Dr. Yitayeh Belsti Mengistu is an early-career Postgraduate Research Fellow who completed his PhD in early 2025. He leads the Risk Prediction in Women's Health research stream at the Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation (MCHRI), which is a collaborative partnership between Monash University and Monash Health.

Dr. Mengistu’s research focuses on harnessing big data, advanced statistical methods, machine learning, and natural language processing to improve the prediction and management of high-risk pregnancies, including gestational and postnatal diabetes, and other women's health conditions. He has secured competitive category 1 grant funding (under embargo). His work contributes significantly to the evolving field of prognostic risk prediction, providing valuable insights and tools for clinical application.

As part of his efforts to advance this field, Dr. Mengistu has established global research collaborations. These include contributing to the LIVING trial to develop a model predicting type 2 diabetes following gestational diabetes (here), and a recent partnership with machine learning researchers in Ireland to design a reciprocal external validation framework and case study (here).

In addition to his research, Dr. Mengistu is committed to capacity-building and academic mentorship. He currently co-supervises two PhD students, with two more set to commence in the next six months, all contributing to and expanding upon the foundations laid by his doctoral research.