Dr Purnima Bhat
Areas of expertise
- Gastroenterology And Hepatology 110307
- Tumour Immunology 110709
- Virology 060506
Research interests
HBV diagnosis and therapy in LMIC
Point-of-care tests for rapid diagnostics in medicine
Mucosal immunology
The Gut/Liver axis
Development of novel therapies for Hepatitis B Virus
Development of immunotherapy for GI cancers
Live imaging using in vitro and in vivo techniques
Biography
http://purnima.com
Purnima Bhat is a Senior Research Fellow at the ANU Medical School. She is a practicing clinical Gastroenterologist with appointments at Canberra Hospital, and at Canberra Gastoenterology. Purnima obtained her medical degree at the University of Queensland and specialised in Gastroenterology and Liver Transplantation at the Austin Hospital, Melbourne. She received her PhD from the University of Melbourne for research on Hepatitis B Virus at the Burnet Institute.
Purnima's research interests focus on mucosal immunology in the gut. Her lab works in translational medicine with a view to the development of novel therapies for diseases such as cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, and viral hepatitis. Her laboratory has developed in vitro and animal models for the examining the gut immune system and applies these methods to investigate the behaviour of diseases in patients.
She has a translational lab that develops novel methods to redcuce health care delivery costs in developing countries, such as novel point-of-care tests for hepatitis B infection.
Purnima is a member of the World Endoscopy Organisation African Outreach Committee which promotes gastroenterology teaching and research in Africa. WEO has now developed and supported several new centres including flagship endoscopy sites in Nairobi and Addis Ababa. https://www.worldendo.org/
Researcher's projects
Investigating the immune system in bowel cancer
Role of the gut in HBV transmission and pathogenesis
Development of point-of-care diagnositics
Available student projects
- Develop a murine orthotopic model for CRC and investigate the role of immune modulation in vivo in this model. (laboratory-based, mice work)
Tumours are created in the mouse colon by direct colonoscopy and monitored by imaging and by biopsy to directly investigate the effects of interventions such as diet, immune modulation and treatment.
- The role of platelets as biomarkers in liver disease (laboratory-based, patients)
Platelets have many functions including immune modulation and are markedly affected by liver disease. Platlets from patients with liver disease will be examined for markers of disease activity.
Past student projects
Dietary changes and the tumour microenvironoment in mouse models of colorectal cancer. (Derek Weinert)
The distribution of microsatellite instability mutations in colorectal cancer (Michael Impelido, 2018)
The distribution of microsatellite instability mutations in colorectal cancer (Jiaxue Ruan, 2017)
Monocyte-derived Macrophages in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Ingrid Vennonen, 2015)
Publications
- Bhat, P & Aabakken, L 2021, 'Role of endoscopy in primary sclerosing cholangitis', Clinical Endoscopy, vol. 54, no. 2, pp. 193-201.
- Ebigbo, A, Karstensen, J, Bhat, P et al. 2020, 'Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on gastrointestinal endoscopy in Africa', Endoscopy International Open (EIO), vol. 08, no. 08, pp. E1097-E1101.
- Karstensen, J, Ebigbo, A, Bhat, P et al. 2020, 'Endoscopic treatment of variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding: European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) Cascade Guideline', Endoscopy International Open (EIO), vol. 8, no. 7, pp. E990-E997.
- Raj, A, Shanahan, E, Tran, C et al. 2019, 'Dysbiosis of the Duodenal Mucosal Microbiota Is Associated With Increased Small Intestinal Permeability in Chronic Liver Disease', Clinical and Translational Gastroenterology, vol. 10, no. 8.
- Bhat, P, Leggatt, G, Waterhouse, N et al 2017, 'Interferon-γ derived from cytotoxic lymphocytes directly enhances their motility and cytotoxicity', Cell Death & Disease, vol. 8, no. e2836;, pp. 11pp..
- Fadia, M, Davis, I, Saheb, S et al. 2017, 'Infiltrating macrophages show evidence of impaired-antigen presentation ability at the growing edge of the tumour in patients with Colorectal Cancer [Meeting abstract]', Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, vol. 32, no. 2, p. 57.
- Bhat, P, Bergot, A, Waterhouse, N et al 2017, 'Human papillomavirus E7 oncoprotein expression by keratinocytes alters the cytotoxic mechanisms used by CD8 T cells', Oncotarget, vol. 9, no. 5, pp. 6015-6027.
- Raj, A, Shanahan, E, Fletcher, L et al 2016, 'Increased small intestinal permeability in chronic liver disease is associated with reduced abundance of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii in the terminal ileum mucosa', The 67th Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases: The Liver Meeting, John Wiley & Sons Inc., United States, pp. 340A-341A.
- Bhat, P, Hendy, P, Reddi, D et al 2016, 'Vitamin D regulates dendritic cell activity and trafficking in Crohn's disease', Gastroenterological Society of Australia, Australian Gastroenterology Week 2016, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Asia, Australia, pp. 121-122.
- Bhat, P, Hendy, P, Reddi, D et al 2016, 'Altered tissue homing and cytokine production in dendritic cells and monocytes in Crohn's disease', Gastroenterological Society of Australia, Australian Gastroenterology Week 2016, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Asia, Australia, pp. 121-121.
- Vennonen, I, O'Brien, C, Pavli, P et al 2016, 'Reactivity of monocyte-derived macrophages from patients with Crohn's disease', Gastroenterological Society of Australia, Australian Gastroenterology Week 2016, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Asia, Australia, pp. 126-126.
- Bhat, P, Leggatt, G, Matthaei, K et al 2014, 'The kinematics of cytotoxic lymphocytes influence their ability to kill target cells', PLOS ONE (Public Library of Science), vol. 9, no. 5, pp. 1-11.
- Tellam, J, Zhong, J, Lekieffre, L et al 2014, 'mRNA Structural Constraints on EBNA1 Synthesis Impact on In Vivo Antigen Presentation and Early Priming of CD8(+) T Cells', PLoS Pathogens, vol. 10, no. 10, pp. -.
- Koyama, M, Kuns, R, Olver, S et al 2012, 'Recipient nonhematopoietic antigen-presenting cells are sufficient to induce lethal acute graft-versus-host disease', Nature Medicine, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 135-142.
- Bhat, P, Mattarollo, S, Gosmann, C et al 2011, 'Regulation of immune responses to HPVinfection and during HPV-directed immunotherapy', Immunological Reviews, vol. 239, no. 1, pp. 85-98.
- Bhat, P, Snooks, M & Anderson, D 2011, 'Hepatocytes Traffic and Export Hepatitis B Virus Basolaterally by Polarity-Dependent Mechanisms', Journal of Virology, vol. 85, no. 23, pp. 12474-12481.
- Bhat, P & Thorn, P 2009, 'Myosin 2 maintains an open exocytic fusion pore in secretory epithelial cells', Molecular Biology of the Cell, vol. 20, no. 6, pp. 1795-1803pp.
- Snooks, M, Bhat, P, Mackenzie, J et al 2008, 'Vectorial entry and release of hepatitis A virus in polarized human hepatocytes', Journal of Virology, vol. 82, no. 17, pp. 8733-8742pp.
- Larina, O, Bhat, P, Pickett, J et al 2007, 'Dynamic regulation of the large exocytotic fusion pore in pancreatic acinar cells', Molecular Biology of the Cell, vol. 18, no. 9, pp. 3502-3511pp.
- Bhat, P & Anderson, D 2007, 'Hepatitis B virus translocates across a trophoblastic barrier', Journal of Virology, vol. 81, no. 13, pp. 7200-7207pp.
