Dr Sameera Ansari
Senior Research Fellow
2018Ìý ÌýDoctor of Philosophy - Public Health (Understanding the Impact of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Intervening to Improve Self-Management in the Context of Multi-morbidity), 91É«ÇéƬ Sydney, Australia
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2008Ìý ÌýMaster of Physiotherapy inÌýCardio-Pulmonary Sciences,ÌýSri Ramachandra University (a Harvard Medical International institution), Chennai, India
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2005Ìý ÌýBachelor of Physiotherapy,ÌýSri Ramachandra University (a Harvard Medical International institution), Chennai, India
Medicine & Health
School of Population Health
I am an internationally-recognised COPD researcher with over 21 years of experience in health care as a qualified cardio-respiratory physiotherapist, applied research scientist and project leader. My PhD in Public Health comprised development, implementation and mixed-method evaluation of a global-first, self-management program for COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) in the context of multimorbidity in primary care. I have authored peer-reviewed, scientific journal articles, commissioned research reports, policy documents and a clinical practice guideline, and also presented at prestigious national and international conferences, given media interviews and attracted competitive research funding including NHMRC, MRFF and industry-funded grants. Till date, I have led multiple health research, policy, quality improvement and capacity-building projects to completion in the areas of COPD, multimorbidity, self-management of chronic disease, integrated care, digital health, implementation science, primary health care and health systems.
I am skilled in clinical research, end-to-end project management, stakeholder engagement, co-design, quantitative and qualitative research methods, clinical trials, conceptualising original research studies and quality improvement programs, human research ethics and governance applications, developing evidence-based implementation & evaluation toolkits, policy & program evaluation, and health information assessment. Through the course of my public health career, I have worked with consumers, clinicians and a wide range of stakeholders from various country governments and health organisations such as GlaxoSmithKline, NSW Health, Lung Foundation Australia, CareMonitor, AstraZeneca, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Pacific Health Information Network and the World Health Organization. I am particularly passionate about initiatives on chronic respiratory disease that aim to improve health outcomes for patients, enhance healthcare delivery, and inform clinical practice and policy.
I am a Senior Research Fellow and Co-Lead of the Chronic Respiratory Disease Research Group at the 91É«ÇéƬ School of Population Health, Affiliate Research Leader at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, and Honorary Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Bond University.Ìý
Please note that the list of my publications associated with this profile is limited and not up-to-date.
TRANSLATION OF MY RESEARCH INTO POLICY/PRACTICE
- AÌýÌý(APCOM Program), which I developed, implemented and evaluated for my PhD, was selected as a ‘best practice’ primary care model by the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology and World Health Organization for the inaugural 2022 APSR-WHO Big 5 Lung Diseases Workshop in Seoul, South Korea. The , which I co-authored, has been uploaded to the . The Workshop report has also been uploaded on theÌýÌýalong with the APCOM Program toolkit, for potential translation of the Program to developing health systems.
- An assessment and planning template I developed for my as part of the APCOM Program, is being used as a case study to showcase real-world implementation of the Health Belief Model for training of Doctor of Physiotherapy students at the University of Sydney.
- A which I co-created, tested and implemented for the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office in 2019, was translated for comprehensive digital health maturity assessment of 17 Pacific Island Countries and Areas (PICs) in 2020 and further translated for development of digital health implementation roadmaps in 5 PICs in 2021.
- The recommendations from , which I coordinated in late 2019 for the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, informed data quality assessment of the My Health Record data asset.
- In late 2018, I was invited by the NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation to be part of an expert advisory panel for a workshop on COPD and CHF attended by healthcare professionals across the state.
- The findings of , which I coordinated, informed the 2018 WHO Western Pacific Regional Meeting.
- In late 2017, I was invited by GlaxoSmithKline Asia Pacific for an Australian research expert interview on self-management of COPD in the context of multi-morbidity, the of which was uploaded to the GSK health portal as a professional development resource for primary care professionals.
