Saroj Jayasinghe
Biographic Data
| ID | 4095457 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Saroj Jayasinghe |
| GIVEN NAMES | Saroj |
| FAMILY NAME | Jayasinghe |
| SIGNATURE | JAYASINGHE S |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Colombo |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1460-6073 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 57 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2007 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Academic perception on ‘student-centred learning’ in a newly established medical school in Sri Lanka
BACKGROUND: Student-centred learning (SCL) enhances the skills of critical and creative thinking, clinical reasoning, and decision making with long term knowledge retention and deeper understanding. The Faculty of Medicine, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka (FOM/SUSL) is a recently established medical school transforming from the traditional discipline-based curriculum to integrated approach. This study was aimed to explore the perception of a…
Strategic insights into initiating Bhutan’s first medical school
WHAT IS THE EDUCATIONAL CHALLENGE?: The Kingdom of Bhutan is a low-middle income, mountainous country that faces severe healthcare workforce shortage. With no medical school, it sent students to other countries for medical training. WHAT ARE THE PROPOSED SOLUTIONS?: A technical working group was tasked with planning a medical school affordable within the government's financial resources, leveraging existing postgraduate specialty training program…
The emergent self
This paper proposes the Emergent Self as a novel integrative framework of the self from a systems science perspective. The historical Western psychological distinctions between an introspective ‘I’ and the empirical ‘Me’ of self were used as a basis to reconceptualize and integrative view as a performative, a socially constructed, and multidimensional entity. It is a Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) consisting of three nested sub-systems: An Inner …
Role of humanities in medical curricula in the South-East Asia region
Countries in the WHO’s South-East Asia Region (SEAR) have made significant progress in training healthcare workers. However, concerns remain about the quality and competencies of these workers, particularly in areas such as people-centred care and empathy. There is evidence that integrating the humanities into medical education and training could address these concerns and further enhance the quality of primary care. We aimed to study the role of…
Bridging science and policy in the Global South
The COVID-19 pandemic - and the inconsistent government responses it revealed - has made the institutionalisation of robust Science Advice to Policymakers (SAP) an urgent imperative. Barring exceptions such as initiatives by the International Network for Governmental Science Advice, very few training programmes aim to develop capacity of policy makers, especially in the Global South. In response to these needs, the National Academy of Sciences of…
The 12 dimensions of health impacts of war (the 12-D framework)
Global rates of armed conflicts have shown an alarming increase since 2008. These conflicts have devastating and long-term cumulative impacts on health. The overriding aim in these conflicts is to achieve military or political goals by harming human life, which is the antithesis of the moral underpinnings of the health professions. However, the profession has rarely taken on a global advocacy role to prevent and eliminate conflicts and wars. To a…
Towards a New Urban Health Science
The intensity and range of health challenges that people in cities are facing has increased in recent years. This is due in part to a failure to adequately adapt and respond to emergent and expanding global systemic risks, but also to a still-limited understanding of the profound impacts of complexity on urban health. While complexity science is increasingly embraced by the health and urban sciences, it has yet to be functionally incorporated int…
The Covid-19 Pandemic
Rhizomatic thinking is used to complement mechanistic models or systems thinking in understanding the COVID-19 pandemic. Virus mutations, vaccination rates, human mobility, and variable immune responses are leading to the emergence of complex spatial and temporal patterns of spread. Contributory factors include changing human mobilities, and urban-to-rural migrations. Worsening inequalities in wealth, power, and access to healthcare are social co…
Pharmaceutical industry sponsorship of academic conferences
Sponsorship of medical conferences by the pharmaceutical industry has led to many ethical issues, especially in resource-poor developing countries. The core issue in these instances is to reduce or avoid conflicts of interests (COIs). COI is a set of circumstances that creates a risk that professional judgment or actions regarding a primary interest will be unduly influenced by secondary interests. Disruption of social trust should also be consid…
Covid-19 and future pandemics
BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic is adversely impacting modern human civilization. A global view using a systems science approach is necessary to recognize the close interactions between health of animals, humans and the environment. DISCUSSION: A model is developed initially by describing five sequential or parallel steps on how a RNA virus emerged from animals and became a pandemic: 1. Origins in the animal kingdom; 2. Transmission to domestic…
Lessons from the frontlines
COVID-19 has stressed healthcare systems across the globe. We present the experience of an intern medical officer working in a tertiary care hospital during the first wave of the pandemic in Sri Lanka. Her narrative describes how the stress of the pandemic brought into sharp focus the strengths and weaknesses in the health system. We suggest some strategies to improve our health services as the world faces the second wave and an uncertain future.…
Addressing Covid-19 in Resource-Poor Settings
Addressing COVID-19 in Resource-Poor Settings: Comparing the Experiences of Vietnam and Sri Lanka Saroj Jayasinghe MD, PhD, Sanjiva Weerawarana PhD, and Dushyantha T. Jayaweera MD Affiliation Saroj Jayasinghe is with the Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Sanjiva Weerawarana is with the Lanka Software Foundation, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Dushyantha T. Jayaweera is with the Miller School of Medicine, University …
Slum Health
The informal settlements of the Global South are the least prepared for the pandemic of COVID-19 since basic needs such as water, toilets, sewers, drainage, waste collection, and secure and adequate housing are already in short supply or non-existent. Further, space constraints, violence, and overcrowding in slums make physical distancing and self-quarantine impractical, and the rapid spread of an infection highly likely. Residents of informal se…
Conceptualizing Mind Wandering Using a Systems Approach
Inequalities in the prevalence of diabetes mellitus and its risk factors in Sri Lanka
The results show a variable relationship between socioeconomic status and prevalence of diabetes and its risk factors. The inequalities in the prevalence of diabetes and risk factors vary depending on gender and the measures used. The study suggests that measures to prevent diabetes should focus on targeting specific factors based on sex and socioeconomic status. The priority target areas for interventions should include prevention of obesity (BM…
Social determinants of health inequalities
A systems approach offers a novel conceptualization to natural and social systems. In recent years, this has led to perceiving population health outcomes as an emergent property of a dynamic and open, complex adaptive system. The current paper explores these themes further and applies the principles of systems approach and complexity science (i.e. systems science) to conceptualize social determinants of health inequalities. The conceptualization …
Per capita sugar consumption and prevalence of diabetes mellitus – global and regional associations
These results indicate independent associations between DM prevalence rates and per capita sugar consumption both worldwide and with special regard to the Asian region. Prospective cohort studies are proposed to explore these associations further
Erosion of trust in humanitarian agencies
Aid agencies (AAs) provide a range of humanitarian and health related assistance globally. However, the trust placed on them is eroding. Evidence for this includes accusations of a decline in their humanitarianism, and the increasing number of conflicts with host states. An analysis of the concerns expressed yields two possible reasons: a relative lack of transparency of their work and weak accountability mechanisms. This is further supported by …
The Prevention of Global Chronic Disease and Academia
The recent analytic essay by Greenberg et al. rightfully emphasized the role of the public health academia in preventing global chronic disease.1 The authors focused on key areas such as resource allocation and overcoming barriers to prevention, but paid less attention to academia's crucial role in advancing fresh thinking or innovative models to tackle the epidemic. Two such emerging concepts are Complexity Science (CS) and Allostatic Load (AL) …
Faith-based NGOs and healthcare in poor countries
An increasing number of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) provide humanitarian assistance, including healthcare. Some faith-based NGOs combine proselytising work with humanitarian aid. This can result in ethical dilemmas that are rarely discussed in the literature. The article explores several ethical issues, using four generic activities of faith-based NGOs: (1) It is discriminatory to deny aid to a needy community because it provides less o…
Slum Health
The informal settlements of the Global South are the least prepared for the pandemic of COVID-19 since basic needs such as water, toilets, sewers, drainage, waste collection, and secure and adequate housing are already in short supply or non-existent. Further, space constraints, violence, and overcrowding in slums make physical distancing and self-quarantine impractical, and the rapid spread of an infection highly likely. Residents of informal se…
