Faculty profile
Ruwan Ratnayake
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I am an infectious disease epidemiologist and modeller working on public health in humanitarian crises. I focus on the surveillance and control of cholera and epidemic diseases, policy guidance, spatial and mathematical modelling, and merging modern analytical methods with field epidemiology to solve problems. I also work on topics relating to noncommunicable diseases and community health in emergencies. I completed a PhD in epidemiology and spatial and mathematical modeling at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in 2024. I was the lead epidemiologist for the International Rescue Committee (IRC) for many years, and have worked in similar roles for Epicentre-Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) across humanitarian crises in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, focusing on Ebola and cholera outbreaks, and complex emergencies. I also trained with the Canadian Field Epidemiology Program (FETP). I teach GLOBHTH 714: Health in Humanitarian Crises. I currently work on cholera, spatial and mathematical modelling, field observational studies, disease surveillance, and malnutrition. I am an investigator on the Jameel Institute Realtime Intelligent Support for Emergencies (JI-RISE) project with WHO, UKHIH Mortality Estimation in Humanitarian Crises Systems Innovation Partnership in Somalia, the AMBER Sudan project to adapt models to measure malnutrition and food insecurity, and observational studies on case-area targeted interventions for cholera in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I am involved in field epidemiology training with the Public Health Centre of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.
Research areas are derived from OpenAlex topics of their publications.
Latest papers
Food insecurity, caloric intake and nutritional status among children under 5 years old: a predictive modelling analysis of the MAL-ED multi-country cohort
2026
Optimizing the implementation of case-area targeted interventions during cholera outbreaks with context-specific delivery mechanisms
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases · 2025
Climate change, armed conflict, forced displacement, and epidemic-prone diseases: an exploratory study in northern Syria
BMC International Health and Human Rights · 2025
Researchers with similar interests
Jonathan Dushoff
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COVID-19 epidemiological studies, Viral Infections and Outbreaks Research
Ali Iqbal
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Health and Conflict Studies
Lynda Redwood-Campbell
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Health and Conflict Studies
David Earn
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Benjamin Bolker
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Aaron Prosser
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COVID-19 epidemiological studies
89 publications.
Food insecurity, caloric intake and nutritional status among children under 5 years old: a predictive modelling analysis of the MAL-ED multi-country cohort
Checchi F, Ferguson E, Hamad F, Ouchtar Y, Ratnayake R, Singh N, Tanvir H, van Zandvoort K, Dahab M
Optimizing the implementation of case-area targeted interventions during cholera outbreaks with context-specific delivery mechanisms
Dunoyer J, Ratnayake R, Moore S, Bulit G, Beaulieu S, Valingot C, Oger P-Y, Sudre B, Lantagne D, Desmond N
Climate change, armed conflict, forced displacement, and epidemic-prone diseases: an exploratory study in northern Syria
Tarnas MC, Almhawish N, Ratnayake R, Elferruh Y, Aladhan I, Alhaffar MBA, Abbara A
The politics and challenges of measuring mortality for humanitarian decision-making in Somalia, the Central African Republic and Bangladesh
Palmer J, Alhaffar M, Garba B, Hassan J, Ratnayake R, Seal A, Jelle M, Checchi F
Bridging communities of practice: lessons from the Humanitarian Health Research Forum on climate, crisis, and collaboration
McKay G, Alefaio S, Beecroft B, D'Mello-Guyett L, Karanja A, LeBoa C, Ngongo C, Rao VB, Ratnayake R, Wilunda C
The Somalia Mortality Estimation Database (S-MED): a Bird’s Eye View of Mortality and its Determinants
Ratnayake R, Ouchtar Y, Ahmed YA, Mohamoud JH, Jelle M, Seal A, Dirie NI, Palmer J, Checchi F
SWOT Analysis of Communicable Disease Surveillance in Sudan
Khogali A, AbuKoura R, Abdelmagid N, Ibrahim M, Ratnayake R, Dahab M
From Food Aid Invoices to Impact: A New Method to Quantify Caloric Intake from Community Kitchens in Conflict Affected Sudan
Ouchtar Y, Mohammed A, Olson S, Ratnayake R, Skrip L, Dahab M
Spatiotemporal Modeling of Cholera, Uvira, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2016−2020 - Volume 30, Number 8—August 2024 - Emerging Infectious Diseases journal - CDC
Ratnayake R, Knee J, Cumming O, Saidi JM, Rumedeka BB, Finger F, Azman AS, Edmunds WJ, Checchi F, Gallandat K
Decision-making for childhood vaccination in crisis settings: a survey of practice & barriers
Light PM, Singh NS, Alhaffar M, Allison LE, Mounier-Jack S, Ratnayake R, Checchi F, Abdelmagid N
Courses taught
1- Graduate
Special Topics in Global Health
GLOBHTH 714 · last taught 2026
Frequent collaborators
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Profile data last refreshed on September 25, 2026 from the university directory, OpenAlex, CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC.