Anusuya obtained her PhD in 2009 from the University of Melbourne and the Université de Paris XI, jointly awarded under the French - Australian PhD Cotutelle program. During her PhD, Anusuya used innovative techniques to analyze the biochemistry and cell-adhesion of diatoms, through a combination of algal physiology and molecular biology techniques. Anusuya posts have included development of a diatom for a biofuels feedstock (Department of Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA) and investigation of genotypic and phenotypic variation of toxic cyanobacteria isolates (Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University, Australia).