Dr Yohannes Melaku

Senior Research Fellow

College of Medicine and Public Health

+61 8 7421 9746

yohannes.melaku@flinders.edu.au

Bedford Park

GPO Box 2100, ADELAIDE, SA, 5001

I am a nutritional and sleep epidemiologist. I have a clinical background (BSc, 2009) and quantitatively focused training in public health (MPH, 2012). I further expanded my expertise with degrees in nutrition (MPH, 2018), nutritional epidemiology (PhD, 2018), and Statistics and Data Science (MSc, 2024). Following my doctoral studies, I completed postdoctoral training in nutrition and sleep epidemiology from 2019 to 2021.

I have strong research and analytical skills, strengthened by extensive coursework, research experience, and short-term training in quantitative epidemiological methods, causal inference, data science, and biostatistics.

My research in nutritional epidemiology aims to deepen our understanding of how diet influences population health, uncover causal dietary risk factors for chronic diseases, and inform targeted prevention strategies by leveraging advanced statistical, data science, and causal inference methods.

I am currently an NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow (EL1, 2022-2026), with a focus on the application of causal inference and machine learning in nutritional epidemiology.

Qualifications

Ph.D, Nutritional Epidemiology
MSc, Statistics and Data Science
MPH, Nutrition
MPH, Public Health
BSc, Public Health (clinical training)

Honours, awards and grants

Grants

Australia

Impact and mechanisms of night-to-night variability in sleep apnoea severity on health and treatment outcomes (NHMRC Ideas Grant) - 2025-2029 (AI)
Increasing the value of evidence from nutritional epidemiology (NHMRC Investigator Fellowship) - 2022-2026 (CIA)
Nutritional epidemiology research support (Cancer Council Victoria) - 2022-2026 (CIA)
Improving the management of obstructive sleep apnea and insomnia in primary health care setting (NHMRC) - 2021-2025 (AI)
Improving migrants' health through diet and sleep: a pilot study and comparison with Australian-born residents using existing community-based cohort studies (FHMRI ECR Kick Start Grant, Flinders University) - 2022-2023 (CIA)
A pilot study to determine the feasibility of assessing sleep health using a new technology (Jack Brockhoff Foundation Early Career Medical Researchers Grant) - 2022-2023 (CIA)
Community well-being and mental health pre and post COVID-19 (The Hospital Research Foundation) - 2020-2021 (AI)

Ethiopia

Kilite-Awlaelo Health and Demographic Surveillance System (CDC [US] through Ethiopian Public Health Association) - 2014-2015 (CIA)
Ethiopian National Report on key health and demographic indicators (CDC [US] through Ethiopian Public Health Association) - 2014-2015 (CIA)
Evaluation of community-based tuberculosis Prevention and Control Programme in Pastoralist community (AMREF Health Africa) - 2014-2015 (CIA)
Fertility desire, family planning utilization, and associated factors among HIV positive women (USAID through MSH-Ethiopia) - 2014-2015 (CIA)

Honors, awards and scholarships

Vice-Chancellor's Award for Early Career Researchers (Flinders University) - 2022
Dean's Commendation for Doctoral Thesis Excellence (The University of Adelaide) - 2018
PhD Scholarship, Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship (The Australian Government) - 2015-2018
Best Young Researcher of the Year (Mekelle University, Ethiopia) - 2014

Key responsibilities

As an NHMRC EL1 Fellow, I lead a research program that focuses on causal inference and machine learning in nutritional epidemiology at Flinders University. My research program aims to (1) develop methodologies to identify key dietary patterns and components associated with health outcomes, and (2) estimate their impact on health. I also actively promote capacity building by providing training in quantitative methods for EMCRs and HDRs, while also supporting research programs with my advanced methodological and statistical skills.

Teaching interests

Nutritional epidemiology
Epidemiology
Causal inference
Data science

Professional engagement

2024-    Member, Australian Statistical Association
2024-    Member, Public Health Association Australia
2022-    Member, Society for Epidemiological Research (SER)
2022-    Member, International Epidemiological Association (IEA)
2019-    Member, Australasian Sleep Association (ASA)
2018-    Member, Australasia Epidemiological Association
2016-    Member, Nutrition Society of Australia
2017-    Founding member, Australian-based Ethiopian Researchers Network (ABReN)
2016-    Founder and subtheme (non-communicable disease and risk factors) lead of Ethiopian National Burden of Disease (E_NBD) Expert Team
2014-    Member, Food and Nutrition Society of Ethiopia (FoNSE
2013-    Member, Global Burden of Disease Expert Group
2009-    Lifetime member, Ethiopian Public Health Association (EPHA)