Technology has evolved dramatically in the 25 years since Nilmini Wickramasinghe earned her PhD in health information systems at Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. But one thing that hasn’t changed, according to the alumna, is the school’s rich culture of fostering creative thinking and a passion for scholarship.
It’s why Wickramasinghe has included the Weatherhead School in her estate plans with an intent to endow a professorship in technology and healthcare. The professorship will bear Wickramasinghe’s name, as well as that of her late mother, Dileeni, who supported her throughout her educational journey.
“My education at Case Western Reserve gave me the tools to make meaningful change by thinking critically, asking questions and not being afraid to debate with colleagues,” said Wickramasinghe (GRS ’99, health information systems). “It shaped my academic life and my career significantly. It’s why I want to give back.”
Wickramasinghe moved to Cleveland from Australia in 1995 to study management information systems with one of the field’s foremost specialists, Michael Ginzberg, PhD, at the Weatherhead School. On her taxi ride from the airport, she marveled at the number of hospitals lining the streets, so when she was instructed to further narrow the focus of her PhD—a requirement she was not anticipating—she chose health information systems.
“I saw how vital information systems could be to improving patient care, and I knew this was where I wanted to focus my efforts,” she recalled. The school’s interdisciplinary approach, blending management with technology and healthcare, proved to be a perfect fit.
Wickramasinghe earned her PhD in 1999 and, today, she is a leading authority in digital health, serving as inaugural Professor and Optus Chair in Digital Health at La Trobe University in Australia.
Her latest research focuses on the “digital twin” in healthcare—a virtual patient model that uses real-time data and simulations to optimize care, predict outcomes and personalize treatments. To date, Wickramasinghe has published 30 books—her most recent release featuring a foreword by one of her CWRU mentors, Professor Emeritus J.B. Silvers, PhD—and in 2020, she became the first person to win the prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Research Award for contributions to the field of digital health.
“There is no doubt there will continue to be challenges in healthcare delivery well into the future,” she said. “I hope this professorship will give a dynamic thinker the resources they need to innovate and move the needle for both patients and providers.”