Professor Hasantha Gunasekera
Children's Hospital Westmead Clinical School
- Associate Editor, Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health
- General Paediatrician, Sydney Children's Hospitals Network (Westmead)
- Chair, University Buddhist Education Foundation Trust
- Board member, Treasurer, Academy of Child and Adolescent Health
- Board member, Riverina Medical & Dental Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation
General Paediatrics
Indigenous health
Refugee health
Otitis media
Medical education
Child and Adolescent Health Block and Year 2 Back to Basics Child and Adolescent Health teaching. Paediatric teaching throughout the Sydney Medical Program (MD projects, lectures, bedside tutorials, clinical reasoning sessions, procedural skills, ethics forum, Indigenous health forum and research).
Higher Degree Research supervision:
Primary supervisor
PhD awarded: Dr Stuart Haggie- determinants of severity in childhood pneumonia
PhD candidate: Jack DeLAcy- social determinants of health among urban Aboriginal children, developmental screening and speech and language delays
MPhil (deferred):Dr Irene Chuah
Co-supervising
PhD candidate (UNSW): Kate Gonski- BPD CHROME at home (Broncho-pulmonary dysplasia continuous heart rate & oxygen monitoring evaluation)
PhD candidate (USYD): Tony Lian- Drumbeat.ai: Artificial intelligence to triage ear disease in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in rural and remote Australia
Masters supervision:
Masters of Psychology (Research treatise):
David Lui- validation of Child Trauma Screening Questionnaire among children seeking asylum and refugee backgrounds; &
Isabella Priestley- systematic review of mental health findings for children in immigration detention
SEARCH: Study of Environment on Aboriginal Resilience and Child Health (ear health, development and speech and language assessment sections of this Cohort Study).
WATCH Non-inferiority RCT: Watchful waiting for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children with acute otitis media without perforation (Collaboration with Western Sydney University)
INFLATE RCT: Autoinflation for bilateral otitis media with effusion in Aboriginal children.
DEADLY Ears at discharge:RCT of Aboriginal health worker for discharge planning for Aboriginal children with chronic ear infections (Darwin)
ACCESS: Aboriginal Community Controlled Earhealth Support System: developing, embedding and evaluating best practice models of care
ATOMIC AI: Artificial intelligence in the diagnosis of otitis media
PATHWAYS project: Collaboration with Flinders University
Academy of Child and Adolescent Health
Australian Refugee Child Health Network
Australian Medical Association
Australian Indigenous Doctor's Association (Assoc member)
Riverina Medical & Dental Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation
RACP Rue Wright Memorial Community Paediatrics Prize (2017)
RACP Paediatrics and Child Health Division Best Poster Prize (2017; co-author/co-supervisor)
Sydney Medical School Outstanding Teaching Award (2015)
The Children's Hospital at Westmead Best Bedside Teacher (2012)
USYD Discipline of Child & Adolescent Health Best CRS Tutor (2011)
RACP New Investigator Prize (2009)
RACP Quality Assurance Prize (2009)
(World Vision) World Vision 2018 KidsOffNauru Ambassador | |
(Chinese University Hong Kong) Collaborative research project examining a proof of concept for remote clerking across international borders using telehealth. | |
(University of PNG) External Examiner for DCH and Masters (Paediatric) candidates from 2012. The latter is the degree conferred to qualify as a Paediatrician in PNG and many other nations in the South Pacific (e.g., Solomon Islands and Vanuatu). | |
(World Health Organisation) World Hearing Forum, December 2019 | |
(World Health Organization) Author Acute Otitis Media Management Guide for primary care healthcare practitioners (2023) | |
(International Society for Otitis Media (ISOM)) Member of Epidemiology Panel |
Publications
Journals
- Nash, K., Gwynne, K., Dimitropoulos, Y., Fitzpatrick, M., Gunasekera, H., Halvorsen, L., Kong, K., Lumby, N., Macniven, R., Parter, C., et al (2024). INdigenous Systems and Policies Improved and Reimagined for Ear and hearing care (INSPIRE): A multi-method study protocol. BMJ Open, 14(1). [More Information]
- Gisselsson-Solen, M., Gunasekera, H., Hall, A., Homoe, P., Kong, K., Sih, T., Rupa, V., Morris, P. (2024). Panel 1: Epidemiology and global health, including child development, sequelae and complications. International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology, 178, 111861. [More Information]
- Reath, J., Morris, P., Leach, A., Walsh, R., Abbott, P., O'Brien, S., Campbell, L., Gunasekera, H., Tyson, C., Askew, D., Usherwood, T., et al (2024). The views of parents and carers on managing acute otitis media in urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children: a qualitative study. Medical Journal of Australia. [More Information]
Conferences
- Gunasekera, H., Purcell, A., Woolfenden, S., Craig, J. (2017). Research translation in urban Aboriginal health: the search and heals model. RACP Congress 2017, United States: Wiley Online Library.
