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Dr Mel Ramasawmy

Mel

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Email: m.ramasawmy@qmul.ac.uk

Profile

Dr Mel Ramasawmy joined the Wolfson Institute of Population Health as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in October 2023.  Her approach is shaped by a PhD in Anthropology, and experience working in national health policy. 

Her research focuses on the intersection of digital health, equity, and patient experiences of access and care for long-term health conditions including cardiometabolic disease, Long Covid, cancer, and depression.  

She is a co-investigator on the PAPER study (NIHR 155654), which examines inequalities in antidepressant prescribing among South Asian patients in UK primary care. She is also a co-investigator on the DWELL study (SPCR), developing a digital health intervention to support emotional wellbeing in people with type 2 diabetes. 

Mel’s current research focuses on integrating underrepresented viewpoints in relation to digital innovation in health research and delivery. She actively works with patients and the public to improve research engagement and practice.

Research

Research Interests:

Mel’s research sits at the intersection of digital health, equity, and patient experiences of access and care. 

  • Integrating underrepresented viewpoints in digital health research: Engages with communities who do not regularly participate in research about digital health, to address health inequities. This includes examining facilitators and barriers to digital uptake and health information sharing practices, to improve safety and accessibility of digital health interventions. This also includes public views on willingness to participate in research which involves data sharing SHARE, WISER). 
  • Addressing inequalities in diagnosis and access to care: Examines the problem of clinician-patient communication in diagnosis, with a particular interest in diverse symptom representation. This includes accessing diagnoses and care for depression (PAPER), and Long Covid (STIMULATE-ICP). Other work in diagnosis and primary care has included MODE, which aims to understand when interim diagnoses represent missed opportunities to diagnose cancer, and AWACAN-ED, which focused on improving early diagnosis of cancer in Southern Africa. 
  • Working with communities for equitable digital innovation in health research and delivery: Mel actively works with patients and the public to improve research practice and engagement. She uses creative and inclusive approaches to public engagement in science. This includes co-producing videos on AI in health, to support patient and public involvement in AI health research, and collaborating with HUMBLE Lab to develop a novel AI–human collaboration framework. 

Publications

  • Lyell I, Adrion E, Ramasawmy M et al. (2026). P022 Cardiovascular disease prevention policy in the four nations of the United Kingdom: a policy document analysis from 2000-2025. SSM Annual Scientific Meeting


    QMRO: qmroHref
  • Ronaldson A, Ramasawmy M, Gill P et al. (2026). P249 The ability to detect depression in ethnic minority groups: a UK biobank cohort study. SSM Annual Scientific Meeting


    QMRO: qmroHref
  • Ramasawmy M, Abel GA, Black G et al. (2026). Patient perspectives on the impact of an initial non-cancer diagnosis prior to a subsequent cancer diagnosis: a secondary qualitative analysis. nameOfConference


  • Banerjee A, Prescott G, Wall E et al. (2026). Integrated care pathway in individuals with Long COVID: STIMULATE-ICP, a cluster-randomized, phase 3 trial. nameOfConference


  • Ronaldson A, Ramasawmy M, Gill PS et al. (2026). Ability to detect depression in ethnic minority groups: a UK Biobank cohort study. nameOfConference


    QMRO: qmroHref
  • consortium S-I, Wall EC, Prescott G et al. (2026). Efficacy and safety of rivaroxaban, colchicine, and famotidine–loratadine with specialist supportive clinical care for fatigue in patients with post-COVID-19 condition in the UK: a multisite, open-label, randomised controlled trial. nameOfConference


  • Szekely R, Armstrong M, Geraghty AWA et al. (publicationYear). Digital Health Interventions for Diabetes Distress in Type 2 Diabetes: Protocol for a Scoping Literature Review Focused on Equity and Inclusion. nameOfConference


  • Robles L, Abel GA, Black G et al. (2026). “One of the hardest things in medicine is challenging an initial diagnosis.” Interim Diagnoses and Missed Opportunities for Diagnosing Cancer in Primary Care: A Qualitative Study. nameOfConference


  • Remfry E, Chaturvedi J, Markham S et al. (publicationYear). Co-designing animated videos to explain large language models and their use in healthcare and research. nameOfConference


  • Derksen C, Ramasawmy M, Arora S et al. (publicationYear). Willingness to Share Internet Use Data for Research on Early Disease Detection: Cross-Sectional Survey. nameOfConference


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