Professor Zee Upton, a biochemist by training, is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation) at the University of Newcastle. She has a significant record of research in skin, wounds, and tissue repair, spanning many disciplinary boundaries. Prior to joining the University, she spent six years in Singapore where she was Executive Director of the Skin Research Institute of Singapore (SRIS), a tripartite research institute between Nanyang Technological University, the National Health Group, and the Agency for Science, technology, and Research (A*STAR), as well as the Executive Director of A*STAR Institute of Medical Biology.
In these roles, she facilitated extensive collaboration with industry, many via the World Care Innovation for the Tropics Industry Alignment Pre-Positioning Program that she also established and led.
Preceding this, Professor Upon spent 15 years at the Queensland University of Technology where she held senior management and leadership positions, as well as established the Wound Management Innovation Cooperative Research Centre, plus formed a start-up that ultimately listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.