Towards a New Urban Health Science
The intensity and range of health challenges that people in cities are facing has increased in recent years. This is due in part to a failure to adequately adapt and respond to emergent and expanding global systemic risks, but also to a still-limited understanding of the profound impacts of complexity on urban health. While complexity science is increasingly embraced by the health and urban sciences, it has yet to be functionally incorporated int…
Faith-based NGOs and healthcare in poor countries
An increasing number of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) provide humanitarian assistance, including healthcare. Some faith-based NGOs combine proselytising work with humanitarian aid. This can result in ethical dilemmas that are rarely discussed in the literature. The article explores several ethical issues, using four generic activities of faith-based NGOs: (1) It is discriminatory to deny aid to a needy community because it provides less o…
Erosion of trust in humanitarian agencies
Aid agencies (AAs) provide a range of humanitarian and health related assistance globally. However, the trust placed on them is eroding. Evidence for this includes accusations of a decline in their humanitarianism, and the increasing number of conflicts with host states. An analysis of the concerns expressed yields two possible reasons: a relative lack of transparency of their work and weak accountability mechanisms. This is further supported by …
The Prevention of Global Chronic Disease and Academia
The recent analytic essay by Greenberg et al. rightfully emphasized the role of the public health academia in preventing global chronic disease.1 The authors focused on key areas such as resource allocation and overcoming barriers to prevention, but paid less attention to academia's crucial role in advancing fresh thinking or innovative models to tackle the epidemic. Two such emerging concepts are Complexity Science (CS) and Allostatic Load (AL) …
Per capita sugar consumption and prevalence of diabetes mellitus – global and regional associations
These results indicate independent associations between DM prevalence rates and per capita sugar consumption both worldwide and with special regard to the Asian region. Prospective cohort studies are proposed to explore these associations further
Social determinants of health inequalities
A systems approach offers a novel conceptualization to natural and social systems. In recent years, this has led to perceiving population health outcomes as an emergent property of a dynamic and open, complex adaptive system. The current paper explores these themes further and applies the principles of systems approach and complexity science (i.e. systems science) to conceptualize social determinants of health inequalities. The conceptualization …
Inequalities in the prevalence of diabetes mellitus and its risk factors in Sri Lanka
The results show a variable relationship between socioeconomic status and prevalence of diabetes and its risk factors. The inequalities in the prevalence of diabetes and risk factors vary depending on gender and the measures used. The study suggests that measures to prevent diabetes should focus on targeting specific factors based on sex and socioeconomic status. The priority target areas for interventions should include prevention of obesity (BM…
Slum Health
The informal settlements of the Global South are the least prepared for the pandemic of COVID-19 since basic needs such as water, toilets, sewers, drainage, waste collection, and secure and adequate housing are already in short supply or non-existent. Further, space constraints, violence, and overcrowding in slums make physical distancing and self-quarantine impractical, and the rapid spread of an infection highly likely. Residents of informal se…
Conceptualizing Mind Wandering Using a Systems Approach
Pharmaceutical industry sponsorship of academic conferences
Sponsorship of medical conferences by the pharmaceutical industry has led to many ethical issues, especially in resource-poor developing countries. The core issue in these instances is to reduce or avoid conflicts of interests (COIs). COI is a set of circumstances that creates a risk that professional judgment or actions regarding a primary interest will be unduly influenced by secondary interests. Disruption of social trust should also be consid…
Covid-19 and future pandemics
BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic is adversely impacting modern human civilization. A global view using a systems science approach is necessary to recognize the close interactions between health of animals, humans and the environment. DISCUSSION: A model is developed initially by describing five sequential or parallel steps on how a RNA virus emerged from animals and became a pandemic: 1. Origins in the animal kingdom; 2. Transmission to domestic…
Lessons from the frontlines
