Meet Our Talent

Meet Max
As a recent recipient of the New Colombo Plan Scholarship, this year Max will head to the University of the South Pacific in Tonga where he will spend one semester studying breadth subjects of his Bachelor of Biomedicine followed by an internship.
The New Colombo Plan (NCP) Scholarships program is an Australian Government initiative aiming to increase knowledge of the Indo-Pacific, by supporting Australian undergraduates to engage in the region.
It’s an amazing opportunity…I am especially grateful for the chance to undertake an internship whilst on the program and integrate my love for neuroscience with my love for the ocean.
Intrigued by the human brain and the intersection between biology and psychiatry, Max majored in neuroscience during his Biomedicine degree.
“All of my third-year neuroscience subjects were amazing...I formed close connections with peers and teaching staff which enabled me to really dig into concepts and unpack them with like-minded individuals," he says.
The subjects Principles of neuroscience and Real and artificial neural networks were at the top of Max’s list.
I think a lot of my passion for neuroscience and psychiatric sciences originally stemmed from seeing the damage mental illness can cause people during my high school years…I realised how quickly severe mental illness can completely derail lives - it's a reminder that modern medicine is still so far behind in getting the right help needed to people with mental illness. Neuroscience is a field we are barely scratching the surface of and it holds so much promise to help society.
Max will return to UniMelb early in 2026 to finish his degree and is hoping he will be based in a neuroscience lab for his final discipline subject, the Biomedical Science Research Project (BIOM30003).
Looking beyond his Bachelor of Biomedicine Max hopes to complete an MD at Melbourne, potentially with a concurrent Master of Public Health, majoring in neurology or psychiatry. But he’s also keen to get involved in research.
I’m especially interested in consciousness, psychiatric conditions and drugs affecting the brain so I’d like to do a PhD…and maybe head up my own lab at some point, splitting my time between clinical practice and research.
When reflecting back on what’s he’s learnt from a personal perspective Max says balance is key when it comes to life and study – and emphasises the importance of listening to as many different people as possible.
“Everyone has wisdom to share and I think life is made rich by hearing the stories of others and making those connections,” he says.