E-mail
Location
91É«ÇéƬ School of Population Health
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
July 2026ÌýÌýÌýImproving assessment and management of chronic breathlessness in Australia (BREATHE Dx); Chief Investigators: Anthony Sunjaya, Charlotte Hespe, Christine Jenkins, Clare Arnott, Hueiming Liu, Sameera Ansari, Kenneth Yakubu, Alamgir Kabir, Rong Liu, Shona Bates; Associate Investigators: Alison Humphries, Katrina Giskes, Ai-Vee Chua, Alexander McColl; Natalie Taylor; Emily Atkins, Laurent Billot, Shuang Liang, Janwillem Kocks, Lynda Whiteway, Lynn Elzinga-Henry; Partner Organisations: Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, Lung Foundation Australia, Asthma Australia, National Asthma Council Australia, Western NSW Primary Health Network, General Practitioners Research Institute, Lothar MedTec; Australian Government Department of Health Medical Research Future Fund Early-to-Mid-Career Researchers grant; $890,005
Nov 2025ÌýÌýÌýCompetitive travel grant for presenting my research at the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology Congress in Manila, Philippines; 91É«ÇéƬ Medicine & Health Early Career Academic Network Committee; Sameera Ansari; $1000
Mar 2024Ìý ÌýA primary care multi-disciplinary team care approach, including pulmonary rehabilitation, to improve uptake and outcomes of comprehensive evidence-based care for COPD (MDT-PuRe-Primary Care); Chief Investigators: Sarah Dennis, Nicholas Zwar, Zoe McKeough, Jennifer Alison, Elizabeth Halcomb, Michelle Cunich, Sanjyot Vagholkar, Claudia Dobler, Serene Paul, Lisa Pagano, David Meharg, Sameera Ansari; Associate Investigators: Christine Jenkins, Renae McNamara, Wei Xuan, Matthew Jennings, Brendon McDougall, Kristen Short, Kelcie Herrmann, Helen Kulas; Partner Organisations: South Western Sydney Local Health District, South Western Sydney Primary Health Network, InterHealthcare, Lung Foundation Australia, The Healthy Communities Foundation Australia, Central and Eastern Sydney Primary Health Network; Medical Research Future Fund Primary Health Care research grant through the National Health and Medical Research Council; $1,629, 441
Mar 2024Ìý ÌýA Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial to Digitally Support Self-management for Inhaler Device Technique and Medication Adherence among People with COPD and Comorbidities- The PRISIMA-PECO Trial; Medical Research Future Fund Chronic Respiratory Conditions grant through the National Health and Medical Research Council; Chief Investigators: Sameera Ansari (Lead and Coordinating Investigator), John Hurst, Helen Reddel, Nicholas Zwar, Sarah Dennis, Elizabeth Halcomb, Mouna Sawan, Joel Rhee, Rohina Joshi, Hassan Hosseinzadeh, Marijka Batterham, Varinder Jeet; Associate Investigators: Nigel Hiller-Garvey, Russell Winwood, Ian Yang, Helen Kulas, Alicia Goodwin, Sarah Greenaway; Partner Organisations: Lung Foundation Australia and CareMonitor; $1,988,115
AugÌý 2023ÌýÌýÌýA general practice toolkit to promote physical activity among people living with cancer; Royal Australian College of General Practitioners Foundation/BOQ Specialist Research Grant; Renae Lawrence, Sonia Markoff, Sameera Ansari, Nicola Burton, Kerry Uebel, Kylie Vuong; $20,000
May 2021ÌýÌýÌýActivating Primary Care COPD Patients with Multi-morbidity (APCOM) Trial; Medical Research Future Fund Primary Health Care Research grant through the National Health and Medical Research Council; Chief Investigators: Nicholas Zwar, Ian Yang, Helen Reddel, Elizabeth Halcomb, Hassan Hosseinzadeh, Sameera Ansari (Coordinating Investigator), Marijka Batterham, Glenn Salkeld; Associate Investigators: Sarah Dennis, Kelcie Herrmann, Lisa Collison, Mark Morgan; Partner Organisations: Lung Foundation Australia and Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association; $977,628
June 2020Ìý ÌýHealth Information and Digital Health Assessment in the Pacific; World Health Organization Regional Office for the Western Pacific; Teng Liaw, Sameera Ansari (Coordinating Investigator); $72,797
