Alumni spotlight
Celebrating some of the remarkable achievements of our alumni
From Bangladesh to Australian healthcare leader
Swarup Afsar grew up in the slums of Bangladesh, where poverty and limited healthcare shaped his drive to improve access to care.
After moving to Australia, he studied pharmacy despite language and confidence challenges, and at the age of 23 became one of the country’s youngest pharmacy owners.
Today, Swarup leads 11 Pharmacy 777 across Western Australia and Victoria, pioneering community-focused services such as on-site mental health counselling. His patient-centred approach has enhanced care in underserved areas and earned him national recognition, including the 2025 Business News 40Under40 Large Business Award.
Dr Jo Milios awarded Professional Achievement Award
Congratulations to Dr Jo Milios on receiving the Professional Achievement Award in Health Sciences at the 2025 Alumni Awards!
Since 2012, Jo’s nonprofit PROST! Exercise 4 Prostate Cancer Inc. has supported nearly 10,000 men diagnosed with prostate cancer, providing exercise and mental health services.
Her deep expertise in physiotherapy and doctoral research has made her a respected national and international leader in men’s health.
Dr Tracey Westerman AM nominated for WA Australian of the Year 2026
Congratulations to graduate, Dr Tracey Westerman AM on her nomination for WA Australian of the Year 2026!
After completing a combined Masters and PhD in Clinical Psychology at Curtin, and becoming the first Aboriginal person in Australia to do so, Dr Westerman founded Indigenous Psychological Services, developing culturally valid assessment tools to better identify and support at-risk Aboriginal youth.
A nationally recognised leader in Indigenous mental health, she has trained tens of thousands of practitioners, established suicide-prevention programs and created pathways for more Aboriginal psychologists.
Her outstanding impact has previously seen her awarded the Curtin Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award and named WA Australian of the Year in 2018.
Community impact
50 years of Dietetics and Nutrition at Curtin
As 2025 drew to a close, more than 130 alumni and former staff gathered to celebrate 50 years of Dietetics and Nutrition.
Graduates travelled from across WA and interstate to reconnect, share memories and reflect on the program’s impact across generations.
A special highlight was welcoming some of the discipline’s earliest leaders, including the first Head of School, who stood proudly alongside recent graduates a powerful reminder of the program’s legacy, growth and strong sense of community as it looks ahead to the next 50 years.
Closing the Vaccine Gap in WA
Curtin has launched a three-year ‘Closing the Vaccine Gap’ initiative to address falling immunisation rates among Aboriginal communities in WA.
Supported by the Stan Perron Charitable Foundation and led by Professor Anne-Marie Eades, the program focuses on pregnant women, babies and adolescents across Perth, the Mid-West and Great Southern.
Through culturally grounded engagement and local champions, it aims to strengthen vaccine confidence and reduce vaccine-preventable disease.
Listen and learn
A curated selection of health science-focused podcasts from The Future Of, powered by Curtin University, where experts share their visions for the future and how their work is shaping positive change.
Our students
Rural student placements
Western Australian rural health placements offer Health Sciences students meaningful, hands-on learning in some of the state’s most unique and welcoming regional communities.
Students gain valuable clinical experience, confidence and real-world skills while working closely with local health professionals and community members.
Beyond placement, there are opportunities to immerse in vibrant regional life and discover the diverse cultures and landscapes that make Western Australia so distinctive.
A rural placement is a chance to grow professionally, build lasting connections and experience the rewards of supporting community health in settings you won’t find anywhere else.
RACGP Rising Strong Award winner announced
Keisha Calyun has been announced as the recipient of the RACGP Rising Strong Medical Student Award.
Currently studying a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery, Keisha has long demonstrated a deep commitment to improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.
Before commencing her medical degree, she worked with the Aboriginal Health Council of WA, where she helped establish a scholarship enabling Aboriginal medical students to attend the Pacific Region Indigenous Doctors Congress.
Latest in research
Study reveals benefits of dropping unrealistic goals
Curtin research shows that abandoning unattainable goals and setting new, achievable ones boosts wellbeing, suggesting flexibility beats rigid persistence.
Fellowship fuels new approach to fighting liver cancer
Curtin researchers are developing lab-grown liver cancer tumours to better replicate real disease, enabling faster testing of treatments and advancing more effective, personalised therapies for liver cancer patients.
New blood test for liver cancer detection
Curtin’s LIVER-Trace blood test detects tumour DNA to more accurately and accessibly identify liver cancer recurrence than imaging.
Curtin-developed eye therapy targets childhood blindness
Curtin researchers are developing an antioxidant eye gel to prevent childhood blindness, with early results suggesting a less invasive alternative to gene therapies nearing clinical testing.
Look Ever Forward
The Look Ever Forward Society honours the generosity and vision of those who have included a gift in their Will to Curtin University.
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