The BEST Network is a not-for profit network of universities developing and sharing technologies for image-based education and assessment.

Our vision

Our vision is that every educator and every student, wherever they are, has access to the best image-based resources in biomedical and life sciences.

Our Story

The BEST Network began as a government funded $4.5M project in 2012 to establish a network of leading biomedical schools and peak industry bodies set to revolutionise biomedical education by addressing a critical need in biomedical education world-wide: the need for easy sharing of knowledge, expertise and technologies.

The BEST Network’s Founding Members established the Network as a not-for-profit venture in 2014, with UNSW as the Administering Organisation. As a not-for-profit, BEST Network membership fees cover running costs of the network with the remainder used for further improvement of the Network’s shared resources.

The Network hosted a Community Summit in 2015, which brought together top healthcare professionals and experts from around Australia, all looking to advance healthcare education through collaboration and the use of innovative education technologies.

In 2017, the BEST Network was honoured to receive the BHERT Award for Outstanding Collaboration in Higher Education Training. The award recognised the collaboration fostered between Higher Education institutions and Smart Sparrow, along with its achievements in distributing education and skills training across numerous higher education institutions.

In late 2020, OpenLearning Limited was welcomed as the operating and technology partner of the BEST Network. OpenLearning plans to focus its efforts on expanding the capability of Slice to solidify its position as the world’s leading tool for teaching with biomedical images.

3,371

Biomedical educators from 495 schools

22,057

Biomedical images shared

23,842

Student members

1,740,663

Annotation layers created on Slice images

BEST Management Committee

Prof. Nicholas Hawkins
Prof. Nicholas Hawkins
Lead of the BEST Network, UNSW Sydney
Prof. Gary Velan
Prof. Gary Velan
Institutional Representative UNSW Sydney
Dr. Claire Aland
Dr. Claire Aland
Institutional Representative University of Queensland
Dr. Stephanie Dowdell
Dr. Stephanie Dowdell
Manager/Secretary BEST Network
Adam Brimo
Adam Brimo
Founder and Group CEO, OpenLearning Limited

Institutional Members

GOVERNING MEMBERS

UNSW Sydney
UNSW Sydney
Founding member since: Jul 2012
University of Queensland
University of Queensland
Founding member since: Jul 2012

MEMBERS

University of Canberra
University of Canberra
Member since: November 2023
The University of the Sunshine Coast
The University of the Sunshine Coast
Member since: January 2023
Sunway University
Sunway University
Member since: January 2023
The University of Auckland
The University of Auckland
Member since: June 2022
The University of Adelaide
The University of Adelaide
Member since: November 2021
Swinburne University
Swinburne University
Member since: August 2021
Griffith University
Griffith University
Member since: February 2021
University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
Member since: July 2012
East Carolina University
East Carolina University
Member since: August 2019
King's College London
King's College London
Member since: Oct 2017
Howard University
Howard University
Member since: September 2017
Macquarie University
Macquarie University
Member since: November 2015
Translational Cancer Research Network
Translational Cancer Research Network
Member since: Jun 2015
Charles Sturt University
Charles Sturt University
Member since: May 2015
UMass Chan Medical School
UMass Chan Medical School
Member since: April 2014

COMMUNITY PARTNERS

EquEd
EquEd
Member since: 
June 2022

Contact Us

Click here to submit a contact request.

BEST Network - Australia Office
Dr. Stephanie Dowdell

Project Manager, School of Medical Sciences, BEST Network
The University of New South Wales, Sydney NSW 2052

s.dowdell@best.edu.au
BEST Network - OpenLearning Australia Office

Suite 1803, 227 Elizabeth Street, Sydney, NSW 2000

contact@openlearning.com
+612 8294 9686
BEST Network - OpenLearning Malaysia Office

Komune, Level 8, Vertical Corporate Tower B, Avenue 10, No 8, Jalan Kerinchi, Bangsar South, 59200 Kuala Lumpur

contact@openlearning.com