Prof. Dr. Damitha Asanga Gunawardane

Damitha Asanga Gunawardane MD, is a professor and board-certified Specialist in Community Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya. He obtained his Master’s and Doctor of Medicine degrees in Community Medicine from the University of Colombo (2016) and completed his postdoctoral training at the Health Economics and Policy Unit of the School of Public Health, University of Adelaide, as a postdoctoral research fellow. He has served in several districts in Sri Lanka as a consultant community physician. His primary research interests include health economics, disease burden assessment, health policy, and maternal and child health. He was recognized among the world’s 20 outstanding young physician leaders by the Interacademic Partnership and the UK Academy of Medical Sciences for the year 2018. He has also undertaken several national-level consultancies, including revising the supervision framework for the Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Adolescent, and Child Health program and conducting cost analyses for the Every Newborn Action Plan of Sri Lanka.