Senior Research Fellow
College of Medicine and Public Health
Dr Molla Wassie, an NHMRC Emergining Leadership Fellow, is a Clinical and Nutritional Epidemiologist with advanced statistical analysis skills. He obtained his PhD from the University of Adelaide and received the Dean’s Commendation for Doctoral Thesis Excellence.
Before completing his PhD, Molla was a lecturer and researcher at the University of Gondar, Ethiopia and was the head of Human Nutrition department at the Institute of Public Health. In 2016, he established a nutritional surveillance program in Northwest Ethiopia with his colleagues.
Molla earned a Bachelor of Science in Public Health from Hawassa University and a Master of Science in Applied Human Nutrition from the University of Gondar, Ethiopia.
Molla’s current research focuses on the epidemiology of colorectal cancer using large longitudinal data from the Southern Cooperative Program for the Prevention of Colorectal Cancer (SCOOP).
BSC, MSC, PhD
- 2023-2024: Flinders Foundation Cancer Seed Grant for Should we continue or stop surveillance for colorectal cancer in older persons aged over 75 years?. Value $24,636
- 2022-2026: NHMRC Investigator Grant - Emerging Leardership Level 1 for "Personalising colorectal cancer prevention strategies with a risk stratification tool". Value $650,740
- 2022-2024: NHMRC Ideas Grant for "Do patients with symptoms need a colonoscopy? A novel panel of non-invasive biomarkers to determine need for diagnostic investigation". Value $881,020 (role: associate investigator)
- 2021-2025: Medical Research Future Fund, Australia for "A liquid biopsy DNA methylation blood test for personalised treatment of patients with gastrointestinal cancers." Value $1,980,810 (role: associate investigator)
-2022: Best Short talk from Early-Career Academic at Emerging Leaders Showcase, CMPH, Flinders University, 25 November 2022
-2022: Conversation Award, Emerging Leaders Showcase, Flinders University, College of Medicine and Public Health.
- 2020: Dean's Commendation for Doctoral Thesis Excellence from the University of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
- 2019: Nutrition Society of Australia travel grant, Australia. Value $450
- 2018: The Hospital Research Foundation travel grant, South Australia, Australia. Value $2,200
- 2016-2020: Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship
- 2016: University of Gondar mega project grant “Establishing nutritional surveillance system and pilot nutrition intervention in Northwest Ethiopia.” Value $62,925
- 2016: University of Gondar research project grant “Treatment outcome of patients with severe acute malnutrition in TFC found in Amhara region, Ethiopia.” Value $1,122
- 2013: Operational Research Grant by World Bank and Ethiopian Public Health Institute “Effectiveness of organizing newly-wed women and adolescent girls through community-based nutrition to improve access to, coverage and utilization of Community Based Nutrition services in Amhara Region, Ethiopia”
Since Jan 2022- NHMRC Investigator Fellow- Emerging Leadership Level 1, Flinders Centre for Innovation in Cancer, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University.
Nov 2020- Dec 2021: Postdoctoral Research Associate, Flinders Centre for Innovation in Cancer, College of Medicine and Public health, Flinders University
June 2020-Nov 2020: Research Assistant, Department of Food and Nutrition, Waite Campus, The University fo Adelade
2017-2020: Teaching Academics, Department of Food and Nutrition, Waite Campus, The University of Adelaide
2009 - 2016: Research and Teaching Academics, Department of Nutrition, Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar
Epidemiology, Nutrition, Research Methods
- Head: Human Nutrition Department, Institute of Public Health, University of Gondar, 2014-2016
- Member: Nutrition society of Australia, 2017 to date
- Member: The American society of Nutrition, 2019 to date
- Member: Ethiopian Public Health Association (EPHA), March 2007 to date.
- Trainer: Nutrition technical update courses for Ethiopian Health Professionals teaching Nutrition courses at higher education institutions.