Dr Ashenafi Betrie
BPharm, MSc, PhD

Dr Ashenafi Betrie completed his bachelor’s degree in pharmacy and master’s degree in pharmacology from Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. Following which, Dr Betrie then worked as a lecturer before pursuing his PhD. He completed his PhD in 2018 in cardiovascular pharmacology at the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Melbourne where he investigated the roles of transition metals, particularly zinc and iron, on the cardiovascular system.

Dr Betrie is passionate about understanding the mechanisms driving vascular dysfunction and finding treatments for cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases. His work revealed a new mechanism of blood vessel tone regulation by cellular zinc, and an important cardiovascular role of Alzheimer’s tau protein, a canonically brain protein. Ashenafi was invited to present his work at several international and national conferences and departmental seminars. He is an inventor in 3 patents and has received awards and invitations at leading national and international societies such as Hypertension Australia and International Society for Zinc Biology.

Dr Betrie is committed to advocating for discovery research and increasing representation and opportunities for researchers from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. He is a member of the Australian Cardiovascular Alliance Emerging Leaders Committee, Hypertension Australia ECR committee and Australian & New Zealand Microcirculatory Society.

Key collaborators:

• Associate Professor Daniel Scott, The Florey
• Dr Alaa Abdul-Ridha, The Florey
• Dr Fazel Shabanpoor, The Florey
• Dr Makhala Khammy, Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacology, University of Melbourne
• Dr Michael De Silva at Latrobe University
• Professor Mark Nelson, University of Vermont, USA
• Dr Osama Haraz, University of Vermont, USA