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Wasantha Jayawardene
Wasantha Jayawardene, MD, MS, PhD, FRSPH, Assistant Professor
Public Health
Professional Interests:
- Obesity – epidemiology, causes, and consequences
- Opioids, alcohol, tobacco, and prescription drugs
- Digital health and technology-based interventions
- Methodological rigor and reporting in clinical trials
Education:
- Postdoctoral Training, Indiana University Bloomington
- Ph.D., Indiana University Bloomington
- M.S., Indiana University Bloomington
- M.D., People's Friendship University of Russia, Moscow
Recent Projects:
- ‘Opioid Rapid Response System (ORRS)’ – Recruitment and training of citizen responders to administer naloxone; Funded by National Institutes of Health (NIH) (Role: Principal Investigator)
- ‘eatNplay’ – A theory-driven, rurally tailored, family-based, telehealth intervention for childhood obesity; Funded by Indiana University Center for Rural Engagement (Role: Principal Investigator)
- ‘Tracking Together’ – Synergistic effects of tracking human and canine activity simultaneously by using activity trackers; Funded by Mars Petcare, Inc. (Role: Principal Investigator)
- Indiana Tobacco Compliance Survey – Prevention of underage sales of tobacco and e-cigarettes; Funded by Indiana Department of Mental Health Administration (Role: Principal Investigator)
- National Evaluation of Technology Transfer Centers; Funded by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) (Role: Evaluator)

Office: Pulliam 323C
wasantha@siu.edu