Meghna Ramaswamy PhD

Dr. Meghna Ramaswamy is the Director of the International Office (IO) and leads a team of international research and partnerships specialists to facilitate and support international activities for faculty, staff and students. She loves interacting with people from different cultures and backgrounds, and uses these deep learning experiences to build vision, and guide sound strategy development for international education, focusing on sustainable research and partnerships.

She is a strong advocate for the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the role it plays in international education. She serves as an Executive Committee member of the Commission of International Initiatives (CII) at the Association of Public Land Universities (APLU), and as a Steering Committee member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) Higher Education and Sustainable Development Goals Network. On a local level, she chairs the Saskatchewan Education Alliance (SEA) working group on international research, development and the SDGs in partnership with the Government of Saskatchewan, Canada.

Meghna has been recognized for her work in internationalization by both the Canadian Bureau of International Education (CBIE) and the Government of Saskatchewan. In November 2021, she received an award for Outstanding Leadership and Support for Saskatchewan International Education by the Minister of Advanced Education, Government of Saskatchewan, Canada. 

Meghna joined the University of Saskatchewan in the summer of 2018. Prior to joining the University of Saskatchewan, she was based in the National Institute of Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC), United Kingdom, where she led activities for The Centre for AIDS Reagents. Here, she developed international research projects and partnerships with key organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Commission (EC), the National Institute of Health (NIH), and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF). Meghna was also an expert advisor to the World Health Organization, and the European Commission for a number of years and as a principal investigator, she attracted over $19 million in international research funding. 

Meghna has a BSc in Microbiology from Kings College London, a MSc in Virology from The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a PhD in Clinical Infection from the University College London in the United Kingdom.

Selected Publications in 2021:

i) Syed Abdul S, Ramaswamy M, Fernandez-Luque L, John O, Pitti T, Parashar B. The Pandemic, Infodemic, and People’s Resilience in India: Viewpoint. JMIR Public Health Surveill 2021;7(12):e31645. DOI: https://publichealth.jmir.org/2021/12/e31645.

ii) Saxena, A., Ramaswamy, M., Beale, J. et al. Striving for the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): what will it take. Discov Sustain 2, 20 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-021-00029-8.

iii) Ramaswamy M, Marciniuk DD, Csonka V, Colò L, Saso L. Reimagining Internationalization in Higher Education Through the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for the Betterment of Society. Journal of Studies in International Education. 2021;25(4):388-406. https://doi.org/10.1177/10283153211031046.

iv) Ramaswamy M., Saxena A., Beale J., Marciniuk D. (2021) COVID-19 and Solidarity to Alleviate Hunger. In: Leal Filho W., Azul A.M., Brandli L., Özuyar P.G., Wall T. (eds) Zero Hunger. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69626-3_126-1.

v) Irena F. Creed, Meghna Ramaswamy, Matthew Wolsfeld, Stryker Calvez, Murray Fulton, Karsten Liber, Darcy D. Marciniuk, Jacqueline Ottman, Nancy Turner, Laura Zink, Erin Akins, Kevin Hudson, Jamie Bell, Autumn LaRose-Smith, and Jory McKay. (2021). Chapter 4: Radical Transformation of Universities to Prepare the Next Generation of Climate Champions: Toward an SDG 4.7 Roadmap for Systems Change. In: Curriculum and Learning for Climate Action. UNESCO International Bureau of Education. Brill, USA, 5(1): 67-86. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004471818_005