The Centre for Online Health just gained a new source of expertise, as Dr Saman Yapa Bandara joins the team for one year, from his home country of Sri Lanka. His visit is supported by the Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka.
Dr Yapa Bandara will be a Visiting Research Fellow at The University of Queensland, in addition to his regular role as Deputy Director of Colombo North Teaching Hospital in Ragama. He completed his MD in Medical Administration in 2023, with doctoral research focused on improving communication between guardians and healthcare workers at Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s national paediatric referral centre. His academic background also includes an MBA in Health Sector Management, an MSc in Medical Administration, and postgraduate qualifications in Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety, and Sports and Exercise Medicine.
Dr Yapa Bandara requires one year of international placement to complete his mandatory post-doctoral overseas training and saw spending time at the COH as a great opportunity to further explore digital health aspects in his work. He hopes to gain experience in implementing digital health solutions to improve health services in Sri Lanka. An emphasis will be on accessibility and cost aspects. He will familiarise himself with telemedicine research practices in Australia and develop skills in health system reach, gaining an understanding of ethical and research integrity practices.
Dr Yapa Bandara began his career as a physician before moving into senior hospital leadership roles, including Medical Director of Teaching Hospital Kurunegala, one of Sri Lanka’s largest hospitals with over 2500 beds and 3500 staff. His work spans organisational culture, workforce performance, patient safety, preventive healthcare, and national initiatives in sports and exercise medicine aimed at reducing non-communicable diseases.
Our team looks forward to learning as much from Dr Yapa Bandara as he hopes to gain from us!
A few of Dr Yapa Bandara’s recent publications can be seen here:
- Impact of organizational culture on employee motivation: A study on managerial nurses in children's hospitals of Sri Lanka
- Transformation of Agricultural Practices and Health Outcomes: An Empirical Investigation of Chronic Kidney Disease of unknown Etiology (CKDu) in Sri Lanka
- Health cost of urban air pollution in Sri Lanka: an empirical analysis in Kandy city
- Estimating Health Impacts of Pesticides Use: New Evidence from Vegetable Farmers in Sri Lanka
