Dr Balachandran Kumarendran MBBS, PGDip. in Applied Statistics, MSc, MD, PhD (Birmingham)

Balachandran Kumarendran

School of Psychology
Research Fellow

Dr. B. Kumarendran is a public health expert with 18 years of academic career and research with 1500 citations.

Qualifications

  • MBBS (Jaffna) - 2004
  • PG Dip. in Applied Statistics (Colombo) - 2015
  • M. Sc. in Community Medicine (Colombo) - 2010
  • MD in Community Medicine (Colombo) - 2015
  • PhD (Birmingham) – 2023

Biography

Dr. B. Kumarendran completed his medical undergraduate studies and internship in Sri Lanka, where he also trained in community medicine and became a registered specialist in the field. He enjoyed a 17-year progressive academic career at the University of Kelaniya and the University of Jaffna in Sri Lanka. Dr. Kumarendran earned his PhD in Public Health and Epidemiology from the University of Birmingham, focusing on metabolic conditions among women with polycystic ovary syndrome. Currently, he is leading the delivery of the CoSTARS research project, which aims to pilot an evaluation of a tiered Mental Health Literacy (MHL) package. This project seeks to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and cost-effectiveness of the package in promoting equitable mental health care access and improving outcomes for black youth from underserved groups.

Postgraduate supervision

Dr B Kumarendran is completing supervision of the dissertations of three Masters of Public Health candidates at the University of Birmingham. He has already completed supervision of 6 dissertations of master’s degrees and one thesis of MD in Medical Administration in Sri Lanka.

Research

  1. Mental health of minoritized ethnic youth
  2. Health inequalities
  3. Public health data science in relation to women’s health

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Gooden, TE, Wang, J, Goulart, AC, Vethanayagam, SA, Wang, H, Varella, AC, Paschoal, E, Uruthirakumar, P, Kanesamoorthy, S, Shanmugathas, S, Zhang, H, Zhong, J, Feng, M, Li, X, Guruparan, M, Kumarendran, B, Nirantharakumar, K, Lip, GYH, Thomas, GN, Bensenor, IM, Guo, Y, Rajendra, S, Greenfield, S, Manaseki- Holland, S & NIHR Global Health Group on Atrial Fibrillation Management members 2025, 'Inefficiencies identified in healthcare professional-to-patient handover practices for atrial fibrillation: a mixed-methods study in Brazil, China and Sri Lanka', BMJ Global Health, vol. 10, no. 11, e017517. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2024-017517

Sheron, VA, Surenthirakumaran, R, Gooden, TE, Y. H. Lip, G, Thomas, GN, J. Moore, D, Nirantharakumar, K, Kumarendran, B, Subaschandran, K, Kanesamoorthy, S, Uruthirakumar, P, Guruparan, M & NIHR Global Health Research Group on Atrial Fibrillation Management 2024, 'Diagnostic accuracy of digital technologies compared with 12-lead ECG in the diagnosis of atrial fibrillation in adults: A protocol for a systematic review', PLOS One, vol. 19, no. 5, e0301729. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301729

NIHR Global Health Research Group on Atrial Fibrillation Management, Vethanayagam, S, Gooden, TE, Uruthirakumar, P, Kanesamoorthy, S, Guruparan, M, Subaschandran, K, Lip, GYH, Nirantharakumar, K, Thomas, GN, Surenthirakumaran, R, Kumarendran, B & Manaseki-Holland, S 2024, 'The pathway to diagnosis and follow-up care for atrial fibrillation in Sri Lanka: a descriptive longitudinal study [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations]', NIHR Open Research, vol. 4, 63. https://doi.org/10.3310/nihropenres.13497.2

Gooden, T, Wang, J, Goulart, AC, Varella, AC, Tai, M, Sheron, VA, Zhang, H, Zhong, J, Kumarendran, B, Nirantharakumar, K, Surenthirakumaran, R, BenseƱor, IM, Guo, Y, Lip, G, Thomas, GN, Manaseki-Holland, S & Hao, W 2023, 'Generalisability of and lessons learned from a mixed-methods study conducted in three low- and middle-income countries to identify care pathways for atrial fibrillation', Global Health Action, vol. 16, no. 1, 2231763. https://doi.org/10.1080/16549716.2023.2231763

NIHR Global Health Research Group on Atrial Fibrillation Management, Sheron, VA, Shanmugathas, S, Gooden, T, Guruparan, M, Kumarendran, B, Lip, G, Manaseki-Holland, S, Nirantharakumar, K, Shribavan, K, Subaschandren, K, Haniffa, R, Surenthirakumaran, R, Thomas, GN, Uruthirakumar, P, Greenfield, S, Lane, D & Beane, A 2022, 'Healthcare provider and patient perspectives on access to and management of atrial fibrillation in the Northern Province, Sri Lanka: a rapid evaluation of barriers and facilitators to care', BMC Health Services Research, vol. 22, no. 1, 1078 . https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-022-08440-1