Report
- Gunasekera, H. (2022). National guide to a preventive health assessment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
- Abbott, P., Belfrage, M., Chang, A., Coleman, J., Couzos, S., Fitzpatrick, J., Fitzsimons, E., Gunasekera, H., Tracy, M., Usherwood, T., et al (2018). National guide to a preventive health assessment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Third Edition.
Research Reports
- Elliott, E., Gunasekera, H. (2016). The health and well-being of children in immigration detention: Report to the Australian Human Rights Commission - Monitoring Visit to Wickham Point Detention Centre, Darwin, NT, October 16th - 18th 2015, (pp. 3 - 31). Sydney, Australia: Australian Human Rights Commission.
2024
- Nash, K., Gwynne, K., Dimitropoulos, Y., Fitzpatrick, M., Gunasekera, H., Halvorsen, L., Kong, K., Lumby, N., Macniven, R., Parter, C., et al (2024). INdigenous Systems and Policies Improved and Reimagined for Ear and hearing care (INSPIRE): A multi-method study protocol. BMJ Open, 14(1). [More Information]
- Gisselsson-Solen, M., Gunasekera, H., Hall, A., Homoe, P., Kong, K., Sih, T., Rupa, V., Morris, P. (2024). Panel 1: Epidemiology and global health, including child development, sequelae and complications. International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology, 178, 111861. [More Information]
- Reath, J., Morris, P., Leach, A., Walsh, R., Abbott, P., O'Brien, S., Campbell, L., Gunasekera, H., Tyson, C., Askew, D., Usherwood, T., et al (2024). The views of parents and carers on managing acute otitis media in urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children: a qualitative study. Medical Journal of Australia. [More Information]
2023
- Abbott, P., Frede, C., Hu, W., Lujic, S., Trankle, S., Campbell, L., Gunasekera, H., Walsh, R., Leach, A., Morris, P., et al (2023). Acute otitis media symptoms and symptom scales in research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. PloS One, 18(2 February). [More Information]
- Nash, K., Macniven, R., Clague, L., Coates, H., Fitzpatrick, M., Gunasekera, H., Gwynne, K., Halvorsen, L., Harkus, S., Holt, L., et al (2023). Ear and hearing care programs for First Nations children: a scoping review. BMC Health Services Research, 23(1). [More Information]
- Delacy, J., Burgess, L., Cutmore, M., Sherriff, S., Woolfenden, S., Falster, K., Banks, E., Purcell, A., Kong, K., Coates, H., Dickson, M., Gunasekera, H., et al (2023). Ear health and hearing in urban Aboriginal children. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 47(4). [More Information]
2022
- Habib, A., Crossland, G., Patel, H., Wong, E., Kong, K., Gunasekera, H., Richards, B., Caffery, L., Perry, C., Sacks, R., Kumar, A., Singh, N. (2022). An Artificial Intelligence Computer-vision Algorithm to Triage Otoscopic Images From Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children. Otology & Neurotology, 43(4), 481-488. [More Information]
- Habib, A., Kajbafzadeh, M., Hasan, Z., Wong, E., Gunasekera, H., Perry, C., Sacks, R., Kumar, A., Singh, N. (2022). Artificial intelligence to classify ear disease from otoscopy: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Otolaryngology, 47(3), 401-413. [More Information]
- Walsh, R., Reath, J., Gunasekera, H., Leach, A., Kong, K., Askew, D., Girosi, F., Hu, W., Usherwood, T., Lujic, S., et al (2022). INFLATE: a protocol for a randomised controlled trial comparing nasal balloon autoinflation to no nasal balloon autoinflation for otitis media with effusion in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Trials, 23(1), 309. [More Information]
2021
- Isaacs, D., Gunasekera, H., Xafis, V. (2021). Interpreters. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 106(1), 101-102. [More Information]
