19 Dec 2022
Dr Sushama Telwatte receives GVN Rising Star mentorship award
University of Melbourne’s Dr Sushama Telwatte, Locarnini fellow at the Doherty Institute, has been selected to join the Global Virus Network’s (GVN) Rising Star Mentorship Program.
The initiative, launched last year, aims to support promising, early-career investigators to become leaders in the field of infectious diseases.
It offers a rare opportunity for future virology leaders to collaborate with key researchers, medical practitioners, and decision-makers driving scientific, evidence-based solutions for some of today’s largest challenges in public health.
Dr Telwatte is one of 11 awardees who will receive training and mentorship to help further their careers in virology.
University of Melbourne Professor Sharon Lewin, Director of the Doherty Institute said that Dr Telwatte is a worthy recipient of the program.
“In her career to date, Dr Telwatte has seen a terrific amount of success and made a significant impact on the field of virology,” Professor Lewin said.
“Her being elected as a GVN Rising Star Mentorship Program member is very well-deserved, and she will no doubt use the training and mentorship to produce even more important work.”
An Assistant Professor in the laboratory of Professor Steven Yukl at the University of California San Francisco, Dr Telwatte completed her PhD at the Burnet Institute, Monash University in 2015.
In 2021, she was awarded the inaugural Locarnini Fellowship in Virology at the Doherty Institute for her work on HIV persistence and latency in the gut and blood.