Teaching context and philosophy

I am an Associate Professor in Pathology and a teaching-and-research academic in the School of Biomedical Sciences, where I have taught since 2017. I teach across the Medicine and Medical Science programs, including Phase 1 and Phase 2 Medicine, and have co-convened two third-year Pathology courses: PATH3205 – Molecular Basis of Disease (2017–2026) and PATH3206 – Cancer Pathology (2017–2023). Before joining UNSW, I practised as a clinician specialising in Internal Medicine (2007–2014) and taught Clinical Medicine at the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. This combination of clinical practice, research and teaching enables me to design learning that connects fundamental disease mechanisms with their clinical consequences. My educational practice is supported by a Graduate Certificate in Teaching in Higher Education and Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy, UK. It has been recognised through School, Faculty and University teaching awards, including the 2019 Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence in the Early Career and Rising Star category.

My teaching philosophy is that integrating authentic clinical problems and patient narratives with disciplinary theory helps students connect disease mechanisms with clinical features and outcomes. This encourages students to move beyond recalling isolated facts towards applying knowledge, interpreting evidence, reasoning through clinical problems and understanding patients’ experiences of disease. Students enter our programs with different prior knowledge and career aspirations; however, the human experience of disease provides a shared and meaningful starting point from which they can engage with complex pathology.

I enact this philosophy through an evidence-informed and iterative approach. I first identify a specific educational problem through student feedback, assessment performance, observation or changes in the learning environment. I then select a response informed by educational principles and the needs of the learner group, evaluate whether it achieved the intended outcome, and use the findings to refine, embed or discontinue the approach. Evaluation is therefore not an endpoint but part of an ongoing cycle linking educational need, design, evidence and sustainable improvement.

My educational contribution has developed substantially since my early-career teaching award. Initially, I focussed on designing authentic learning activities within the courses I taught. I now lead whole-course renewal, use scholarship of teaching and learning to test assumptions and inform curriculum decisions, and disseminate findings through peer-reviewed publications and educational forums. I also mentor junior educators and researchers, supporting them to develop confidence in teaching and the capability to evaluate and disseminate their own educational practice.

This progression now extends to institutional leadership. As Presiding Member of UNSW Human Research Ethics, I have worked with education-focussed academics, research governance staff and University leaders to improve access to appropriate ethical review for educational research. Across these activities, my purpose remains consistent: to make pathology learning authentic and equitable, demonstrate whether educational approaches are effective, and create conditions in which successful practices can be sustained and extended by others.

*Evidence supporting my case for teaching excellence is presented under the entry titled “Evidence for Faculty Education Award 2026” within each of the four myEducation portfolio dimensions.