EARLY /MID-CAREER REPRESENTATIVES

Nicola is a Senior Lecturer at the Australian National Phenome Centre (ANPC) at Murdoch University. Nicola’s principal expertise are in analytical chemistry and her research activities involve the development and application of mass spectrometry methods and metabolic phenotyping workflows to problems in clinical medicine and population health. Since joining the ANPC in 2019, Nicola has initiated and led the implementation of targeted, high-throughput metabolite phenotyping workflows and is establishing an academic research program in cardiometabolic diseases. Nicola’s scientific outputs focus on novel method development, disease biomarkers, biomarkers of nutritional intake and exploring the interaction between diet and diabetes and cardiovascular disease risk.

Nicola is passionate about educating the next generation and mentoring junior scientists, and through serving on national and international committees within her discipline strives to contribute to the global effort of supporting early-career and female scientists.

Lakshini is a Research Fellow at the Royal Perth Hospital Research Foundation, currently working at the Translation Research Laboratory - Dobney Hypertension Centre, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Western Australia. Her pre-clinical research focuses on identifying pleiotropic mechanisms of anti-diabetic treatments in the context of cardiometabolic disorders and related complications. Lakshini's long-term goal is to translate research findings into new therapies to improve health outcomes for cardiometabolic disorders and related complications.

Passionate about advocating for the representation of women in STEM, Lakshini dedicates her time to mentoring, educating, and inspiring the next generation of scientists.

Vanessa is a PhD student with a strong foundation in microbiology. Vanessa has worked on projects in microbiology at Telethon Kids Institute (TKI) and The University of Western Australia (UWA). Vanessa’s research focus has involved studying bacterial-bacterial interactions, host-pathogen interactions, and antibiotic resistance mechanisms. Vanessa graduated from a Master of Infectious Diseases at UWA in 2022 in which her thesis aimed to study bacterial-bacterial interactions in the upper respiratory tract of children. Vanessa joined TKI in 2023 as a research assistant and has worked within the Strep A Pathogenesis and Diagnostics team where she is completing her PhD. Her doctoral research aims to understand the mechanism of Rheumatic Heart Disease caused by Group A Streptococcus (GAS). Of particular interest is the pathways of progressive cardiac damage observed in this condition. Vanessa’s research interests remain in microbiology and infectious diseases; however, she is excited to become more immersed in cardiovascular research and is focused on translating her findings into tangible outcomes for patients.

Montana is a Research Assistant and PhD candidate within the Nutrition & Health Innovation Research Institute, Edith Cowan University. Her PhD (completion May 2026) explored the role of nutritional factors in cardiovascular health, with a focus on primary disease prevention and population health. Montana has extensive experience designing, conducting and delivering both quantitative and qualitative cardiovascular research outputs, as well as scientific reviews. She has led various community-focused research translation and cardiovascular health promotion endeavours, and is the current Her Heart Matters Consumer Advisory Group Chair. Montana is passionate about cardiovascular health in women, with an emerging research profile investigating the impact of female-specific risk factors for cardiovascular disease, to identify and inform future public health and prevention strategies.

Ingrid is a cardiovascular epidemiologist and biostatistician with a background in laboratory-based medical research. She is currently a National Heart Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow within the Cardiovascular Epidemiology Research Centre at the University of Western Australia and is affiliated with the Cardiology Population Health Laboratory at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute.

Ingrid’s goal is to conduct codesigned and collaborative research that improves the heart health and wellbeing of First Nations people. Her NHRMC-funded PhD measured the outcomes of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD), which are preventable diseases caused by Strep A bacterial infections, capable of causing serious heart damage and premature death.

Abadi is a Pharmacist and Pharmacologist by training, currently working as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow within ECU's Nutrition & Health Innovation Research Institute. His research focuses on disentangling how and why cardiovascular disease leads to falling and fracture using large epidemiological studies and clinical trials, with the ultimate goal of developing better ways of identifying and preventing cardiovascular-related falls and fracture. Abadi's research has been published in leading medical journals such as the British Medical Journal, Lancet and heart.

Abadi is passionate about creating training opportunities for early-career researchers to nurture the next generation of talent.

Dr Catherine Jenkins is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Ben Beale Laboratory at The University of Western Australia. She completed her PhD in Clinical Medicine Research in 2024 at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London. Her doctoral research focused on cardiovascular electrophysiology, with a particular emphasis on understanding how systemic autoimmunity influences electrophysiological remodelling following myocardial infarction.

Dr Jenkins’ current research focuses on the cardiac L-type calcium channel and its role in key biological pathways that regulate cardiac excitation–contraction coupling and electrical signalling. Through this work, she aims to further elucidate molecular mechanisms that contribute to cardiac dysfunction and identify pathways that may represent potential therapeutic targets in cardiovascular disease.

Dr Hadi Afsharan is a Translational Research Fellow in Medical Technologies at The University of Western Australia and the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research. He completed his PhD in Biomedical Engineering in 2023, specialising in polarisation-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) for clinical diagnostics.

Dr Afsharan leads research initiatives developing non-invasive technologies for cardiovascular screening and monitoring, including retinal imaging approaches for early detection of heart disease and radar-based systems for measuring jugular venous pressure. His work focuses on translating advanced biomedical engineering innovations into practical tools that can improve access to early diagnosis and patient care.

He currently holds a fellowship from the WA Department of Health’s Future Health Research and Innovation Fund.

Dr Amanuel Gebremedhin is a perinatal epidemiologist and biostatistician, currently working as Vice-Chancellor’s Research Fellow at Edith Cowan University in the School of Nursing and Midwifery. His research focuses on maternal and perinatal health, particularly adverse pregnancy outcomes and their links with later health risks such as cardiovascular disease. Using population-based epidemiological studies and advanced analytical approaches, including machine learning and causal inference, his work examines how adverse pregnancy outcomes may influence long-term health, with the aim of improving early identification and prevention strategies.

Lauren's research focuses on diet and nutrition for the prevention and management of cardiovascular disease, with the aim of advancing knowledge and improving health services for those at risk of or living with the disease.

Jing's research is centred on inherited high cholesterol and premature heart disease, a condition called familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH). She has made a significant contribution to developing an FH program in Australia, integrating specialist departments in hospitals with key collaborations in primary care, health economics, health psychology, implementation science, family support groups, industry, government and international collaborators.

Simone's research focusses on investigating the link between diet, stress, mental health and cardiovascular disease. In particular, she aims to develop new strategies to increase fruit and vegetable intake, alleviate stress levels and improve mental and heart health. Her long-term research aim is to better understand how and why greater consumption of fruit and vegetables (and its constituents) improves mental health and whether these improvements are related to better blood vessel health.

Ben's research interests are on the role of obesity and respiratory infections in long-term cardiovascular disease risk. His PhD focused on understanding the underlying mechanisms which contribute toward the pro-longed 10-year elevated risk following pneumonia.

Hanane's research primarily focuses on atherosclerosis, the leading cause of cardiovascular events. She is investigating the relationship between this silent disease and arterial wall injury and identifying biomarkers for atherosclerotic plaque rupture that could serve as potential therapeutic targets.

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