- Leach, A., Morris, P., Coates, H., Nelson, S., O'Leary, S., Richmond, P., Gunasekera, H., Harkus, S., Kong, K., Brennan-Jones, C., Isaacs, D., et al (2021). Otitis media guidelines for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children: summary of recommendations. Medical Journal of Australia, 214(5), 228-233. [More Information]
- Haggie, S., Selvadurai, H., Gunasekera, H., Fitzgerald, D. (2021). Paediatric pneumonia in high-income countries: Defining and recognising cases at increased risk of severe disease. Paediatric Respiratory Reviews, 39, 71-81. [More Information]
2020
- McGinness, H., Caldwell, P., Gunasekera, H., Scott, K. (2020). An educational intervention to increase student engagement in feedback. Medical Teacher, 42(11), 1289-1297. [More Information]
- Skinner, A., Falster, K., Gunasekera, H., Burgess, L., Sherriff, S., Deuis, M., Thorn, A., Banks, E. (2020). Asthma in urban Aboriginal children: A cross-sectional study of socio-demographic patterns and associations with pre-natal and current carer smoking. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 56(9), 1448-1457. [More Information]
- Zwi, K., Sealy, L., Samir, N., Hu, N., Rostami, R., Agrawal, R., Cherian, S., Coleman, J., Francis, J., Gunasekera, H., et al (2020). Asylum seeking children and adolescents in Australian immigration detention on Nauru: A longitudinal cohort study. BMJ Paediatrics Open, 4(1), 1-7. [More Information]
2019
- Graydon, K., Waterworth, C., Miller, H., Gunasekera, H. (2019). Global burden of hearing impairment and ear disease. Journal of Laryngology and Otology, 133(1), 18-25. [More Information]
- Haggie, S., Fitzgerald, D., Pandit, C., Selvadurai, H., Robinson, P., Gunasekera, H., Britton, P. (2019). Increasing Rates of Pediatric Empyema and Disease Severity With Predominance of Serotype 3 S. pneumonia: An Australian Single-center, Retrospective Cohort 2011 to 2018. Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, 38(12), e320-e325. [More Information]
- Colgan, K., Anderson, J., Maycock, A., Britton, P., Mackenzie, M., Isaacs, D., Gunasekera, H. (2019). Latent tuberculosis may be missed by current screening practices: Analysis of interferon-gamma release assay results from a paediatric refugee clinic. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 55(7), 826-832. [More Information]
2018
- Dimitropoulos, Y., Gunasekera, H., Blinkhorn, A., Byun, R., Binge, N., Gwynne, K., Irving, M. (2018). A collaboration with local Aboriginal communities in rural New South Wales, Australia to determine the oral health needs of their children and develop a community owned oral health promotion program. Rural and Remote Health, 18(2), 4453. [More Information]
- Nyanga, R., Biviano, L., Warren, S., Windsor, J., Zwi, K., Gunasekera, H. (2018). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health-care delivery: The views of health-care professionals in Sydney's tertiary paediatric hospitals. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 54(9), 1023-1030. [More Information]
- Gunasekera, H., Miller, H., Burgess, L., Chando, S., Sheriff, S., Tsembis, J., Kong, K., Coates, H., Curotta, J., Falster, K., McIntyre, P., Craig, J., et al (2018). Agreement between diagnoses of otitis media by audiologists and otolaryngologists in Aboriginal Australian children. Medical Journal of Australia, 209(1), 29-35. [More Information]
2017
- Gunasekera, H. (2017). Asthma and innate immunity in Amish and Hutterite communities. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 53(1), 91-92. [More Information]
- Larkins, N., Teixeira-Pinto, A., Banks, E., Gunasekera, H., Cass, A., Kearnes, J., Craig, J. (2017). Blood pressure among Australian Aboriginal children. Journal of Hypertension, 35(9), 1801-1807. [More Information]
- Young, C., Jaure, A., Gunasekera, H., Sherriff, S., Kalucy, D., Fernando, P., Craig, J. (2017). Health professional and community perspectives on reducing barriers to accessing specialist health care in metropolitan Aboriginal communities: A semi-structured interview study. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 53(3), 277-282. [More Information]
