Background

Romesh joined Burnet at the start of 2018 to work on Optima TB and HCV modelling. He completed his undergraduate studies and PhD in Physics at the University of Sydney. After working on software development for the Optima HIV project in 2015, he took up a postdoctoral research position at the Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity where he worked on biophysical modelling of neural activity.

Now back in Australia, Romesh is based in Sydney. His research interests include quantitative predictive modelling and optimization, with a particular focus on data-driven model validation. He is currently also working on COVASIM: Modelling COVID-19 - an individual-based model assessing the impact of COVID-19 interventions that has informed the Victorian Government’s Roadmap through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Appointments

• Adjunct Research Fellow, Biostatistics, Data Analytics/Modelling and Health Economics, Monash University

Positions

• 2018-: Senior Research Officer, Burnet Institute
• 2016-2017: Postdoctoral Scientist, Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity
• 2014-2015: Postdoctoral Research Associate, Brain Dynamics Group, School of Physics, University of Sydney
• 2015-2016: Consultant Developer (Optima HIV), Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales
• 2014-2015: Analyst, Cingulate Consulting

Qualifications

• 2011-2014: PhD (Physics) The University of Sydney
• 2007-2010: BSc (Advanced) (Honours 1) Physics

Projects (4)

Current (4)

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  COVASIM: Modelling COVID-19

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  Decision science using Optima

• 

  Hepatitis B Modelling

• 

  Optima Nutrition Modelling

Publications (25)

2023 (1)

• Frequent and unpredictable changes in COVID-19 policies and restrictions reduce the accuracy of model forecasts.
  Houdroge F, Palmer A, Delport D, Walsh T, Kelly SL, Hainsworth SW, Abeysuriya R, Stuart RM, Kerr CC, Coplan P, Wilson DP, Scott N
  Sci Rep. 2023 Jan; 13(1):1398

2022 (4)

• A framework for considering the utility of models when facing tough decisions in public health: a guideline for policy-makers.
  Thompson J, McClure R, Scott N, Hellard M, Abeysuriya R, Vidanaarachchi R, Thwaites J, Lazarus JV, Lavis J, Michie S, Bullen C, Prokopenko M, Chang SL, Cliff OM, Zachreson C, Blakely A, Wilson T, Ouakrim DA, Sundararajan V
  Health Res Policy Syst. 2022 Oct; 20(1):107
• Modelling herd immunity requirements in Queensland: impact of vaccination effectiveness, hesitancy and variants of SARS-CoV-2.
  Sanz-Leon P, Hamilton LHW, Raison SJ, Pan AJX, Stevenson NJ, Stuart RM, Abeysuriya RG, Kerr CC, Lambert SB, Roberts JA
  Philos Trans A Math Phys Eng Sci. 2022 Oct; 380(2233):20210311
• Risk of sustained SARS-CoV-2 transmission in Queensland, Australia.
  Sanz-Leon P, Stevenson NJ, Stuart RM, Abeysuriya RG, Pang JC, Lambert SB, Kerr CC, Roberts JA
  Sci Rep. 2022 Apr; 12(1):6309
• Preventing a cluster from becoming a new wave in settings with zero community COVID-19 cases.
  Abeysuriya RG, Delport D, Stuart RM, Sacks-Davis R, Kerr CC, Mistry D, Klein DJ, Hellard M, Scott N
  BMC Infect Dis. 2022 Mar; 22(1):232

2021 (9)

• Optima TB: A tool to help optimally allocate tuberculosis spending.
  Goscé L, Abou Jaoude GJ, Kedziora DJ, Benedikt C, Hussain A, Jarvis S, Skrahina A, Klimuk D, Hurevich H, Zhao F, Fraser-Hurt N, Cheikh N, Gorgens M, Wilson DJ, Abeysuriya R, Martin-Hughes R, Kelly SL, Roberts A, Stuart RM, Palmer T, Panovska-Griffiths J, Kerr CC, Wilson DP, Haghparast-Bidgoli H, Skordis J, Abubakar I.
  PLoS Comput Biol. 2021 Sep; 17(9):e1009255
• Modelling the Victorian roadmap (PUBLIC HEALTH REPORT)
  Abeysuriya R, Delport D, Sacks-Davis R, Hellard M, Scott N
  Know-C19. 2021 Sep; September:1-23
• Covasim: An agent-based model of COVID-19 dynamics and interventions.
  Kerr CC, Stuart RM, Mistry D, Abeysuriya RG, Rosenfeld K, Hart GR, Núñez RC, Cohen JA, Selvaraj P, Hagedorn B, George L, Jastrzębski M, Izzo AS, Fowler G, Palmer A, Delport D, Scott N, Kelly SL, Bennette CS, Wagner BG, Chang ST, Oron AP, Wenger EA, Panovska-Griffiths J, Famulare M, Klein DJ
  PLoS Comput Biol. 2021 Jul; 17(7):e1009149
• COVID-19 NSW outbreak (PUBLIC HEALTH REPORT)
  Scott N, Hellard M, Abeysuriya R
  Know-C19 Public Health Report. 2021 Jul
• COVASIM modelling: Impact of vaccines on epidemic outcomes. (PUBLIC HEALTH REPORT)
  Abeysuriya R, Hellard M, Scott N
  Know-C19. 2021 Jun; June:1-2
• Controlling COVID-19 via test-trace-quarantine.
  Kerr CC, Mistry D, Stuart RM, Rosenfeld K, Hart GR, Núñez RC, Cohen JA, Selvaraj P, Abeysuriya RG, Jastrzębski M, George L, Hagedorn B, Panovska-Griffiths J, Fagalde M, Duchin J, Famulare M, Klein DJ
  Nat Commun. 2021 May; 12(1):2993
• Role of masks, testing and contact tracing in preventing COVID-19 resurgences: a case study from New South Wales, Australia
  Stuart RM, Abeysuriya RG, Kerr CC, Mistry D, Klein DJ, Gray RT, Hellard M, Scott N
  BMJ Open. 2021 Apr; 11(4):e045941
• Estimating and mitigating the risk of COVID-19 epidemic rebound associated with reopening of international borders in Vietnam: a modelling study
  Pham QD, Stuart RM, Nguyen TV, Luong QC, Tran QD, Pham TQ, Phan LT, Dang TQ, Tran DN, Do HT, Mistry D, Klein DJ, Abeysuriya RG, Oron AP, Kerr CC
  Lancet Glob Health. 2021 Apr; 9(7):e916-e924
• Modelling the impact of reducing control measures on the COVID-19 pandemic in a low transmission setting.
  Scott N, Palmer A, Delport D, Abeysuriya R, Stuart R, Kerr CC, Ministry D, Klein D, Sacks-Davis R, Heath K, Hainsworth S, Pedrana A, Stoové M, Wilson D, Hellard ME
  Med J Aust. 2021 Feb; 214(2):79-83

