Medical and healthcare innovation precincts in places such as Melbourne’s Parkville and Sydney’s Westmead are at the vanguard of Australia’s world-class research endeavours. But how can a nation of 26 million people compete with global heavy-hitters such as Johns Hopkins Hospital, the Harvard system or Toronto’s MaRS Discovery District?

“To try and compete against some of the big players offshore, you’ve just got to connect all your best components,” says Julian Clark, chair of Adelaide’s Biomed City.