2016
- Young, C., Gunasekera, H., Kong, K., Purcell, A., Muthayya, S., Vincent, F., Wright, D., Gordon, R., Bell, J., Gillor, G., Sherriff, S., Jaure, A., Craig, J., et al (2016). A case study of enhanced clinical care enabled by Aboriginal health research: the Hearing, EAr health and Language Services (HEALS) project. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 40(6), 523-528. [More Information]
- Abbott, P., Gunasekera, H., Leach, A., Askew, D., Walsh, R., Kong, K., Girosi, F., Bond, C., Morris, P., Lujic, S., Usherwood, T., et al (2016). A multi-centre open-label randomised non-inferiority trial comparing watchful waiting to antibiotic treatment for acute otitis media without perforation in low-risk urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children (the WATCH trial): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial. Trials, 17(1), 1-10. [More Information]
- Chando, S., Young, C., Craig, J., Gunasekera, H., Jaure, A. (2016). Parental views on otitis media: systematic review of qualitative studies. European Journal of Pediatrics, 175(10), 1295-1305. [More Information]
2015
- Gunasekera, H., Isaacs, D. (2015). Antenatal care for asylum seekers. Medical Journal of Australia, 202(11), 572-572. [More Information]
- Attwood, L., Rodrigues, S., Winsor, J., Warren, S., Biviano, L., Gunasekera, H. (2015). Improving delivery of health care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 51(5), 534-540. [More Information]
- Gunasekera, H., Kilham, H. (2015). In the beginning, there was general paediatrics.. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 51(1), 48-53. [More Information]
2014
- Gunasekera, H., Tefuarani, N., Kilalang, C., Amini, J., Sobi, K., Vuvu, J., Duke, T. (2014). A day on the paediatric wards in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 50(6), 494-495. [More Information]
- Corbett, E., Gunasekera, H., Maycock, A., Isaacs, D. (2014). Australia's treatment of refugee and asylum seeker children: The views of Australian paediatricians. Medical Journal of Australia, 201(7), 393-398. [More Information]
- Gunasekera, H. (2014). Ethical dilemmas about orphan drugs for orphan diseases. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 50(8), 656. [More Information]
2013
- Falster, K., Randall, D., Banks, E., Eades, S., Gunasekera, H., Reath, J., Jorm, L. (2013). Inequalities in ventilation tube insertion procedures between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children in New South Wales, Australia: A data linkage study. BMJ Open, 3(11), 1-10. [More Information]
- Wood, A., Singh-Grewal, D., De, S., Gunasekera, H. (2013). Kawasaki disease complicated by subluxation of cervical vertebrae (Grisel syndrome). Medical Journal of Australia, 199(7), 494-496. [More Information]
2012
- Rosenkranz, S., Abbott, P., Reath, J., Gunasekera, H., Hu, W. (2012). Promoting diagnostic accuracy in general practitioner management of otitis media in children: findings from a multimodal, interactive workshop on tympanometry and pneumatic otoscopy. Quality in Primary Care, 20(4), 275-285. [More Information]
- Gray, K., Wood, N., Gunasekera, H., Sheikh, M., Hazelton, B., Isaacs, D. (2012). Vitamin D and Tuberculosis Status in Refugee Children. Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, 31(5), 521-523. [More Information]
2011
- Gunasekera, H., Purcell, A., Eades, S., Banks, E., Wutzke, S., McIntyre, P., Redman, S., Woolfenden, S., Fernando, D., Craig, J. (2011). Healthy kids, health future: Ear health, speech and language among urban aboriginal children (the SEARCH study). Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 47(Suppl. 2), 6-6.
- Woolfenden, S., Purcell, A., Fernando, D., Gunasekera, H. (2011). Parents' Evaluation of developmental status of urban Aboriginal children. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 47(Suppl2), 28-28.