2020 (1)

• Estimating risks associated with early reopening in Victoria. (Policy Brief prepared for the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services)
  Abeysuriya R, Delport D, Hellard M, Scott N
  Know-C19 Hub. 2020 Sep

2019 (1)

• The Cascade Analysis Tool: software to analyze and optimize care cascades.
  David J Kedziora, Romesh Abeysuriya, Cliff C Kerr, George L Chadderdon, Vlad-Stefan Harbuz, Sarah Metzger, David P Wilson, Robyn M Stuart
  Gates Open Res. 2019 Jun; 3:1488

2018 (3)

• Bayesian Optimisation of Large-Scale Biophysical Networks.
  Hadida J, Sotiropoulos SN, Abeysuriya RG, Woolrich MW, Jbabdi S
  NeuroImage. 2018 Mar; Epub ahead of print
• A unified model of melatonin, 6-sulfatoxymelatonin, and sleep dynamics.
  Romesh G Abeysuriya, Steven W Lockley, Peter A Robinson, Svetlana Postnova
  J Pineal Res. 2018 Feb; Epub ahead of print
• A biophysical model of dynamic balancing of excitation and inhibition in fast oscillatory large-scale networks.
  Romesh G Abeysuriya, Jonathan Hadida, Stamatios N Sotiropoulos, Saad Jbabdi, Robert Becker, Benjamin A E Hunt, Matthew J Brookes, Mark W Woolrich
  PLoS Comput Biol. 2018 Feb; 14(2):e1006007

2017 (1)

• Discovering dynamic brain networks from big data in rest and task.
  Diego Vidaurre, Romesh Abeysuriya, Robert Becker, Andrew J Quinn, Fidel Alfaro-Almagro, Stephen M Smith, Mark W Woolrich
  Neuroimage. 2017 Jun

2016 (1)

• Real-time automated EEG tracking of brain states using neural field theory.
  R G Abeysuriya, P A Robinson
  J Neurosci Methods. 2016 Jan; 258:28-45

2014 (1)

• Experimental observation of a theoretically predicted nonlinear sleep spindle harmonic in human EEG.
  R G Abeysuriya, C J Rennie, P A Robinson, J W Kim
  Clin Neurophysiol. 2014 Oct; 125(10):2016-2023

2012 (2)

• Physiologically based quantitative modeling of unihemispheric sleep.
  Kedziora DJ, Abeysuriya RG, Phillips AJK, Robinson PA
  J Theoret Biol. 2012 Jul; 314:109–119
• Exploring sleepiness and entrainment on permanent shift schedules in a physiologically based model.
  Svetlana Postnova, Andrew Layden, Peter A Robinson, Andrew J K Phillips, Romesh G Abeysuriya
  J Biol Rhythms. 2012 Feb; 27(1):91-102

2010 (1)

• Mammalian sleep dynamics: how diverse features arise from a common physiological framework.
  Andrew J K Phillips, Peter A Robinson, David J Kedziora, Romesh G Abeysuriya
  PLoS Comput Biol. 2010 Jun; 6(6):e1000826

News Articles (8)

2022 (1)

• Modelling quantifies the potential benefits of mask wearing against Omicron

2021 (6)

• Burnet support for National Plan modelling
• Modelling the Victorian Roadmap
• Burnet modelling shows COVID ‘exit’ needs vaccines and public health controls
• A tougher 4-week lockdown could save Sydney months of stay-at-home orders, our modelling shows
• Tighter ‘Stage 4’ restrictions will likely be needed to control Delta variant outbreak in NSW, new modelling shows
• Thousands of deaths likely if COVID-19 ‘left to run’ in Victoria without high vaccine uptake and public health measures, new modelling shows

2020 (1)

• Burnet modelling informs Victoria's COVID roadmap