Dr Thanya Pathirana is a Senior Lecturer with over a decade of experience in medical curriculum leadership, and public health and epidemiology education across Australian MD programs. She brings strength in designing, integrating, and delivering contemporary medical curricula, including evidence-based practice, epidemiology, climate change and health, sustainable healthcare, and community-engaged learning.
She was a founding academic at the Sunshine Coast campus of Griffith University Medical School, contributing to academic governance, assessment design, faculty coordination, and student support during the establishment phase of a new medical program. She has led major MD curriculum themes (Public Health & Research), convened core community medicine courses, and established community and First Peoples health placements that embed population health, multidisciplinary care, and social accountability.
Dr Pathirana has authored 30+ peer-reviewed publications in leading medical and public health journals including The BMJ, JAMA, Bulletin of the World Health Organization, Medical Journal of Australia, and BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine. Her research has informed clinical guidelines, screening policy statements, and shared decision-making resources in Australia and internationally.
She is the LMIC lead with Cochrane Planetary Health, and a past executive committee member of Wiser Healthcare, and the HEAL (Healthy Environments and Lives) Network, with established strong research partnerships across the UK, Canada, and South Asia.