- Sheikh, M., Wang, S., Pal, A., MacIntyre, C., Wood, N., Gunasekera, H. (2011). Vitamin D deficiency in refugee children from conflict zones. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 13(1), 87-93. [More Information]
2010
- Crogan, J., Gunasekera, H., Wood, N., Sheikh, M., Isaacs, D. (2010). Management of Old World Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Refugee Children. Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, 29(4), 357-359. [More Information]
- Gunasekera, H., Knox, S., Morris, P., Britt, H., McIntyre, P., Craig, J. (2010). Spectrum and management of otitis media in Australian indigenous and non-indigenous children: a national study. Pediatrics, 121(S2), S128-S128.
2009
- Gunasekera, H., Morris, P., McIntyre, P., Craig, J. (2009). Management of children with otitis media: a summary of evidence from recent systematic reviews. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 45(10), 554-562. [More Information]
- Gunasekera, H., Morris, P., Daniels, J., Couzos, S., Craig, J. (2009). Management of children with otitis media: a survey of Australian Aboriginal Medical Service practitioners. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 45(7-8), 457-463. [More Information]
- Morris, P., Richmond, P., Lehmann, D., Leach, A., Gunasekera, H., Coates, H. (2009). New horizons: otitis media research in Australia. Medical Journal of Australia, 191(9), S73-S77. [More Information]
2008
- Gunasekera, H., Morris, P., Daniels, J., Couzos, S., Craig, J. (2008). Management of Children with Otitis Media: a Survey of Australian Aboriginal Medical Services. Pediatrics, 121, S98-S99.
- Gunasekera, H., Haysom, L., Morris, P., Craig, J. (2008). The Global Burden of Childhood Otitis Media and Hearing Impairment: A Systematic Review. Pediatrics, 121(S2), S107-S107.
2007
- Patradoon-Ho, P., Gunasekera, H. (2007). ADHD: a stimulating debate for young paediatricians. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 43(3), 196-196. [More Information]
- Gunasekera, H., Knox, S., Morris, P., Britt, H., McIntyre, P., Craig, J. (2007). The spectrum and management of otitis media in Australian Indigenous and non-Indigenous children: a national study. Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, 26(8), 689-692. [More Information]
2006
- Gunasekera, H. (2006). Fear ever young: the terrorist death toll in perspective. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 99(12), 646-646. [More Information]
- Gunasekera, H. (2006). Fear ever young: the terrorist death toll in perspective. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 99(12), 646. [More Information]
- Gunasekera, H. (2006). Febrile confusion: do the hyperpyrexia study conclusions fit? Pediatrics, 118(6), 2605-2607. [More Information]
2005
- Gunasekera, H. (2005). Designer infant formulas: making a killing. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 98(12), 551-552. [More Information]
- Gunasekera, H., Chapman, S., Campbell, S. (2005). Sex and drugs in popular movies: an analysis of the top 200 films. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 98(10), 464-470. [More Information]
2004
- Gunasekera, H., Buckmaster, A. (2004). Training in general paediatrics: Is it time for change? Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 40(9-10), 510-516. [More Information]
Selected Grants
2020
- ACCESS: Aboriginal Community Controlled Ear health Surveillance System: developing, embedding and evaluating best practice models of care, Gunasekera H, Wright D, Woolfenden S, Newman J, Bailey S, Falster K, Banks E, Craig J, Sherwood J, Teixeira-Pinto A, Department of Health and Aged Care (Federal)/MRFF - Indigenous Health Research Fund
2019
- Deadly Ears at Discharge - A hospital-based randomised controlled trial of an additional ear and hearing assessment to inform discharge planning by a trained Aboriginal Ear Health Worker in Aboriginal children with chronic ear infection, Gunasekera H, National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)/Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies
- Improving interactivity and educational equity with 3D-printed cadaveric hearts, Scott K, Gunasekera H, Cheng T, Askwith J, Nusem E, Bray L, Clarke J, DVC Education/Small Educational Innovation Grant
- Improving ear health among Indigenous children, Gunasekera H, Iredell J, Department of Health and Aged Care (Federal)/MRFF - Rapid Applied Research Translation (RART) - Sydney Health Partners
In the media
Multiple interviews and public forums advocating for the release of children from immigration detention.
Multiple interviews concerning study assessing the public health impacts of popular movies.