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He was born at Moratuwa and attended the temple school at Palliyagodella, before entering Prince of Wales' College and then Royal College Colombo, from where he entered University.
He graduated MBBS from the University of Ceylon in 1962, and entered the University of life as a medical officer in the Ministry of Health from 1962 until 1970,going wherever he was transferred during this period, without any appeal or protest.
Academic and professional
He joined the Department of Physiology of the Faculty of Medicine in Colombo in 1970. He went to the UK in that year to join the Unit of Professor Oliver M Wrong, Professor of Medicine, as Clinical and Research Fellow, first at the University of Dundee, Scotland, and then at University College Hospital London, after Professor Wrong moved there in 1971.
During this period he obtained his M.R.C.P (UK) at the first attempt in 1973, and his PhD from the University of Dundee also in 1973, with exemption from the viva voce examination, an uncommon commendation at that time.
He was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh, in 1988, a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians London in 1990, a Fellow of the Ceylon College of Physicians in 1992, and a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, Sri Lanka in 1992.
Posts held
After 8 years in the Department of Health, he became a senior lecturer of physiology at the Faculty of Medicine, Colombo. He was the Professor of Physiology in the Faculty of Medicine University of Ruhuna from 1984 to 1990, and is now a Senior Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo. He has also been Associate Professor in Physiology in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and briefly, a visiting Professor in Physiology at Jaipur.
He has also has held, or holds currently, the following posts:
President, Physiological Society of Sri Lanka for two terms in 1992 and 1993.
President, Galle Clinical Association 1989.
Chairman, Section on Medical, Dentaland Veterinary Sciences of SLAAS in l988.
Chairman, Committee for Popularisation of Science, SLAAS in 1994.
Chairman, Steering Committee for Medical, Dental and Veterinary Sciences, NARESA, 1993 - 1995
Chairman, State Pharmaceuticals Corporation and State Pharmaceuticals Manufacturing Corporation, since September 1994
Member of the Board of Management of the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine in the late 1980s, and again in 1995.
Fellowships:
He has held ten WHO Fellowships in several countries including India, Thailand, Nepal, Singapore, Bangladesh and the UK in the fields of Medical Education, Human Reproduction and Family Planning, Training of intermediate Level Health Personnel and Teaching of Human Sexuality.
He has been awarded WHO Adviser status on six occasions in the fields of Human Sexuality, Medical Education and National Medicinal Drug Policy.
He has also been the recipient of two Commonwealth Fellowships (medical education and medical editing) and one British Council Fellowship on medical editing.
Editorship and authorship
He is a co-editor of the Ceylon Medical Journal from 1988 to date, a former editor of the Physiological Society of Sri Lanka, a Joint Editor of the Sri Lanka Prescriber and Editor of the Colombo Medical School's 125th Anniversary Committee (COMSA).
Books
He was a contributor and co-editor of the book titled "Gastroenterology Update", published by the Gastroenterology and Diagnostic Endoscopy Society of Sri Lanka in 1993.
He is the co-author of the book: "Physiology and Biochemistry in Clinical Medicine", with Prof. Ira Thabrew, published by the authors in 1989.
Papers
He has published over 20 papers in local and foreign medical journals including the Ceylon Medical Journal, Economic Review, British Medical Journal, Clinical Science and Molecular Biology and Indian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology.
He has presented papers jointly with many colleagues at the SLMA annual sessions, and won five awards:
(1) E.M. Wijerama Award and Wilson Peiris Award in 1994
(2) E.M. Wijerama Award in 1993
(3) S.E. Seneviratne Award in 1992
(4) E.M. Wijerama Award 1992.
Guest speaker
He has been an invited guest speaker on several occasions at the SLMA Annual Academic Sessions, on three occasions at the Kandy Society of Medicine Annual Academic Sessions (including the Senaka Bibile Oration), and also at the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science and Natural Resources Science and Energy Authority (NARESA) of Sri Lanka.
Postgraduate teaching
He has lectured in applied physiology and clinical medicine in the Primary FRCS, FFARCS, MRCP and MRCOG courses, and for the equivalent PGIM examinations for over 16 years from 1974 to 1990.
He has examined in physiology for all these examinations during this period, practically every year, for over 20 years.
Supervision and examination of theses
He has supervised six successful PhD candidates at the Universities of Ruhuna and Colombo.
He has examined seven MD, MPhil, MSc, and PhD examinations at the PGIM, University of Colombo, University of Ruhuna and University of Peradeniya.
Health education
He has participated in numerous television and radio programmes on medical topics over the last 20 years.
He has answered questions from readers of the Divayina and the Women's weekly Newspaper, Navaliya practically every week for over 8 years - a total of at least 18,000 questions.
Family
His wife Priscilla is a medical doctor. They have two daughters Sheena and Nilusha.
Hobbies
His hobbies are peripatetic reading, editing, agreeable conversation, and helping colleagues to write and lecture well. As for sports, after a permanently disabling injury at the age of 12, his interests were confined to watching good cricket and tennis, more recently only on television.
Special national awards
"Vishva Prasadini" Award in 1996 for distinguished services to Medical Science in Sri Lanka for the past 34 years.
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