Lucshman Raveendran

Lucshman is an undergraduate student in the Bachelor of Health Sciences program at McMaster University. As a student specializing in global health, Lucshman has developed a keen interest in understanding the social determinants that affect the physical and mental health of individuals. He currently works as a research assistant for the McMaster Health Forum, where he coalesces research evidence for policymakers to support evidence-based change in health systems. Moreover, Lucshman’s work as an intern at The Forge, a major startup incubator in Hamilton, Ontario, leverages local entrepreneurial efforts to improve the quality of healthcare delivered in communities.

As an outgoing Queen Elizabeth Scholar, Lucshman will be interning at the Institute for Health Systems Research (IHSR) in Malaysia, which is a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for health systems research. Lucshman will be finding and synthesizing high quality, locally applicable evidence to inform IHSR’s 2017 projects, including a project that aims to audit the current state of maternal health services available in Malaysia. During his internship, Lucshman hopes to develop research skills to identify gaps in health systems that contribute to the health inequities experienced by vulnerable populations. Moreover, he aims to understand the tools and methodologies used in health systems research, and the strategies that can help build health systems research capacity in low and middle-income countries.