Dr Melaku is a nutritional epidemiologist with a strong clinical and quantitative background. He holds a BSc in Clinical Officer (2009) and an MPH in Public Health (2012), complemented by further advanced training in nutrition (MPH, 2018), nutritional epidemiology (PhD, 2018), and Statistics and Data Science (MSc, 2024). Following his doctorate, he completed postdoctoral training in nutrition and sleep epidemiology between 2019 and 2021.

He has developed strong research and analytical expertise through extensive coursework, research experience, and specialised training in quantitative epidemiological methods, causal inference, data science, and biostatistics. His research program focuses on deepening the understanding of how diet influences population health, uncovering causal dietary risk factors for chronic diseases, and informing prevention strategies through the application of advanced statistical and data science methods.

Dr Melaku is an NHMRC Emerging Leadership 1 Fellow (2022–2026). His fellowship advances the application of cutting-edge statistical and data-science methods—particularly causal inference and machine learning—to nutritional epidemiology, with a focus on overall dietary pattern analysis. His research drives improvements in dietary pattern analysis, strengthens dietary guidelines, and guides disease prevention and health policy.