Dr Claretta D'Souza

Dr Claretta D'Souza is a neuroimmunologist with six year’s experience in the research commercialisation and industry partnerships space, coupled with over eight year’s experience as a medical researcher in neurodegenerative diseases at La Trobe University. Specifically, Claretta investigated the role of platelets as precursors of neuroinflammation in diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis with an aim to determine the molecular basis of the disease and consequently, targets for therapy.

As the Commercial Project Manager, Vaccine Development, at Burnet, her overall responsibility is to ensure the smooth execution of the Burnet Vaccine Initiative. This includes supporting the three Burnet vaccine development streams, facilitating the development of commercial partnerships, scoping funding opportunities, review and execution of contracts, management of the Burnet vaccine IP portfolio, and the identification and development of collaborations both internally and externally.

Prior to Burnet, Claretta was National Projects Manager at AusBiotech, Australia’s leading industry body for the life sciences sector, and before that was Project Officer at MTPConnect, the Australian Government’s Industry Growth Centre for the MedTech and Pharma Sector.

Claretta is also a passionate advocate for equal representation in science and sits on the Burnet Gender Equity Diversity & Inclusion (GEDI) Committee, as well as the LGBTQIA+ and SAGE sub-committees. Claretta also has a special interest in career development for early researchers, and is an advisor on the Burnet Institute Student Mentoring Program (BISMP) and has been an invited speaker at various career development seminars at universities and medical research institutes in Australia.

View Claretta’s publications

• MBA Candidate, Melbourne Business School, expected completion-2025
• Doctor of Philosophy–Biological Sciences, La Trobe University, Australia
• Master of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, La Trobe University, Australia
• Bachelor of Science in Biotechnology, Manipal University, India