COVID-19 has stressed healthcare systems across the globe. We present the experience of an intern medical officer working in a tertiary care hospital during the first wave of the pandemic in Sri Lanka. Her narrative describes how the stress of the pandemic brought into sharp focus the strengths and weaknesses in the health system. We suggest some strategies to improve our health services as the world faces the second wave and an uncertain future.…
Addressing Covid-19 in Resource-Poor Settings
Addressing COVID-19 in Resource-Poor Settings: Comparing the Experiences of Vietnam and Sri Lanka Saroj Jayasinghe MD, PhD, Sanjiva Weerawarana PhD, and Dushyantha T. Jayaweera MD Affiliation Saroj Jayasinghe is with the Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Sanjiva Weerawarana is with the Lanka Software Foundation, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Dushyantha T. Jayaweera is with the Miller School of Medicine, University …
The Covid-19 Pandemic
Rhizomatic thinking is used to complement mechanistic models or systems thinking in understanding the COVID-19 pandemic. Virus mutations, vaccination rates, human mobility, and variable immune responses are leading to the emergence of complex spatial and temporal patterns of spread. Contributory factors include changing human mobilities, and urban-to-rural migrations. Worsening inequalities in wealth, power, and access to healthcare are social co…
Towards a New Urban Health Science
The intensity and range of health challenges that people in cities are facing has increased in recent years. This is due in part to a failure to adequately adapt and respond to emergent and expanding global systemic risks, but also to a still-limited understanding of the profound impacts of complexity on urban health. While complexity science is increasingly embraced by the health and urban sciences, it has yet to be functionally incorporated int…
The 12 dimensions of health impacts of war (the 12-D framework)
Global rates of armed conflicts have shown an alarming increase since 2008. These conflicts have devastating and long-term cumulative impacts on health. The overriding aim in these conflicts is to achieve military or political goals by harming human life, which is the antithesis of the moral underpinnings of the health professions. However, the profession has rarely taken on a global advocacy role to prevent and eliminate conflicts and wars. To a…
Academic perception on ‘student-centred learning’ in a newly established medical school in Sri Lanka
BACKGROUND: Student-centred learning (SCL) enhances the skills of critical and creative thinking, clinical reasoning, and decision making with long term knowledge retention and deeper understanding. The Faculty of Medicine, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka (FOM/SUSL) is a recently established medical school transforming from the traditional discipline-based curriculum to integrated approach. This study was aimed to explore the perception of a…
Strategic insights into initiating Bhutan’s first medical school
WHAT IS THE EDUCATIONAL CHALLENGE?: The Kingdom of Bhutan is a low-middle income, mountainous country that faces severe healthcare workforce shortage. With no medical school, it sent students to other countries for medical training. WHAT ARE THE PROPOSED SOLUTIONS?: A technical working group was tasked with planning a medical school affordable within the government's financial resources, leveraging existing postgraduate specialty training program…
The emergent self
This paper proposes the Emergent Self as a novel integrative framework of the self from a systems science perspective. The historical Western psychological distinctions between an introspective ‘I’ and the empirical ‘Me’ of self were used as a basis to reconceptualize and integrative view as a performative, a socially constructed, and multidimensional entity. It is a Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) consisting of three nested sub-systems: An Inner …
Role of humanities in medical curricula in the South-East Asia region
Countries in the WHO’s South-East Asia Region (SEAR) have made significant progress in training healthcare workers. However, concerns remain about the quality and competencies of these workers, particularly in areas such as people-centred care and empathy. There is evidence that integrating the humanities into medical education and training could address these concerns and further enhance the quality of primary care. We aimed to study the role of…
Bridging science and policy in the Global South
The COVID-19 pandemic - and the inconsistent government responses it revealed - has made the institutionalisation of robust Science Advice to Policymakers (SAP) an urgent imperative. Barring exceptions such as initiatives by the International Network for Governmental Science Advice, very few training programmes aim to develop capacity of policy makers, especially in the Global South. In response to these needs, the National Academy of Sciences of…
Medicine (14 works) · Political science (10 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Economics (7 works) · Population (7 works) · Public relations (7 works) · Business (6 works) · Economic growth (6 works) · Computer Science (5 works) · Environmental health (5 works)