Mar 2020Ìý Ìý ÌýAdoption of telehealth and digital health information systems in low and middle-income Pacific island countries and territories: a policy brief for health policymakers;ÌýCompetitive grant from theÌýAsia Pacific Observatory on Health Systems and Policies; Adam Craig, Sameera Ansari, Teng Liaw, Sunia Soakai, Katri Maria Kontio, Alex Rosewell, Rowena Cullen, John Hall; $52,500
Mar 2019ÌýÌýÌýÌýCo-creation of digital health country profiles for the Pacific Island Countries; World Health Organization Regional Office for the Western Pacific; Teng Liaw, Sameera Ansari (Coordinating Investigator); $36,000
Feb 2019ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýA review of the use of mHealth to promote healthy ageing and support the delivery of age-friendly health and long-term care services in the Western Pacific Region; World Health Organization Regional Office for the Western Pacific; Teng Liaw, Sameera Ansari (Coordinating Investigator); $11,250
June 2018Ìý ÌýCompetitive sponsorship for presenting my research at the 2018 Primary Health Care Research Conference in Melbourne; Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity, 91É«ÇéƬ Sydney; Sameera Ansari; $2,000
June 2017Ìý ÌýCompetitive sponsorship for presenting my research at the ERS International Congress 2017 in Milan, Italy; European Respiratory Society; Sameera Ansari; $1,350
July 2015Ìý Ìý Competitive sponsorship of registration fee for presenting my research at the 2015 Primary Health Care Research Conference in Adelaide; Primary Health Care Research and Information Service; Sameera Ansari; $400
MayÌý2015ÌýÌýÌý Activating Primary Care COPD Patients with Multi-morbidity (APCOM) Pilot Study; Investigator Sponsored Studies Grant (invited application, peer reviewed nationally and globally), GlaxoSmithKline Australia; Sameera Ansari (Lead and Coordinating Investigator), Hassan Hosseinzadeh, Sarah Dennis, Nicholas Zwar; $61,100
Jan 2015ÌýÌýÌýÌý Dora Lush Biomedical Postgraduate Scholarship towards PhD stipend and conference expenses for Years 2 and 3 of the APCOM Pilot Study; National Health and Medical Research Council; Sameera Ansari; $76,228
July 2014Ìý Ìý Australian Postgraduate Award towards PhD stipend for Years 2 and 3; Commonwealth of Australia through University of New South Wales; Sameera Ansari; $44,436 (relinquished in January 2015 due to NHMRC Scholarship)
July 2014Ìý Ìý ÌýCompetitive sponsorship of registration fee for presenting my research at the 2014 Primary Health Care Research Conference in Canberra; Primary Health Care Research and Information Service; Sameera Ansari; $400
Nov 2013ÌýÌýÌýÌý Competitive scholarship for presenting my research at the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology Congress in Yokohama, Japan; Postgraduate Research Support Scheme, 91É«ÇéƬ Sydney; Sameera Ansari; $3,300
July 2013Ìý Ìý ÌýCompetitive sponsorship of registration fee for attending the 2013 Primary Health Care Research Conference in Sydney; Primary Health Care Research and Information Service; Sameera Ansari; $350
Nov 2025Ìý Ìý Med ECAN Conference Award - 91É«ÇéƬ Medicine & Health Early Career Academic Network
Aug 2024Ìý Ìý Early Career Research Excellence Award - School of Population Health, 91É«ÇéƬ Sydney
AprÌý 2020Ìý Ìý Finalist - 91É«ÇéƬ Graham Painton Clinical Respiratory Research Fellowship
JunÌý 2017Ìý Ìý Young Scientist Sponsorship; European Respiratory Society
Nov 2016Ìý Ìý Research Student Award; Postgraduate Council, 91É«ÇéƬ SydneyÌý
Jan 2015Ìý Ìý ÌýDora Lush Biomedical Postgraduate Scholarship; National Health and Medical Research Council
July 2014Ìý Ìý Australian Postgraduate Award; Commonwealth of Australia (through 91É«ÇéƬ)
Mar 2008 Ìý ÌýUniversity goldÌýmedal for academic, clinical and research excellence during the Master of Physiotherapy in Cardio-Pulmonary Sciences program; Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai, India
Mar 2005 Ìý ÌýUniversity goldÌýmedal for academic and clinical excellence during the Bachelor of Physiotherapy program; Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai, India
Jan 2005Ìý Ìý ÌýBest Outgoing Physiotherapy Internee for outstanding health service delivery; Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai, India
