Investment Committee
Jack Steele is the director of science impact and policy at CSIRO, serving as the research organisation’s representative on the investment committee. As a member of the committee at Main Sequence, Jack drives investment for early-stage companies that are linked to the Australian tech sector.
Jack has been with CSIRO for more than 30 years, beginning his career as a research scientist and moving on to become General Manager where he led corporate governance for science and commercial activities. Today, he supports the chief executive and the executive team in relation to policy aspects of the organisation's science performance and analysis and engagement with government in early stage research commercialisation. This includes ethical aspects of CSIRO's research including its Science & Delivery Policy which was adopted in 2019 and aligned with the 2018 Australian Code for Responsible Research.
Passionate about taking high quality research outcomes through to impact in the real world. Jack’s research career from 1979 to 2000 included postdoctoral studies in metastatic cancer spread, development of novel implantable biomaterials and the management of projects to develop gene therapy for prostate cancer. Through both his research and corporate roles, Jack has had broad experience in managing commercial development of a broad range of technologies using licensing, joint venture formation and spin-out company strategies.
Jack earned his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Western Australia.