NIHR Global Health Research Group on Atrial Fibrillation Management, Kanesamoorthy, S, Sheron, VA, Uruthirakumar, P, Kodippily, C, Kumarendran, B, Gooden, TE, Thomas, GN, Nirantharakumar, K, Lip, GYH, Guruparan, M, Haniffa, R, Surenthirakumaran, R, Beane, A & Subaschandran, K 2022, 'Prevalence of atrial fibrillation in Northern Sri Lanka: a study protocol for a cross-sectional household survey', BMJ open, vol. 12, no. 11, e056480. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-056480

Bohren, MA, Lorencatto, F, Coomarasamy, A, Althabe, F, Devall, AJ, Evans, C, Oladapo, OT, Lissauer, D, Akter, S, Forbes, G, Thomas, E, Galadanci, H, Qureshi, Z, Fawcus, S, Hofmeyr, GJ, Al-Beity, FA, Kasturiratne, A, Kumarendran, B, Mammoliti, K-M, Vogel, JP, Gallos, I & Miller, S 2021, 'Formative research to design an implementation strategy for a postpartum hemorrhage initial response treatment bundle (E-MOTIVE): study protocol', Reproductive Health, vol. 18, no. 1, 149. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12978-021-01162-3

Kumarendran, B, O'reilly, M, Subramanian, A, Sumilo, D, Toulis, K, Gokhale, K, Wijeyaratne, CN, Coomarasamy, A, Tahrani, A, Azoulay, L, Arlt, W & Nirantharakumar, K 2021, 'Polycystic ovary syndrome, combined oral contraceptives and the risk of dysglycemia: a population-based cohort study with a nested pharmaco-epidemiological case-control study', Diabetes Care, vol. 44, no. 12, dc210437, pp. 2758-2766. https://doi.org/10.2337/dc21-0437

Balachandran, K, Sumilo, D, O'Reilly, MW, Toulis, KA, Gokhale, K, Wijeyaratne, C, Coomarasamy, A, Arlt, W, Tahrani, A & Nirantharakumar, K 2019, 'Increased risk of obstructive sleep apnoea in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: a population-based cohort study', European Journal of Endocrinology, vol. 180, no. 4, pp. 265-272. https://doi.org/10.1530/EJE-18-0693

O'reilly, M, Glisic, M, Kumarendran, B, Subramanian, A, Manolopoulos, K, Tahrani, A, Keerthy, D, Muka, T, Toulis, K, Hanif, W, Thomas, GN, Franco, OH, Arlt, W & Nirantharakumar, K 2019, 'Serum testosterone, sex hormone-binding globulin and sex-specific risk of incident type 2 diabetes in a retrospective primary care cohort', Clinical Endocrinology, vol. 90, no. 1, pp. 145-154. https://doi.org/10.1111/cen.13862

Kumarendran, B, O'Reilly, M, Manolopoulos, K, Toulis, K, Gokhale, K, Sitch, A, Wijeyaratne, CN, Coomarasamy, A, Arlt, W & Nirantharakumar, K 2018, 'Polycystic ovary syndrome, androgen excess, and the risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in women: a longitudinal study based on a United Kingdom primary care database', PLoS Medicine, vol. 15, no. 3, e1002542. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002542

Toulis, K, Willis, BH, Thomas, GN, Narendran, P, Marshall, T, Nirantharakumar, K, Gokhale, K, Kumarendran, B, hanif, W & Cheng, K 2017, 'All-cause mortality in patients with diabetes under treatment with dapagliflozin: a population-based, open-cohort study in THIN database', Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, vol. 102, no. 5, pp. 1719-1725. https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2016-3446

Karavitaki, N, Toulis, K, Kumarendran, B, Gokhale, K, Cheng, K & Nirantharakumar, K 2017, 'Males with prolactinoma are at increased risk of incident cardiovascular disease', Clinical Endocrinology, vol. 88, no. 1, pp. 71-76. https://doi.org/10.1111/cen.13498

Caleyachetty, R, Thomas, GN, Toulis, KA, Mohammed, N, Gokhale, KM, Balachandran, K & Nirantharakumar, K 2017, 'Metabolically healthy obese and incident cardiovascular disease events among 3.5 million men and women', Journal of the American College of Cardiology, vol. 70, no. 12, pp. 1429-1437. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2017.07.763

Review article

NIHR Global Health Research Group on Atrial Fibrillation Management, Uruthirakumar, P, Surenthirakumaran, R, Gooden, TE, Lip, GYH, Thomas, GN, Moore, DJ, Nirantharakumar, K, Kumarendran, B, Subaschandran, K, Kaneshamoorthy, S, Sheron, VA & Guruparan, M 2023, 'The impact of rate and rhythm control strategies on quality of life for patients with atrial fibrillation: a protocol for a systematic review', Systematic Reviews, vol. 12, no. 1, 52. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-023-02197-2

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