Background

I am a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at ARRL under the direct supervision of Dr John Stenos and Prof Stephen Graves. I have authored over 11 publications, with approximately 600 citations.

I was awarded my Joint PhD in 2022 from the Deakin University (Australia) and University of Copenhagen (Denmark).

I worked as a Post-doctoral researcher at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark before moving to Australia in June 2023.

Research Focus

We are actively engaged in several research initiatives, including the development of a human Q fever vaccine, the establishment of pipelines for clinical metagenomics, investigations in bacterial genomics, and studies on microRNA stability.

 

Awards & Achievements

  • Recipient, CIIDIR Seed Grant 2025
  • American Society for Rickettsiology (ASR), Received Travel Award for USD 500 to support my attendances at the 2024 ASR meeting.
  • Best Research Paper of the Year, finalist (Top 3), Listed in top3 (finalist) researcher for the best research paper of 2021 by Barwon Health and Deakin University, Australia (2021)
  • 2020 Top 50 SARS-CoV-2 Articles: Listed in top 50 SARS-CoV-2 articles (# 26) published by Nature Communication in 2020 https://www.nature.com/collections/bajeaaahda
  • Deakin University Postgraduate Research Scholarship (DUPRS), Deakin University, Australia (2017-2021)

About me...

Pets:

 

 I have a lovely dog named ‘Tiger’
Footy team:

 

 Geelong Cats
Signature dish:

 

 Garlic and Herb Buttery Mash with Salmon and Lemon Butter Sauce
Coffee order:

 

 Flat White

Feature Publications

  • Alexandersen, S, Chamings, A. & Bhatta, TR. SARS-CoV-2 genomic and subgenomic RNAs in diagnostic samples are not an indicator of active replication. Nature Communications 11, 6059 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19883-7
  • Blanch-Lázaro, B., Chamings, A., Ribot, R.F.H., Bhatta TR., Berg ML., Alexandersen S., Bennett A.T.D. Beak and feather disease virus (BFDV) persists in tissues of asymptomatic wild Crimson Rosellas. Commun Biol 7, 1017 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-06652-1
  • Bhatta TR, Ryt-Hansen P, Nielsen JP, Larsen LE, Larsen I, Chamings A, Goecke NB, Alexandersen S. Infection Dynamics of Swine Influenza Virus in a Danish Pig Herd Reveals Recurrent Infections with Different Variants of the H1N2 Swine Influenza A Virus Subtype. Viruses. 2020 Sep;12(9):1013.
  • Bhatta TR, Chamings A, Vibin J, Alexandersen S. Detection and characterisation of canine astrovirus, canine parvovirus and canine papillomavirus in puppies using next generation sequencing. Scientific reports. 2019 Mar 14;9(1):4602.
  •  Karmacharya D, Manandhar S., Sharma A, Bhatta T, Adhikari P, Sherchan AM, Shrestha B, Bista M, Rajbhandari R, Oberoi M, Bisht K, Hero JM, Dissanayake R, Dhakal M, Hughes J, Debnath N. Surveillance of Influenza A Virus and Its Subtypes in Migratory Wild Birds of Nepal. PLoSOne. 10(7):e0133035 (2015) Doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0133035.

How you can help

Participate in a Clinical Trial

To find out about Clinical Trials currently underway at Barwon Health, click here. To learn more about the Adrian Costa Clinical Trials Centre, click here.

Donate

Research requires ongoing investment and there are several ways to support our work. You can make a donation today and contribute to an item on our research group’s wish list, consider a bequest in your will, or establish a lasting legacy fund in your name. No matter what size, your philanthropic support will deliver an immediate impact to this important work. To donate now or for more information, please contact the Barwon Health Foundation.