I want to help prevent and alleviate suffering for the sickest, poorest, and most vulnerable people using biostatistics.
I have over 8 years' experience in biostatistics/public health in government and university settings.
I also have 4 years experience in clinical psychiatry as a medical doctor treating patients with mental illness. My main field of research is social psychiatry.
My research is in the areas of poverty, crime, social disadvantage, prenatal drug abuse, prematurity, children with disabilities, mental health, out of home care, addiction, Aboriginal Health, communicable diseases, cancer, heart disease, smoking cessation, breastfeeding, health and well-being, health education and aged care.
I led a 15-member team to give advice to the public and key stakeholders related to COVID, and adverse event reporting for the COVID vaccine in the Sydney COVID LOCKDOWN.
President of the Sydney Northern District Table Tennis Association including, 470 players, 70 teams, 15 clubs. This includes working with the committee, improving processes, uploading scores to a global server using code and organising events.
Degree Related: Honours first class was on mining cardiovascular clinical RCTs using estimation and prediction to generate surrogate markers using clinical data. My Masters of Biostatistics, MPhil and PhD has taught me a broad range of statistical methods and the application of these methods.
Statistical Techniques: Biostatistics: Generalized Linear Models, Survival Analysis, Longitudinal and Correlated Data (including multi-level modeling), Advanced R, Stata, Meta-regression, Study Design, Sample Size Calculation, Logic, Variable Selection, Data Linkage, Clinical Trial Design, Probability & Statistical Inference, Pharmacoepidemiology, generating and simulating data, multiple imputation for analysis with missing data and an overview of Machine Learning Causal Inference: Directed Acyclic Graphs, Propensity Scores, Inverse Probability Treatment Weights, Regression Discontinuity, Differences in Differences, Instrumental Variables, Mendelian Randomisation, Causal Mediation Analysis (incl. sensitivity analysis, time to event, multiple mediators)
Data: I am an expert programmer in R and Stata, and I write reproducible, well-structured and code with comments. I have attended introductory courses in Python and also SAS. I have carried out data management at the population level, 1.8 million records level with six different routinely collected government datasets of all babies and their mothers in the last 20 years in the state of NSW in Australia totalling over 20Gb)
Experience: I have applied almost all of these techniques in my work leading to publications or significant government reports with myself as the statistical author.I have published many articles and reports, including eighteen PubMed publications.8 years of statistical consulting, data management, analysis, reporting and publication of results.
Ongoing Learning: I supervise research students and teach statistical methods.I have learned and used new statistical techniques independently, including causal mediation analysis.I am trained in and have experience in machine learning techniques such as Random Forest and k-means longitudinal analysis (kml). I have worked for TGA reviewing clinical study reports for approval of and safety of medical devices.
Statistical Consulting: I conceptualise and crystallise processes in data capture, data management, reporting and publication as well as consultation with the clients. I understand their requirements and also offer them innovative medical, public health and statistical advice.Developing and optimising protocols using critical appraisal, the literature, and the principles of excellent, scientifically valid, and relevant study designs.Constructed many Statistical Analysis Plans with client consultation.
Supervision / Teaching: Supervised Honours Students (5), PhD Students (1), clinicians (3), researchers. Taught seminars and tutored in biostatistics
AStat (Accredited Statistician) fro the Statistical Society of Australia in Dec 2022: Member Profile: https://www.statsoc.org.au/Sys/PublicProfile/48202292/4702721 Criteria for Accredited Statistician: Degree in Statistics + 6 years of progressively advanced Statistical Experience + Submission of Major Works + Maintaining Continual Professional Development + 5 year re-accreditations
Uebel H, Dronavalli M, Lawler K, Lee E, Bajuk B, Burns L, Page A, Dickson M, Green C, Dicair L, Eastwood J. School performance in children with prenatal drug exposure and out-of-home care in NSW, Australia: a retrospective population-based cohort study. The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health. 2024 Jul 1;8(7):500-9. , https://doi.org/10.1016/S2352-4642(24)00076-2
Lawler K, Dronavalli M, Page A, Lee E, Uebel H, Bajuk B, Burns L, Dickson M, Green C, Dicair L, Eastwood J, Oei JL. 'Joining the Dots: Linking Prenatal Drug Exposure to Childhood and Adolescence' - research protocol of a population cohort study. BMJ Paediatr Open. 2024 Apr 11;8(1):e002557. https://bmjpaedsopen.bmj.com/content/8/1/e002557
