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Christopher Gunapala Uragoda | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Sri Lankan |
| Occupation | Chest Physician |
| Known for | Medical Research into occupational lung disease |
| Title | Deshabandu |
Christopher Gunapala Uragoda FRCP, FRCP, is a Sri Lankan physician, author, folklorist, historian and conservationist
Uragoda was educated at Richmond College (Sri Lanka), Mahinda College, Ananda College [1] and Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo qualifying Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery and Doctor of Medicine. He trained in the UK becoming a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and working as a Consultant in Respiratory Medicine. In Sri Lanka he was Physician-in-Charge, Central Chest Clinic, Colombo and Physician at Chest Hospital, Welisera. He is a Member of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine of the RCP London, and was a member of the WHO Expert Panel on Tuberculosis.
Uragoda is known for his work in Occupational Lung disease caused by dust of chilli, tea, kapok, cinnamon, coir, ilmenite, and activated carbon. He is best known for his paper showing for the first time that skipjack was rich in histamine and that isoniazid prevents its destruction, thus increasing skipjack poisoning in patients being treated for tuberculosis. [2]
In addition to books on medicine, he wrote on Wildlife Conservation in Sri Lanka. He was the Joint Editor of the Ceylon Medical Journal (succeeded by Janaka de Silva but remaining an editor emeritus), the Journal of the Ceylon College of Physicians[ permanent dead link ] and Journal of the National Academy of Sciences. Uragoda co-edited the Sesquicentennial Commemorative Volume of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka 1845– 1995. He also wrote Traditions of Sri Lanka, A Selection With a Scientific Background. which explores scientific explanations for Sri Lankan traditional beliefs and customs and a volume compiling works of authors from Sri Lanka between 1795 and 1948 [3]
Uragoda was the President of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka (1987-1991), [4] Sri Lanka Medical Association and Ceylon College of Physicians. [ citation needed ] Uragoda has received awards for research, which include the Guinness Award in 1980, Peter Pillai Award in 1981, President’s Award of the National Research Education and Science Authority in 1996, and the Sarvodaya Award in 1999. The Royal Asiatic Society Sri Lanka awarded him the Hilda Obeysekera Medal.[ citation needed ]
Uragoda was awarded the title Deshabandu by the Government of Sri Lanka. [5] He is a Fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians, Fellow of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians, London, Fellow of the Ceylon College of Physicians; Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences of Sri Lanka, and Honorary Fellow of the College of General Practitioners of Sri Lanka.
The University of Colombo is a public research university located primarily in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is the oldest institution of modern higher education in Sri Lanka. Specialised in the fields of natural, social, and applied sciences as well as mathematics, computer sciences, and law. It is ranked among the top 10 universities in South Asia.
Established in 1870 as the Colombo Medical School, the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Colombo, is the second oldest medical school in South Asia. It is considered to be the top most medical faculty in the country which requires the highest entry qualification in GCE Advanced Level examination.
Gunapala Piyasena Malalasekera, OBE, JP, was a Sri Lankan academic, scholar and diplomat best known for his Malalasekara English-Sinhala Dictionary. He was Ceylon's first Ambassador to the Soviet Union, Ceylon's High Commissioner to Canada, the United Kingdom and Ceylon's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. He was the Professor Emeritus in Pali and Dean of the Faculty of Oriental Studies.
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Devaka Fernando is a Sri Lankan physician and academic. He was president of the Osteoporosis Society of Sri Lanka and the Founding Professor of Medicine at the University of Sri Jayawardanapura.
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Ernest Victor Pieris FRCP, 1926-1991, known as "Ernie" to his contemporaries and students was a Sri Lankan physician, medical educator, a founding member of the Ceylon College of Physicians, cricketer and rugby union player.
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Prof Udaya Ranawaka is a Senior Consultant Neurologist to the North Colombo Teaching Hospital(NCTH), Ragama, and Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya,
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Aloka Pathirana FRCS, MBBS, MS, is a Sri Lankan surgeon, doctor, academic and Professor of Surgery. He is a Specialist in Cancer Surgery. He is currently the Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, since November 2020.