Dr Shenal Dedduwakumara
Lecturer
School of Public Health
College of Health
Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD (as Co-Supervisor) - email supervisor to discuss availability.
I am a Lecturer in Bio-Statistics, focusing primarily on Robust Statistical Methodologies in Health sciences and Economics. Before becoming a part of the School of Public Health in 2024, I served as a Lecturer in Statistics at the School of Computer and Mathematical Sciences for more than three years following the completion of my PhD.
My research focuses on the development of robust and quantile-based statistical methodologies, with applications spanning biostatistics, economics, and public health. Much of my work addresses the limitations of classical moment-based estimators under skewness or outliers by developing more reliable, quantile-driven alternatives.
- Flexible Distribution Modelling
Advancing research on Generalized Lambda Distributions (GLD) and other flexible families through quantile-driven estimation methods that improve robustness, accuracy, and computational efficiency. - Inference from Aggregated and Histogram Data
Continuing to develop quantile-based inference methods for grouped, binned, and histogram data to enhance the reliability of statistical analysis when individual-level data are unavailable. - Quantile-Based Inequality and Robustness Measures
Investigating new quantile-driven measures of inequality and variability, with a focus on producing interpretable, distribution-free, and computationally efficient tools for health and socioeconomic applications. - Computational Tools and R Package Development
Leading the development of statistical software, a growing framework for quantile-based estimation, simulation, and model diagnostics. Check out our latest R package, rquest, now available on CRAN.
| Date | Position | Institution name |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 - ongoing | Lecturer in Bio-Statistics | University of Adelaide |
| 2020 - 2023 | Lecturer in Statistics | University of Adelaide |
| Date | Institution name | Country | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 - 2020 | Latrobe University | Australia | PhD |
| 2010 - 2015 | University of Colombo | Sri Lanka | Bachelors of Science (BSc) in Statistics and Mathematics (Honours) |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2021 | Dedduwakumara, D. S., Prendergast, L. A., & Staudte, R. G. (2021). An efficient estimator of the parameters of the generalized lambda distribution. JOURNAL OF STATISTICAL COMPUTATION AND SIMULATION, 91(1), 197-215. Scopus6 WoS4 |
| 2021 | Dedduwakumara, D. S., Prendergast, L. A., & Staudte, R. G. (2021). Some confidence intervals and insights for the proportion below the relative poverty line. SN Business & Economics, 1(10), 22 pages. |
| 2020 | Dedduwakumara, D. (2020). Contributions to Estimation and Modeling Using Quantiles. Bulletin of the Australian Mathematical Society, 103(3), 523-524. |
| 2019 | Dedduwakumara, D. S., Prendergast, L. A., & Staudte, R. G. (2019). Insights and inference for the proportion below the relative poverty line. |
| 2019 | Dedduwakumara, D. S., Prendergast, L. A., & Robert, G. S. (2019). A simple and efficient method for finding the closest generalized lambda distribution to a specific model. Cogent Mathematics & Statistics, 6(1), 1-11. WoS5 |
| 2018 | Dedduwakumara, D. S., & Prendergast, L. A. (2018). Confidence intervals for quantiles from histograms and other grouped data. Communications in Statistics: Simulation and Computation, 49(6), 1546-1559. Scopus4 WoS1 |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2019 | Dedduwakumara, D. S., & Prendergast, L. A. (2019). Interval Estimators for Inequality Measures Using Grouped Data. In Communications in Computer and Information Science Vol. 1150 CCIS (pp. 238-252). Singapore: Springer. DOI Scopus3 WoS2 |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2024 | Dedduwakumara, S., Prendergast, L. A., & Staudte, R. G. (2024). rquest: An R package for hypothesis tests and confidence intervals for quantiles and summary measures based on quantiles. DOI |
- Lecturer and Course Coordinator, ‘Mathematical Foundations for Biostatistics’, Master of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, The University of Adelaide, 2024-present.
- Lecturer and Course Coordinator, ‘Data Management and Statistical Computing’, Master of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, The University of Adelaide, 2024-present.
- Lecturer and Course Coordinator, ‘Probability and Statistics’, Bachelor of Mathematical Sciences, School of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, Joint Education Initiative between Ocean University of China and the University of Adelaide, 2023.
- Lecturer and Co-Course Coordinator, ‘Projects in Mathematics’, Bachelor of Mathematical Sciences, School of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, Joint Education Initiative between Ocean University of China and the University of Adelaide, 2023.
- Lecturer and Course Coordinator, ‘Data Science’, Bachelor of Mathematical Sciences, School of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, Joint Education Initiative between Ocean University of China and the University of Adelaide, 2023.
- Lecturer and Course Coordinator, ‘Probability and Statistics’, Master of Data Science, School of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, 2022.
- Lecturer and Course Coordinator, ‘Decision Science’, Master of Data Science, School of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, 2022.
- Lecturer and Course Coordinator, ‘Data Taming’, Master of Data Science, School of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, 2022.
- Lecturer and Course Coordinator, ‘Data Literacy’, Master of Data Science, School of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, 2022.
- Lecturer and Course Coordinator, ‘Statistics and Numerical Methods, Bachelor of Mathematical Sciences, School of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, 2021.
- Lecturer and Co-Course Coordinator, ‘Advanced Mathematical Perspectives II', Bachelor of Mathematical Sciences, School of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, 2021.
- Lecturer and Course Coordinator, ‘Statistical Practice I', Bachelor of Mathematical Sciences, School of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, 2021.
| Date | Role | Research Topic | Program | Degree Type | Student Load | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 - 2025 | Co-Supervisor | Domain-Specific Sentiment Analysis of Historical Australian Parliamentary Speeches | Master of Philosophy | Master | Full Time | Mr William Pincombe |
| Date | Role | Committee | Institution | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 - ongoing | Member | Advocacy Working Group | Statistical Society of Australia | Australia |
| 2021 - ongoing | Member | Outreach Committee | School of Mathematical Sciences | Australia |
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