Irosh Fernando

Dr. Irosh Fernando is a Conjoint Senior Lecturer at the School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, with a dual background in psychiatry and computer science. He holds medical degrees (MBBS, 2000; MD Psychiatry, 2006) from the University of Colombo, a MPhil in Computer Science (Open University Sri-Lanka, 2006), and a PhD in Computer Science (University of Newcastle, 2017), complemented by a Master of Biostatistics (University of Sydney).

• PhD Research: Diagnostic Algorithms
• Subspecialty: Medical Expert Systems

Research Interests focus on revitalizing medical expert systems through:

• Development of orthogonal vector projection for diagnostic reasoning
• Clinical decision support system design
• Mathematical modeling of depression dynamics
• Pattern-based formulation methodologies
• Integration of biostatistics in psychiatric assessment
• Telepsychiatry and mobile health applications

Scientific Contributions include creating the Mental State Examination Scale (MSES) and Pattern-Based Formulation (PBF) framework. His work combines control theory with clinical data to model illness trajectories and treatment responses.

Grant Leadership shows sustained funding from Hunter New England Local Health District and Priority Research Centre for Brain and Mental Health Research for projects like:

• 2020-2023: Online mental health assessment trials
• 2018-2022: Mobile application for psychiatric triaging
• 2022-2023: Chest pain diagnostics via algorithms