Conaty, S. J., Ghosh, S., Ashraf, K., Taylor, K. H., Truman, G., Noonan, H., Dronavalli, M., & Jalaludin, B. (2023). Heat illness presentations to emergency departments in Western Sydney: surveillance for environmental, personal and behavioural risk factors. Public health research & practice, 33(4), 3342331. https://doi.org/10.17061/phrp3342331
Adam M, Kwinda Z, Dronavalli M, Leonard E, Nguyễn V, Tshivhase V, Bärnighausen T, Pillay Y Effect of Short, Animated Video Storytelling on Maternal Knowledge and Satisfaction in the Perinatal Period in South Africa: Randomized Controlled Trial J Med Internet Res 2023;25:e47266 URL: https://www.jmir.org/2023/1/e47266
Dronavalli M, Page A, Sperandei S, Uribe G, Huckel Schneider C, Eastwood J. Determinants and health outcomes of trajectories of social mobility in Australia. SSM Popul Health. 2023 Jan 5;21:101336. doi: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2023.101336. PMID: 36660174; PMCID: PMC9843487. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36660174/
Wetherell, L., et al. (2022). "POMMS: Pre-operative misoprostol in myomectomy surgery: A randomised controlled pilot study." Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol 276: 98-101. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35853272
Leonard E, Kwinda Z, Baernighausen T, Dronavalli M, Adam M, Pillay Y. Optimizing knowledge and behavioral intention of women and their partners in the perinatal period in South Africa: a randomized control trial study protocol in the Tshwane district, Gauteng province, South Africa. BMC Public Health. 2022;22(1):1224 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35725421
James DB, Lee KSK, Dronavalli M, Courtney RJ, Conigrave KM, Conigrave JH, Shakeshaft A. Predictors of length of treatment, discharge reason, and re-admission to Aboriginal alcohol and other drug residential rehabilitation services in New South Wales, Australia. Drug Alcohol Rev. 2021 Oct 13. doi: 10.1111/dar.13388. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 3464442 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/author/MAGGAAKPHZDDFECWT9TK?target=10.1111/dar.13388
Adam, M., et al. (2021). "Evaluation of a community-based mobile video breastfeeding intervention in Khayelitsha, South Africa: The Philani MOVIE cluster-randomized controlled trial." PLoS Med 18(9): e1003744. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34582438
Dronavalli M, Lord H, Alexander K, Boonwaat L, Pal N, Fletcher-Lartey SM. Effectiveness of Oseltamivir Prophylaxis in Influenza Outbreaks in Residential Aged Care. J Epidemiol Glob Health. 2020 Jun;10(2):184-189. doi: 10.2991/jegh.k.200402.001. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7310780/
Ghosh S, Dronavalli M, Raman S. Tuberculosis infection in under-2-year-old refugees: Should we be screening? A systematic review and meta-regression analysis. J Paediatr Child Health. 2019 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/jpc.14701
Fletcher-Lartey, S., et al. (2019). "Trends in Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns in Neisseria Gonorrhoeae in Australia and New Zealand: A Meta-analysis and Systematic Review." Antibiotics (Basel) 8(4). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31652729
Chan DJ, Furner V, Smith DE, Dronavalli M, Bopage RI, Post JJ, et al. Non-AIDS complexity among patients living with HIV in Sydney: risk factors and health outcomes. AIDS Res Ther. 2018;15(1):6. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12981-018-0193-z
Dronavalli, M. and S. C. Thompson (2015). "A systematic review of measurement tools of health and well-being for evaluating community-based interventions." J Epidemiol Community Health 69(8): 805-815. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26041904
Dronavalli, M., et al. (2017). "Findings from a clinical audit in regional general practice of management of patients following acute coronary syndrome." Aust J Prim Health 23(2): 170-177.Findings from a clinical audit in regional general practice of management of patients following acute coronary syndrome https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27647550
Vilalta, A., et al. (2011). "Normobaric hyperoxia in traumatic brain injury: does brain metabolic state influence the response to hyperoxic challenge?" J Neurotrauma 28(7): 1139-1148. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21534719
Sheffield LJ, Irving P, Gupta A, Byron K, Macrae FA, Phillimore H, et al. Thiopurine methyltransferase and thiopurine metabolite testing in patients with inflammatory bowel disease who are taking thiopurine drugs. Pharmacogenomics. 2009;10(7):1091-9. https://www.futuremedicine.com/doi/abs/10.2217/pgs.09.60
National Rural Health (Oral) 2015 | Asia Pacific Heart Failure (2 Posters) 2008 | RACP 2016 (Oral: Gerry Murphy Prize) |Australian Public Health 2019 (Oral)