Dr Ramesh Lahiru Walpola

My Expertise

- Patient safety and quality

- Medicines safety and policy

- Safety climate assessments

- Health services leadership and management

- Clinician and Patient Experience

- Psychometric analysis

Fields of Research (FoR)

Clinical pharmacy and pharmacy practice, Health services and systems, Public health not elsewhere classified, Cancer therapy (excl. chemotherapy and radiation therapy), Public Health and Health Services

SEO tags

Public Health (excl. Specific Population Health)

Health and Support Services not elsewhere classified

Biography

Dr Ramesh Walpola is a pharmacist, certified health manager (CHM) and the Pharmacy Academic Lead & Program Authority at the School of Health Sciences. His main area of research expertise and interest is in patient and medication safety, particularly examining the social determinants of safe practices. Ramesh completed his PhD at The University of Sydney in 2016, which focused on the development of educational interventions to enhance generational change in patient safety practices in the pharmacy setting. He was awarded the FIP Young Pharmacist Award for Professional Innovation in 2012 in recognition of the novelty of this work. Following his PhD, he worked in a number of clinical research roles, including a multi-centre deprescribing randomized controlled trial, development of inter-professional student-led clinics and a review of the junior undergraduate pharmacy practice curriculum at The University of Sydney. Ramesh’s current research spans a number of areas including patient and medication safety, safety culture, health professional education, patient experience with a focus on vulnerable populations. Ramesh is currently leading the implementation of the new pharmacy program in the School of Health Sciences, as part of the suite of new and relaunched health professional programs.

My Grants

International Pharmaceutical Federation Young Pharmacist/Pharmaceutical Scientist Award for Professional Innovation 2012

Awarded for: The development and evaluation of a peer-led patient safety education program

UNSW Sydney, School of Public Health and Community Medicine Grant Building Support Scheme 2019

Awarded for: Refugee health facilitator program: evaluating scope, scalability and outcomes

UNSW Business Health@Business Research Network and UNSW Medicine Collaborative Seed Funding 2020

Awarded for: Who knows what’s in your medicine? Harmful excipients in medication and the overlooked consequences for public health in Australia

UNSW Business Health@Business Research Network and UNSW Medicine Collaborative Seed Funding 2020

Awarded for: Translation and change: Embedding effective change management in health

UNSW Sydney, School of Public Health and Community Medicine Grant Building Support Scheme 2020

Awarded for: Understanding the needs of informal caregivers in managing medicines for people receiving cancer treatment

Australasian Pharmaceutical Science Association, Research Grant Scheme 2020

Awarded for: Developing a pharmacist led intervention to assist informal caregivers in managing medicines for people receiving cancer treatment

UTS Centre for Carer Research, Early Career Researcher Carer Investment Program 2020/21

Awarded for: Supporting the needs of informal caregivers in managing medicines for people receiving cancer treatment

UNSW Cancer Seed Grant 2021

Awarded for: Understanding the impact of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) on Australian cancer treatment

Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care, MRFF 2022 Models of Care to Improve the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Acute Care

Awarded for: Working together: innovation to improve Emergency Department (ED) performance, and patient outcomes and experience for five complex consumer cohorts