Sep 2001Ìý Ìý Founder Chancellor Award for first rank in foundation year of Bachelor's degree; Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai, India
I lead my own program of innovative research on COPD, Multimorbidity, Digital Health, Integrated Care and Primary Health Care mainly using clinical trial and implementation science methodology. My current research projects:
- (Lead and Coordinating Investigator)
- Improving assessment and management of chronic breathlessness in Australia - BREATHE DxÌý(Co-Investigator)
- (Co-Investigator)
- Ìý(Coordinating Investigator)
- Patient-reported experience of care of COPD: application and validation of the PREM-C9+ measure in an Australian cohort (Co-Investigator)
- (Co-Investigator)
- A general practice toolkit to promote physical activity among people living with cancer (Co-Investigator)
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My current professional memberships:
- Invited Founding Member – Australian Cardiopulmonary Risk Taskforce (Aug 2025-)
- Invited Associate Member – 91É«ÇéƬ International Centre for Future Health Systems (April 2025-)
- Community Member – WHO Global Alliance against Chronic Respiratory Diseases (Jul 2024-)
- Invited Member – Global Working Group on Cardiopulmonary Risk, which is the International Cardiovascular and Respiratory Alliance since 2025Ìý(April 2024-)
- Silver Member – European Respiratory Society (April 2023-); Working Group Member of ERS CONNECT Clinical Research Collaboration (April 2024-)
- Ordinary Member – Asian Pacific Society of Respirology (April 2023-)
- Ordinary Member – The Thoracic Society of Australia & New Zealand (March 2023-)
- Health Professional Member – Lung Foundation Australia (June 2020-)
- Voluntary Member – Respiratory Network, NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation (September 2018-)
- Life Member – The Indian Association of Physiotherapists (March 2005-)
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My Research Supervision
- Sriram Badrinarayanan (MD Honours): Co-Supervisor with Dr Anthony Sunjaya as Primary Supervisor. Project: A systematic review of interventions for anaemia in COPD patients and their impact on clinical outcomes. 2026.
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Past research students:
- Nadine Kalaoun (BPH): Co-Supervisor with Dr Anthony Sunjaya as Primary Supervisor. Project: Identifying physiologic predictors of COPD exacerbations and their performance. 2026.
- Esther Choi (MD Honours): Primary Supervisor with Prof Xiaoqi Feng as Co-Supervisor. Project: A systematic review of interventions for alleviating the impact of air pollution in COPD. 2025.
- Charlotte (Shuk Ki)ÌýNg (MD ILP): Primary Supervisor with Prof Nick Zwar and Dr Amanda Tauber as Co-Supervisors. Project: Patterns of comorbidities amongÌýpeople with COPD - Secondary analysis of baselineÌýdata from the APCOM Trial. 2025.
- Sadan Taher (MD ILP): Primary Supervisor with Prof Alta Schutte as Co-Supervisor. Project: A systematic review of interventions for management of co-existing COPD and hypertension. 2024.
- Teresa Sheng (MD ILP): Co-Supervisor with Prof Alta Schutte as Primary Supervisor. Project: Understanding Australian medical students' and academics'Ìýperspectives on curricula regarding theÌýmanagement of hypertension. 2024.
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My Teaching
2019 & 2021: Foundations inÌýPublic Health and Health Care Systems (PHCM9041) - InternalÌýTutor (2019 only) and Assessor
2020: Digital Health - Principles, Practice and EvidenceÌý(PHCM9790)Ìý- Curriculum development and Guest Lecturer
2019: Qualitative Research MethodsÌý(PHCM9120)Ìý- Tutor
2018: Global Chronic Disease Prevention and Control (PHCM2009) - Research expert input on COPD module
2018: Principles and Practice of Primary Health Care (PHCM9615) - Curriculum redevelopment
2017: Applied Research Methods for Public Health (PHCM9132) - External Tutor and Assessor
2016 &Ìý2017: Principles of Health Education and Behaviour Change (GENM0708) - Internal Tutor and Assessor
2014 – 2017: Influencing Health Beliefs and Health Behaviours (PHCM4013) - Guest Lecturer (2017 only), Internal Tutor and Assessor
My teaching certifications:
2016:
2014: