Dr Md Shajedur Rahman Shawon
Lecturer
2020: DPhil in Population Health, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
2016: MSc in Public Health Epidemiology, Karolinska Institute, Sweden
2014: Masters in Public Health (MPH), North South University, Bangladesh
2011: Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), Dhaka Medical College, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
Medicine & Health
Centre for Big Data Research in Health
I am a medically trained early-career epidemiologist, currently working as a Research Fellow at the Centre for Big Data Research in Health (CBDRH). At CBDRH, I lead a cutting-edge research program in real-world evidence for cardiovascular care, spearheading various cardiovascular research projects utilising administrative big health and medical data and state-of-the-art methodologies. With over 10 years of experience conducting large-scale epidemiological studies using electronically linked healthcare data from Australia, the UK, and Sweden, my research aims to promote best-practice care, mitigate disparities in healthcare access, and enhance the integration of evidence in both Australian and global populations.
I hold a DPhil in Population Health from the University of Oxford and an MSc in Epidemiology from Karolinska Institute, Sweden. I studied medicine at Dhaka Medical College, the top-ranked medical school in Bangladesh, and earned a Master of Public Health degree. Additionally, I received advanced training in diabetes research from the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), genetic epidemiology from the University of Bristol, and prevention strategies for non-communicable diseases from the University of Oxford.
I am an elected Fellow of the UK Royal Society for Public Health (FRSPH) and an Associate Fellow of the UK Advance Higher Education (AFHEA). As Co-Chair of the UNSW Cardiac, Vascular & Metabolic Medicine (CVMM) theme's Early Career Researcher (ECR) Committee, I lead ECR activities within the cardiovascular field at UNSW Faculty of Medicine & Health. Additionally, as a member of the Emerging Leaders Committee (ELC) of the Australian Cardiovascular Alliance (ACvA), I contribute to shaping the future of cardiovascular research in Australia. I also co-convene monthly Research Meetings at CBDRH to foster a productive research environment.
E-mail
Location
Centre for Big Data Research in Health
Level 2, AGSM Building (G27)
Botany Street (Enter via Gate 11)
UNSW SYDNEY NSW 2052 AUSTRALIA
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
Since joining UNSW in 2020, I have secured nearly AUD 1.3 million in grants and commissioned research. As an early career researcher, I have been part of larger significant grants while also building my research team by securing important seed grants as the lead investigator.
Details of awarded grants:
2024-2025: Trajectories for chronic disease management plans use in primary care in adults with cardiovascular disease. Funded by the 45 and Up Study Cardiovascular Research Grant from the National Heart Foundation of Australia (AUD 65,000, CIA Shawon).
2024: Cardiac Big Data Research Project. Funded by the Department of Cardiology, Prince of Wales Hospital (AUD 38,300, CIB Shawon).
2024-2025: Discovery of high-need, high-cost cardiovascular patient phenotypes using Generative Pretrained Transformer (GPT) models. Funded by UNSW Cardiac, Vascular & Metabolic Medicine Theme Collaborative Grant (AUD 30,000, CIA Shawon).
2024-2025: Leadership and impact of 'big health data': leveraging and growing FMH linked data assets. Funded by UNSW Faculty of Medicine & Health (AUD 253,565, Co-Investigator Shawon).
2023: Data linkage study: Access to TAVI procedures across Australia. Funded by Medtronic Australasia (AUD 11,492, CIB Shawon).
2022-2024: Cost of Cardiac Implantable Electronic Device (CIED) Infections: a Non-interventional Study using Linked Secondary Data. Funded by Medtronic Australasia (AUD 158,097, CIB Shawon).
2021-2024: Hospital Trajectories for 15 million Australians. Funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council Ideas Grant (AUD 680,634, CIH Shawon).
2020-2021: Open source modelling tools to support policy decision-making throughout the COVID-19 post-pandemic phase. Funded by Triple I Clinical Academic Group, UNSW Sydney (AUD 50,000, AI Shawon).
Note: Alphabetic listing of CIs is based on contribution to the research grant, with CIA (Chief Investigator A) being the primary investigator responsible for leading and overseeing the research project. AI (Associate Investigator) denotes an associate investigator contributing to the project.
2024: Awarded the Best Publication Award in the Clinical Medicine category by the UNSW Medicine Early Career Academics Network (ECAN) with a prize of AUD 250.
2024: Nominated by the UNSW Faculty of Medicine with a scholarship (AUD 4,400) to attend the Australian Academy of Science’s flagship event, Science at the Shine Dome, in Canberra for leadership contributions and efforts in advancing early career researchers.
2023: Professional Development Award from NSW Cardiovascular Network and Heart Foundation (AUD 3,000) to attend the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress in Amsterdam.
2023: UNSW Cardiac, Vascular & Metabolic Medicine (CVMM) Early to Mid-Career Researcher Conference Award (AUD 2,000) to present my work at the 71st CSANZ Annual Scientific Meeting in Adelaide, Australia.
2022: Finalist in the Early Career Researchers Poster Presentation at the UNSW Cardiovascular Symposium.
2019: Elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health (FRSPH) for my contributions and commitment to improving global public health.
2019: Oxford NIHR Biomedical Research Centre Bursary for attending the course on Prevention Strategies for Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) at the University of Oxford.
2019: Nuffield Department of Population Health (NDPH) Research Student Fund for attending the course Genetic Epidemiology at Bristol.
2018-2019: Senior Hulme Scholarship from Brasenose College, University of Oxford for recognition of academic distinction in doctoral study (including a research allowance and High Table dining rights).
2018: Graduate Research Grant from Brasenose College, University of Oxford for attending the Robert Turner Course on Clinical Research by the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD).
2017: Sweden-Bangladesh Trust Fund Travel Scholarship for travelling to Oxford, UK for DPhil in Population Health study.
2017-2019: Nuffield Department of Population Health Fellowship for pursuing DPhil at the University of Oxford.
2015: Erasmus+ Trainee Fellowship for a global cardiovascular internship at the Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge.
2015: Summa Cum Laude in Masters in Public Health from North South University, Bangladesh.
2014-2016: Swedish Institute (SI) Study Scholarship for studying MSc in Public Health Epidemiology at Karolinska Institute.
2012-2013: University Merit Scholarship from North South University for studying Masters in Public Health.
2013: HRH Prince Charles Foundation Scholarship from HRH The Prince of Wales Trust for attending the MOSAIC International Leadership Program 2013, UK as a youth delegate from Bangladesh.
2013: Early Stage Researcher Award from Belgian Directorate-General for Development Cooperation for attending the ITM-IPH Colloquium 2013 in Bangalore, India.
2006-2011: Talent-pool Scholarship from the Ministry of Education, Bangladesh during MBBS course at the University of Dhaka.
At CBDRH, I lead a growing research team dedicated to generating real-world evidence to improve cardiovascular care and patient outcomes both domestically and globally. Our mission is to leverage real-world, routinely collected health and medical data to conduct high-quality research in epidemiology, clinical practices, and healthcare utilisation for cardiovascular patients.
As a team, we focus on large-scale, population-based, data-intensive, and collaborative research with cardiologists, other research institutes, and MedTech industry partners. Specifically, we:
1. Bring together "Big Data" for a comprehensive cohort of cardiovascular patients to provide a "real-life" picture of cardiovascular care in Australia.
2. Produce high-quality research outputs using bespoke linked datasets and advanced analytical methods and tools.
3. Collaborate with cardiologists, academics, and industry partners to create a multidisciplinary team.
4. Use real-world data to support regulatory decision-making.
5. Train the next generation of cardiovascular researchers, including medical students, cardiology trainees, health data scientists, and PhD students.
My Teaching
My teaching interests combine epidemiology, statistics, and data science to enable students to conduct and interpret research studies in key areas of population health. Since 2020, I have led the delivery and assessment of modules on "Evidence-Based Medicine" and "Presenting and Summarising Modelling Results," for which I developed the curriculum. I completed the UNSW Foundations of University Learning and Teaching (FULT) Program and was recognised as an Associate Fellow of UK Advance Higher Education in 2023.