Hello! I'm Shawon
I'm an Oxford-trained early career scientist and a qualified physician. Currently, I'm working as a Research Fellow at the Centre for Big Data Research in Health (CBDRH), UNSW Sydney.
By integrating my clinical knowledge, advanced methodological training, highly developed statistical software skills, and experience working with healthcare data in Australia, the UK, and Sweden, I am building an independent body of large-scale, population-based research projects to generate real-world evidence on care pathways and clinical outcomes among patients with various cardiometabolic conditions and cardiovascular procedures. ​My research has the potential to significantly improve population health and quality of life and shape healthcare policy in Australian and global populations. My research works have resulted in nearly $1.1 million in funding to date.
I hold a PhD in Population Health, an MSc in Epidemiology, an MPH, and an MBBS. I also received further advanced training in diabetes research from the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), in genetic epidemiology from the University of Bristol, and in global health research for non-communicable diseases from the University of Oxford.
​
I'm an elected Fellow of the UK Royal Society for Public Health. I co-lead the Early Career Researchers group of the UNSW Cardiac, Vascular & Metabolic Medicine theme.​
Dr Md Shajedur Rahman Shawon
Big Data Epidemiologist
Current affiliation:
Centre for Big Data Research in Health, UNSW Sydney
Research Interests:
-
Cardiometabolic health
-
Cardiac care and patient outcomes
-
Cardiovascular medicine
-
Health service research
-
Health disparities
Research approach:
My research approach includes big data epidemiology, population-based studies, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses.
RESEARCH PROJECTS
Post cardiac surgery care fragmentation: impacts and implications
Cardiac Implantable Electronic Device (CIED) Infections
Temporal trends in procedural volume and outcomes of cardiac procedures
Hospital trajectories for 15 million Australians
​
Effectiveness of intensive Phase 1 cardiac rehabilitation via a standardised pathway
Data Linkage Study: access to TAVI procedures across Australia
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
2020-Present
Research Fellow
Centre for Big Data Research in Health, UNSW Sydney
My research is focused on using linked administrative data to generate real-world evidence on cardiac care pathways and patient outcomes. My works are based on the New South Wales Cardiovascular Cohort (NSWCVC) dataset with linked records for approximately 2.1 million NSW residents who had a hospital admission for a cardiovascular diagnosis between 2001 and 2021.
2016 - 2019
DPhil Researcher
Cancer Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford
My DPhil research was focused on investigating associations of birthweight, body size in early life with the risk of diabetes in adulthood. This research was based on the Million Women Study, which is a population-based prospective study involving 1.3 million UK women aged 50 years and over.
2016
Graduate Student Researcher
Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institute
I investigated the relationships of pre- and post-pubertal body sizes with breast cancer risk (both pre-and post-menopausal) in two population-based large invasive breast cancer case-control studies, namely KARMA and LIBRO1.
2015
Graduate Intern on Global Cardiovascular Research
Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge
I worked in the feasibility phase of a prospective population-based global study of biological and lifestyle determinants of non-communicable diseases. I was awarded Erasmus + Traineeship grant for this internship.
2014 - 2016
Research Investigator
International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b)
In collaboration with the Institute for Health Matrices and Evaluation (IHME), I worked on projects examining healthcare facility readiness and patient satisfaction in Bangladesh.
2012 - 2013
Research Associate
James P Grant School of Public Health, Brac University
I was involved in designing a community-based universal health coverage project in Bangladesh.
EDUCATION
2016 - 2019
DPhil in Population Health
University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom​
Thesis title: Birthweight, body size in early life and risk of diabetes in adulthood
Supervisors: Professor Dame Valerie Beral & Dr Owen Yang
Recipient of Nuffield Department of Population Health Fellowship
2014-2016
Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden ​
MSc in Public Health Epidemiology
Thesis title: Childhood and adolescent body sizes and risk of breast cancer among Swedish women: Two population-based case-control studies
Supervisor: Dr Jingmei Li
Recipient of the Swedish Institute Scholarship
2012-2014
Master’s in Public Health
North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Thesis title: Determinants and financing mechanism of out-of-pocket expenditure for health care in rural area of Bangladesh
Supervisors: Professor Dr G U Ahsan
Awarded Summa cum laude
2006-2011
Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery [MBBS]
Dhaka Medical College, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Ranked 29th in the national merit list amongst over forty thousand students in the MBBS entrance examination, December 2005
Recipient of Talent-pool scholarship from the Ministry of Education, Bangladesh
TEACHING
MSc in Health Data Science
Health data science is an emerging discipline that lies at the nexus of medicine, statistics and computer science. By drawing on the breadth and depth of my knowledge and experience in the areas of medicine, epidemiology, and statistics, I engage with the diverse student cohort of health data science who are drawn from a mix of clinical and quantitative backgrounds.
Recognition
I successfully completed the Foundations of University Learning and Teaching (FULT) Programme in 2022. I have been referred to be an Associate Fellow of UK Advance Higher Education.