Prof Purnima Bhat graduated from the University of Queensland. before specialising in gastroenterology at the Austin Hospital, Melbourne. She underwent advanced training in balloon-assisted enteroscopy in Sydney and Oslo. Dr Bhat holds a PhD from the University of Melbourne.
She is currently a Staff Specialist at the Canberra Hospital and the Australian National University. She studies GI immunology and has developed several point-of-care diagnostic tests for use in developing countries.
Prof Bhat is Chair of the World Endoscopy Organisation African Outreach Committee. She serves on the European Society for Gastroenterology International Committee, the World Endoscopy Organisation Climate Change Committee, the board of Australian Society of Hepatitis and HIV and the Liver Faculty of the Gastroenterology Society of Australasia. Prof Bhat serves on the Editorial Board of the Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology.