Dean, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Prof. Vajira Dissanayake has been appointed President, Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC), as recommended by the five-member Committee of Experts appointed by Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi.
Prof. Dissanayake is a pioneer in Genetic and Genomic Medicine, Biomedical Informatics and Bioethics in Sri Lanka. He holds the positions of Head and Chair, Prof of Anatomy; Director, Human Genetics Unit and Chairperson, Specialty Board in Biomedical Informatics, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.
He is a Past President of the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA), the Current President of the Commonwealth Medical Association and Health Informatics Society of Sri Lanka (HISSL), Executive Board Member of Global Genomic Medicine Collaborative (G2MC), Board Member of Forum for Ethics Review Committees in Asia and the Western Pacific (FERCAP) and Chairman, Commonwealth Centre for Digital Health.
His team has published over 100 papers in peer reviewed international journals and presented over 250 conference papers in genetics, genomics, bioethics, and biomedical informatics.
He has delivered five orations and 66 invited lectures, and is the recipient of 16 national and international research awards.
In 2013, he was elected a Fellow of the National Academy of Science of Sri Lanka, in recognition of his contribution to the fields of Genetics, Genomics, Bioethics and Biomedical Informatics.