Introducing SPHERE’s Business Development and Innovation Manager
For Eleonore Cluzel, one question sits at the heart of health innovation: how can great research create real-world impact? As SPHERE’s new Business Development and Innovation Manager, she is bringing that focus to helping researchers navigate the often-complex path from discovery to implementation.
Eleonore joins SPHERE with extensive experience in entrepreneurial ecosystems, startup acceleration and industry engagement. Most recently, she worked with UNSW Founders, contributing to the development of the Accelerator Program.
A defining part of her work was her involvement with Health 10x, Australia’s leading health and medtech accelerator developed in partnership with The George Institute for Global Health. Through this role, she worked closely with founders tackling major unmet healthcare needs and gained firsthand insight into the challenges involved in translating health innovations into practice.
“It was fascinating to see the journey from proof-of-concept to commercial reality,” Eleonore said.
“There are so many moving parts, from regulatory pathways and funding to clinical validation and building the entrepreneurial capability to bring an idea to life.”
While the science behind many innovations was strong, Eleonore observed that researchers often faced difficulties navigating commercialisation pathways and understanding how to move their work beyond academia.
“That was really what drew me to SPHERE,” she said.
“I saw brilliant researchers who deeply understood their science, but who struggled with the commercialisation side of things. I became really interested in how we can support researchers earlier and help build that translational thinking and confidence.”
At SPHERE, Eleonore is focused on helping researchers strengthen connections with industry, think strategically about implementation, and better understand the pathways that can turn research into tangible health outcomes.
She believes one of the most important opportunities lies in equipping researchers with the skills and frameworks needed to consider impact from the beginning of a project, rather than at the end.
“The question I want every researcher to sit with is simple: who benefits from this, and how does it get to them?” she said.
“Ultimately, that answer is always patients and populations, whether through a commercial pathway that brings innovation to market, or research that makes the health system work smarter and go further for the people who need it most.”
Eleonore said she is excited to join SPHERE because of its unique ability to bring together universities, health services, clinicians, researchers and industry partners across the translational research ecosystem.
“There is such a strong opportunity to connect people across disciplines and sectors and create the conditions for innovation to thrive.”
As SPHERE continues to strengthen its focus on translation, implementation and impact, Eleonore’s experience in innovation strategy and entrepreneurial program development will play an important role in supporting researchers to take their ideas further, faster.