Dr Lisa Sharwood

I am an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow in the School of Population Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of New South Wales. I am also an Adjunct Professional Fellow in the School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and IT, University of Technology Sydney.

I am an experienced epidemiologist specialising in injury, public health, and health services research, with 20 years of experience in government and industry settings. I apply my skills in risk assessment and mitigation, utilising comprehensive data and system analyses to provide evidence-based evaluations for improving health and safety outcomes. I am dedicated to advocating for health system optimisation through data-driven strategies, and to translating evidence-based findings to improve practice and policy for cost-effective health care.

I have been a collaborative team member on 14 research projects that have examined system, policy and economic determinants of acute care patient pathways. My research focusses on the inter-relationship of these factors to patient outcomes in the context of social determinants of health across pre-hospital, emergency department, inpatient and community populations. Experienced in planning and coordinating large-scale research programs, I advise industry and government bodies on harm prevention and risk management.

I have been appointed to three Expert Technical Committees for safety standards (2017-). Two are national committees for Standards Australia, one an international mirror committee. Technical committees are responsible for the development and maintenance of Australian, joint Australian-New Zealand, as well as International Standards that are regularly referred to in legislation, regulations and industry codes of practice. I am appointed member of the Executive Committee for the International Population Data Network (2022-), an appointed member (by the ACCC) of the International Technical Working Group on Detriment (comprising the OECD, the UK’s Office for Product Safety and Standards, the ACCC, the Canadian Consumer Product Safety Directorate and the US Consumer Product Safety Commission) and an appointed member to the Australian Cross Jurisdictional Injury Surveillance Working Group.

I am regularly engaged by the courts (NSW, SA, and QLD), to provide bipartisan Expert Testimony in matters of injury and harm litigation. My evaluation of risk, outcome, liability and applicable guidelines or standards in healthcare and community settings, has aided in settling 24 cases to date.  

I am an Editorial Board Member (2016-) for the BMC Health Services Research Journal, and an Editorial Board Topic Editor for Injury for the International Journal of Environmental Research & Public Health.

As a Chief Investigator of 12 research teams, I have been awarded research funding of $7,051,744. This includes: two Category 1 competitive research grants -  $5,490,258 ($2,986,451 as CIA); seven Category 2 industry research grants - $1,500,636 (6 as CIA); one Category 3 industry evaluation project - $25,890; and two university research grant - $34,960 (CIA). I have personally received 11 research awards.