a role which sees him working with health-related public & private-sector organisations across all stages of research, development and commercialisation. Lance is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is Chairman of the Board of Directors at Navi.

“The Neonav is an innovative product solving a huge problem that impacts our most vulnerable patients every day all over the world. It was clear to me from the day I met the Navi founders that if anyone was going to develop an effective solution, it was going to be them. They are a team that will persist and do the hard stuff no one else wants to do.”


 
 
 
 
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Stephanie Pitts, RN

Independent Director

Stephanie has worked in healthcare for over 20 years as a nurse, educator and medical device industry executive. She is currently the Director of Strategy & Innovation at B. Braun Healthcare (one of the largest privately owned medical device companies in the world) and was previously the Global Director of Clinical Marketing at Angiodynamics.

She developed the pediatric vascular access program at St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital in Tampa, Florida in 2008 (where she remains on the clinical team) and has contributed to Best Practice Guidelines in vascular access procedures for adults, children and infants. In 2017 Stephanie was honored with the prestigious Janet Pettit Scholar Award recognizing her research and dedication to advancing pediatric vascular access.

“As an industry professional and practising paediatric vascular access nurse I’ve been waiting for an ECG Tip Location System for newborns for a long time. When I first met the Navi co-founders in 2017 I knew this would be the team to deliver this important innovation to our most vulnerable cohort.”


 
 
 
 
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Thai Nguyen Le

Independent Director

Thai is a biomedical engineer with an interest in healthcare innovation and entrepreneurship. He embraces new opportunities and challenges in both biomedical engineering and business to accelerate innovations in medical technologies.

Through experiences in healthcare industries in Australia and Asia he has gained invaluable knowledge and insight into the challenges that innovative companies face when commercializing new products and obtaining market adoption. Thai is also beginning his journey as a professional investor and has personally invested in Navi in multiple capital raising rounds.

“The Navi team has been very passionate about improving the quality of neonatal care since their first days, and that fire has only grown stronger since. Through many challenges, they learn to become efficient, resilient and yet still have some fun. I look forward to see this diverse team excel with Neonav and make a mark in neonatal healthcare.”

 
 
 
 
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A/Prof Andreas Pflaumer

Technical Advisor

Andreas is a Technical Advisor at Navi, providing deep expertise in pediatric ECG waveforms and electrophysiology.

He also holds honorary appointments with the Royal Melbourne Hospital and Monash Heart. His current research involves invasive and non-invasive electrophysiology mapping systems, quality improvement in arrhythmia ablation and pacing therapy, genetics and prevention of sudden death in the young caused by channelopathies and cardiomyopathies.

After studying at the LMU in Munich/Germany Andreas trained as a paediatrician and neonatologist in Munich. He completed his sub-specialist training in cardiology in 2003, and then completed his adult electrophysiology training at the German Heart Centre (TUM) Germany in 2006.

He spent a further three and a half years as a consultant in paediatric cardiology and congenital heart disease. I

In 2009, Andreas moved to Melbourne, Australia to establish the invasive electrophysiology practice within the Royal Children's Hospital. Currently he is the Clinical Lead for invasive electrophysiology at the RCH and a Honorary Fellow at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute.

 
 
 
 
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Elpis Barons

Commercial & Clinical Advisor

Elpis is a Commercial & Clinical Advisor at Navi, providing expert advice on commercialisation activities as well as oversight and guidance of clinical trials planning.

Elpis is the CEO and Director of Barons Medical Consulting, which provides research consulting services to international medical technology organizations, device manufacturers and suppliers. Elpis has overseen human clinical trials and studies for medical device start-ups in Europe and Australia.

She has undertaken cardiovascular research at the Baker Medical Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia, and Institute of Atherosclerosis Research, University of Siena, Italy which contributes to her breadth of expertise in both commercial and clinical settings.

Elpis has first-hand experience commercialising and marketing pediatric medical devices in Europe.

She is also a regular clinical trials advisor to the Texas Medical Center Accelerator TMCx, and various accelerator programs in Australia.