Emerging researchers from The Australian National University (ANU) have been selected in the 2025 CHARM Rising Star Awards, celebrating their outstanding early-career impact in health research and innovation in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).
Held on Monday 16 June, the Canberra Health Annual Research Meeting (CHARM) is the ACT’s flagship health research event. Hosted by ACT Health in collaboration with industry and research partners including ANU, the event recognises excellence in health research in the region.
The Rising Star Awards highlight the achievements of developing Canberra health researchers, acknowledging those who are building research capability, driving innovation, and contributing to improved health outcomes in the community.
Congratulations to our rising stars in health research from ANU.
Dr Chirath Hettiarachchi
Research Fellow at the ANU School of Computing
Highly commended, Outstanding New Researcher, 2025 CHARM Rising Star Awards
Dr Chirath Hettiarachchi has been recognised for pioneering artificial intelligence driven diabetes care. He completed his PhD at ANU on reducing the cognitive burden faced by people managing Type 1 diabetes. Through the Our Health in Our Hands (OHIOH) grand challenge – a strategic initiative of the ANU – Dr Hettiarachchi developed and openly shared intelligent insulin delivery systems. These aim to manage blood sugar levels in real time, reducing the need for manual intervention.
“Our goal is to reduce that daily burden, or ideally, eliminate it altogether,” he said. “It is exciting that our work is already making a difference.”
Dr Hettiarachchi’s work has been presented at major international conferences throughout 2023-2024 and was recognised with the Best Scientific Paper Award at the 2024 Health Innovation Conference. In 2025, he received an ANU Early Career Research Impact Award. He developed an educational tool known as CAPSML. Designed to support both clinicians and patients, CAPSML now serves more than 1,800 users in 55 countries.
Dr Hettiarachchi’s contributions are advancing diabetes care globally, as well as open science and collaborative health innovation.
“I’ve always enjoyed tackling research and engineering problems, even without much background knowledge,” he said. “It’s incredibly rewarding to learn along the way and see people benefit from what I’ve built.”
Dr Anupam Rao
Canberra Health Services, and ANU
Clinician-Researcher Award, 2025 CHARM Rising Star Awards
Dr Anupam Rao, a Visiting Fellow at ANU, is recognised for his use of cutting-edge AI models in cardiovascular care. This includes the development of a novel Hybrid-EM framework for STEMI risk stratification and interpretable machine learning models for heart failure and atrial fibrillation.
Dr Robin Vlieger
Research Fellow at the ANU School of Medicine and Psychology
Finalist, Outstanding New Researcher, 2025 CHARM Rising Star Awards
Dr Robin Vlieger has been recognised for his novel research applying machine learning and EEG to understand Parkinson’s disease and cognition in Multiple Sclerosis.
“I got into health research because my mother-in-law has traumatic brain injury due to a car accident, and because I had a very good neuroscience lecturer at university,” he said. “What really interests me is the complexity of the brain and the different ways in which neurological conditions can manifest in people, whether it’s a traumatic brain injury, Parkinson’s, or MS.”
He completed a PhD in computer science at ANU, investigating tests that can be used in algorithms for diagnosis and disease progression.
“In a nutshell, I look at high-dimensional data of people with neurological conditions,” he said. “I use machine and deep learning methods to see what the data can tell us about their disease. The aim is to discover biomarkers of disease status and then use these for the earlier diagnosis and more accurate prognostication of their condition.”
Dr Vlieger contributed to the development of ‘SensAnalytics’, a scalable health informatics application used to assess postural sway in neurological conditions. This project received Best Paper at the 2024 Health Innovation Community Conference. Dr Vlieger published three research papers between 2023 and 2024, and was awarded the ANU School of Medicine and Psychology’s Early Career Researcher Impact Award for 2025.
“What motivates me is using my skills to understand how the conditions we study affect the central nervous system and how that knowledge can have a real-life positive impact for people living with these conditions. I hope my work helps contribute to our understanding of neurological conditions, and through that, supports better management and possibly even finding a cure.”
Vijay Bhoopalan
PhD candidate from the ANU John Curtin School of Medical Research
Finalist, Outstanding New Researcher, 2025 CHARM Rising Star Awards
Mr Vijay Bhoopalan recently submitted his PhD thesis, which investigates the effects of anticancer drugs on platelets, to help us understand, or possibly even cure, cancer.
“My current research focuses on understanding how haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) give rise to megakaryocytes - the precursors to platelets,” said Mr Bhoopalan. “I aim to identify novel pathways that govern megakaryocyte differentiation and platelet biogenesis, with the broader goal of addressing unmet clinical needs in platelet disorders.”
Mr Bhoopalan has co-authored three research papers, with another currently under review as lead author, and has presented his findings at national and international conferences in Brisbane, London, and Italy.
“In my experience, every time I stepped out of my comfort zone to connect with someone, those interactions sparked new ideas or opened doors to meaningful collaborations. Often, it’s through these exchanges that innovative research begins.”
He has contributed to a successful Medical Research Future Fund grant with ANU and The Canberra Hospital, which will commence in 2025.
“What excites me most is the potential for translation, turning fundamental discoveries into therapies that benefit patients. While I understand that this is a long journey, and I may not see the full outcomes of my work immediately, the idea that I could contribute, even in a small way, to improving human health is incredibly motivating.”
Congratulations to all these ANU researchers on the well-deserved recognition of their work and future potential.