Dr.Kinley Wangdi is an accomplished spatial epidemiologist and medical doctor with over 15 years of experience in public health research, teaching, and clinical practice. His career bridges the fields of medicine, epidemiology, and spatial analytics. After a decade of clinical practice in Bhutan, he transitioned into academia and research, completing his PhD at the Australian National University with a thesis on malaria elimination in Bhutan. He holds a Master of Science in Tropical Medicine from Mahidol University, Thailand, where he first began exploring the use of spatial-temporal models for infectious disease transmission.

His research focuses on improving the effectiveness and efficiency of public health interventions for both infectious and chronic diseases, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. He is widely recognised for his application of geospatial technologies, Bayesian statistical modelling, and remote sensing to address major public health challenges, including malaria, dengue, soil-transmitted helminths, tuberculosis, cardiovascular disease, and health system responses to pandemics.

Over the course of his research career, Dr. Wangdi has successfully secured over AUD 3.95 million in competitive research funding. His grants include a prestigious NHMRC Investigator Grant to develop geospatial applications for tropical disease control, major funding from the e-ASIA Joint Research Program for eliminating helminth neglected tropical diseases, and project grants from the Australian Centre for Research Excellence in Malaria Elimination (ACREME), World Vision US, the Australian Department of Health and Aged Care, and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). He has led and contributed to projects across Bhutan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, and the wider Western Pacific region, collaborating with international networks such as ACE-NTD, APMEN, and WHO.

A prolific researcher, Dr. Wangdi has authored more than 125 peer-reviewed publications in leading journals, with over 3,600 citations and an h-index of 30. His work is frequently cited in global health literature and has been influential in guiding public health policy in low- and middle-income countries. His academic excellence has been recognised with the ANU Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Early Career Academics and the College of Health and Medicine Dean’s Commendation for Excellence in Education. He has also received multiple travel and conference awards from the University of Canberra and ANU.

Dr. Wangdi contributes significantly to the academic publishing landscape and serves on the editorial boards of several leading Medical and public health journals. Currently a Senior Lecturer at the University of Canberra’s Health Research Institute and an NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow, he also holds a Visiting Fellowship at the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at the Australian National University.