Habtamu currently serves as a postdoctoral research scientist at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute's Metabolomics laboratory in Melbourne, Australia. His research delves into the intricate interplay between diet, lifestyle, lipid metabolism, and cardiometabolic diseases, employing advanced mass-spectrometry based lipidomics. Habtamu is keen on developing robust metabolic health scores to identify individuals at risk of cardiometabolic diseases.

Having earned his PhD from Monash University in 2021, Habtamu explored the role of lipidome and lipid metabolic pathways in metabolic conditions such as obesity, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes, utilising diverse clinical cohorts. His research provides crucial insights into the role of lipids in health and disease.

Initially trained as a medical scientist with a BSc (MLT) and MSc, Habtamu has continued his independent and collaborative research on various aspects of human diseases since obtaining his PhD He has authored over 15 peer-reviewed scientific publications, with his work cited over 330 times.