Chaturaka Rodrigo

Associate Professor Chaturaka Rodrigo is an academic in the Department of Pathology at UNSW Medicine and a medical researcher at the Viral Immunology Systems Program (VISP), Kirby Institute. He serves as the Presiding Member (Chair) of Human Research Ethics at UNSW and is a member of the higher degree research review panel at Kirby Institute. His research program is affiliated with the Viral Immunology Systems Program, focusing on emerging viral infections and tropical diseases.

Dr. Rodrigo holds qualifications including MBBS, MRCP(UK), MD, PhD, FHEA, and FRCP. He is a clinician trained in Internal Medicine and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, United Kingdom, as well as a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy of the United Kingdom.

His research expertise centers on unraveling the pathogenesis of emerging viral infections using cutting-edge sequencing technologies, with a focus on pathogenic RNA viruses. He uses dengue virus as a model for acute infections and hepatitis C virus for chronic infections. His laboratory employs next and third generation sequencing, advanced immunological assays, mathematical modeling, phylogenetics, machine learning, and clinical metagenomics to improve diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and outcome prediction of infections.

His recent publications span molecular mechanisms of severe dengue, host immune responses to hepatitis C, viral genomics for outbreak surveillance, and the application of machine learning in predicting infection outcomes. These works demonstrate his interdisciplinary approach bridging basic science with clinical applications.

• Research Excellence Award (for impactful research collaborations), Faculty of Medicine and Health, UNSW, 2023
• University award for teaching excellence (early career and rising star), UNSW Sydney, 2019
• Robert Dixon award for the best presentation (Hepatitis), Australian Centre for HIV and Hepatitis Virology Research, 2019
• Award for teaching excellence (early career staff), Faculty of Medicine, UNSW Sydney, 2018
• Multiple Paper of the Month awards from School of Medical Sciences, UNSW (2020-2022)

Dr. Rodrigo currently supervises multiple PhD students researching biomarkers for severe dengue infection, molecular diagnostics for viral infections, and molecular epidemiology of dengue. He has secured significant research funding including an NHMRC Investigator grant (Emerging Leader 1 category, 2020-2024), Medical Research Future Fund (2021-2026), and multiple industry-sponsored research grants. His teaching portfolio includes co-convening PATH3205 (Molecular Basis of Disease) and PATH3206 (Cancer Pathology), along with extensive pathology teaching across medical and biomedical science programs.