Biography
Merilyn Sleigh is a company director and advisor to science-based companies and research institutions. She is currently a director of BCAL Diagnostics Ltd and has previously served on the boards of ASX-listed companies Clover Corporation Ltd (food ingredients), and Tyrian Diagnostics Ltd (medical and agricultural diagnostics) and a number of unlisted biotechnology companies, as well as non-profit organisations, including the University of Technology Sydney and Relationships Australia (NSW). She has formerly been an advisor to CSIRO, the Garvan Institute for Medical Research and the University of Technology Sydney, on research commercialisation and strategy.
Merilyn completed six years as founding CEO and Managing Director of antibody therapeutics company EvoGenix Ltd in 2007, when the company was acquired by Arana Therapeutics Ltd (now part of Teva Pharmaceuticals). At earlier stages in her career she was a senior researcher and manager with CSIRO, with a focus on medically oriented research, Director of Pharmaceutical R&D with listed biotechnology company Peptech Ltd, and Dean of the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of New South Wales.
Merilyn is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She was awarded a Centenary Medal in 2002 and the President’s Medal by Ausbiotech in 2007, both for contributions to the Australian biotechnology industry. Earlier in her career she received the Boehringer Medal of the Australian Biochemical Society for her molecular biology research.