Senior Lecturer
College of Business, Government and Law
Dr Madhan Balasubramanian is Senior Lecturer in Health and Aged Care Management, and Business Research Lead at the College of Business, Government and Law, Flinders University. He is also a Honorary Senior Lecturer at the Menzies Centre for Health Policy and Economics, School of Public Health, the University of Sydney, and a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Adelaide.
Madhan's interests broadly lie at the intersection of health policy, health systems and health services. He has a public health and health management background, with a focus on the future design and sustainable development of core health system components and developing integrated systems to address the sustainable development goals. He brings an excellent track record, relative to opportunity.
He has research interests and a research track record in three areas: health workforce (re)design, health and aged care management, and disadvantaged populations. His primary area of specialisation has been in the health workforce, where he is internationally recognised for his work on integrated care and collaborative practice, health professional migration, health practitioner regulation, practice activity and surveillance studies, and future workforce modelling.
Madhan has published 50+ research outputs, including 30 scientific research articles, 4 commentaries/debates, 3 editorials, 3 systematic reviews, 1 book and 2 commissioned government reports. He has a google scholar h index of 13, and his citations are projected to triple in the next two years.
Madhan has won three nationally competitive Australian Government fellowships. Overall, he has received over a million Australian dollars in nationally/internationally competitive fellowships and grants (as CIA), in addition to scholarships and academic prizes. Madhan has active research projects that he conceptualised and developed across two states in Australia (NSW and SA), and internationally in the United Kingdom and India.
Madhan completed his PhD at the University of Adelaide (2015) and held a prestigious NHMRC Sidney Sax Fellowship (public health and health services) at the University of Sydney and Kings College London (2017-21). He was also an Endeavour Fellow involved in research on global organisations, based in Geneva (2015-16). Between 2008-09, he completed an Australia-India Council Junior Fellowship based at the School of Population Health, the University of Queensland. He completed his Masters of Health Service Management with Honours at Griffith University, Australia (2004-05). He has a primary qualification in oral health and completed his Bachelor of Dental Surgery in 2003.
Fellowships, Scholarships and Awards [~ $564,298]
2017- NHMRC Sidney Sax Early Career Research Fellowship ($423,768)
2015-16 Endeavour Research Fellowship ($24,500)
2014 Best PhD Presentation Award (scroll of honour and $500)
2013-14 NHMRC Dental Health Services Research PhD Supporting Scholarship ($10,580)
2012 Second Runner-up team in Australian Entrepreneurship Challenge ($2000)
2010-13 PhD Postgraduate Research Scholarship ($85,750)
2008-09 DFAT Australia-India Council Junior Fellowship ($12,000)
2008 Travel Award by Hospitaux Universities of Geneva (CHF 1250)
2007 World Bank Institute Scholarship (EUR 800)
2005 Eberhard Wenzel Scholarship for International Public Health (scroll of honour and $2000)
2004 Griffith Award for Academic Excellence (scroll of honour)
2003 Community development awards in oral health care
Grants and consultancies [~$785,000]
2023-24: Balasubramanian M, Bogomolova S, Khadka J, Zhu R, Gordon J, Harris C. Innovative care models for the prevention of dental, vision and hearing conditions among culturally and linguistically diverse older adults availing home care services in Australia: investigating the disease burdern. Flinders Foundation - $25,000
2021-22: V Lin, Carlton AL, Short SD, Balasubramanian, M, Bourgeault I & Leslie K WHO Funding, Grantee, World Health Organisation. Global design, reform and implementation of health regulatory systems - $159,264 USD.
2019-23: Wilson, A, Huckel Schneider, C, Norris, S. Holden A, Balasubramanian M. NSW Health Funding, New South Wales Health. Evaluation of the Primary School Mobile Dental Program - $549,566.
2019-20: Holden A, Leadbeatter D, Balasubramanian, M, Sohn, W. Consumer involvement in the design and delivery of professional competency examinations and assessments - $25,000
2017-21: Balasubramanian, M. Gallagher JE, Short SD. NHMRC. NHMRC Sidney Sax Early Career Research Fellowship. Strengthening health workforce integration - $423,768 [not included in the total for grants; counted in fellowships]
Editorial appointments
2020- Editorial Board Member, BMC Health Services Research; Q1 Medicine, Health Policy
2021- Associate Editor, Fronters in Pubic Health (Ageing and Public Health); Q1 Medicine, Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Professional appointments
2022 Immediate Past President, Network for Practice-Based Research, International Association for Dental Research. Vice President (2019) President (2020-22); Board Member, Consitution Committee, International Associate for Dental Research
Please visit Research Tab for more information on publications, projects and other outputs. Teaching Tab for teaching responsibilities.
Students, please visit the Research supervision Tab and further information on Student Projects and Research Opportunities. Any queries or further information please direct to madhan.balasubramanian@flinders.edu.au
Madhan brings experience teaching at four Australian Universities (Universities of Sydney, Adelaide, New England, and Griffith), and two overseas institutions (Kings College London, the United Kingdom and Osmania University, India). He is involved in public health, health services management, health research methods and health policy programs. Madhan has supervised or mentored seven postgraduate students to completion.
Madhan serves as an Editorial Board Member of BMC Health Services Research and Associate Editor for Frontiers in Public Health (Ageing). He has edited special issues for Nature and MDPI journals. He is immediate past President of the Network for Practice-Based Research, and current Board member of the Constitution Committee at the International Association for Dental Research. Madhan was previously SA Branch Councillor of the Australasian College of Health Service Executives. Madhan has served as a panel member of NHMRC investigator and ideas grants for the last 3 yrs.
He gives guest lectures on health workforce, migrants, disadvantaged communities and integrated care on a regular basis for non-profits, charity and community organisations. (please contact by email if interested)
Student Projects and Research Opportunities
Madhan welcomes queries on student research and project opportunities, especially in the following three areas: Theme 1- Future health workforce and collaborative care provision; Theme 2 - Aged care services and older people (65+yrs) health; Theme 3 - Health technologies and Health data science. Madhan works intensively on research methodologies (including national surveys, electronic health record analysis; data linkage, prognostic/predictive modelling; pluralistic methods) to provide research/academic outcomes that are in-depth, well planned and executed, clearly written and with high reliability and validity. He brings expertise in both qualitative and quantitative research methods, and the ability to guide students systematically through their research journey. He has successfully supervised/mentored 7 HDR students to completion. He currently supervisors 3 PhD students (2 University of Sydney; 1 Maastricht University), and 1 Honours student (University of Sydney).