NON-INVASIVE TOOLS FOR CVD SCREENING AND MONITORING
Dr Hadi Afsharan,
Research Fellow
University of Western Australia &
Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research,
Perth, Western Australia
RESEARCHER PROFILE
Filmed in Perth, Australia | November 2025
Dr Hadi Afsharan is a Research Fellow Cardiovascular Science & Diabetes at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research; is a translational research and innovation fellow in medical technologies at The University of Western Australia, holding dual titles as Translational Fellow and Innovation Fellow within UWA’s Medical School and the FHRI (Future Health Research and Innovation) program.
He earned his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from UWA in 2023, with a thesis entitled Development of Polarisation-Sensitive Optical Coherence Tomography for Application in Medical Diagnosis, which introduced a pioneering non-invasive imaging method for detecting hypertension and diabetes by analysing retinal blood vessel wall birefringence with exceptional sensitivity and specificity.
Hadi leads several translational research projects, including AI-based retinal biomarkers for coronary artery disease screening, low-cost imaging technologies for heart disease detection in remote communities, and radar-based non-contact measurement of jugular venous pressure, all supported by over $1.8 million in competitive funding from FHRI and UWA.
Source: Supplied
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7874-2766
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Hormone receptor positive breast cancer and therapy resistance
Prof Elgene Lim is a medical oncologist at St Vincent’s Hospital and Head of the Connie Johnson Breast Cancer Research Lab at the Garvan Institute. Following his PhD at the Walter & Eliza Hall Institute where he identified the aberrant cells in carriers of the BRCA1 mutant gene, a hereditary breast cancer syndrome as the culprit cells giving rise to breast cancer, he furthered his research and clinical training at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School. He was awarded the National Breast Cancer Foundation Practitioner Fellowship in 2014 and returned from Boston to Australia. In 2017, he was awarded the inaugural National Breast Cancer Foundation Endowed Chair, and subsequently appointed the Principal Cancer Theme Lead at UNSW.
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Therapy to prevent hepatocellular carcinoma in people with liver cirrhosis
Professor John Olynyk is a Gastroenterologist & Hepatologist with over 30 years’ experience, primarily at The Fiona Stanley & Fremantle Hospital Group. He planned the Gastroenterology and Hepatology Service for the Fiona Stanley Hospital and was Head Department from 2010 until 2020.
Professor John Olynyk was appointed as Associate Dean and Head of the Medical Discipline at Curtin University in 2023 until 2025 and is now Associate Director, Clinical Engagement, Curtin Medical Research Institute, Curtin University.
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Benefits of prehabilitation ahead of surgery
Dr Matthew Wallen PhD, AES, AEP is a Senior Research Fellow in Cancer Survivorship, the Deputy Lead of the Cancer Survivorship Program, and a Senior Lecturer in Exercise Science and Clinical Exercise Physiology within the College of Nursing and Health Sciences at Flinders University, in South Australia. His clinical interest focuses on improving outcomes for people requiring major surgery, specifically (1) lifestyle interventions, including exercise, nutritional, and psychological support to improve the health and wellbeing of people prior to surgery, termed ‘prehabilitation’, (2) novel physical function assessments aimed at identifying people at risk of treatment-related complications, and (3) implementation of new models of care in cancer.
