Rate My Professor Darsy Darssan

Dr Darsy Darssan serves as Senior Lecturer in Biostatistics at the University of Queensland's School of Public Health within the Faculty of Medicine. A Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), he earned his Bachelor of Science with Honours in 2005 from the University of Jaffna, Master of Applied Science in 2008 from RMIT University, and Doctor of Philosophy in 2014 from Queensland University of Technology, all in statistics. Throughout his career, Darssan has held positions including part-time Statistician at the Australian Council for Educational Research, Statistician at the University of New South Wales, Associate Research Fellow in Applied Statistics at the University of Wollongong, and sessional academic teaching introductory statistics. Post-PhD, he undertook postdoctoral research in biostatistics at the University of Liverpool before joining UQ in late 2015 as a Biostatistician for three years, advancing to his current role.

Darssan's expertise lies in developing and extending statistical methodologies for biomedical research data analysis and collection. He has substantial experience as a service statistician in clinical trials, contributing to study designs, randomisation, protocol development, statistical analysis plans, final reports, and data safety monitoring boards, serving biologists, rheumatologists, ophthalmologists, nephrologists, endocrinologists, and health service researchers. His research interests encompass spatial health and environmental impact modeling, disease risk modeling related to geospatial and environmental factors, biostatistics, and higher education pedagogy including continuous assessments and peer feedback. Key publications include "Climate effect on the incidence of kidney failure patients in Australia" (BMC Medicine, 2025), "Greenspace exposure and associated health outcomes: a systematic review of reviews" (F1000Research, 2025), "Associations between asthma and the risk of mental and behavioural problems in males" (Journal of Asthma, 2026), "Client preferences in noncommunicable diseases management in Australia: a scoping review" (PLoS Global Public Health, 2025), and "Protecting pregnant women from extreme heat: a content analysis of heat health action plans" (International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 2025).