Prof. Warnakulasuriya honoured

Professor Saman Warnakulasuriya was honoured with the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) last year in recognition of his service to the health care service in Great Britain.

Warnakulasuriya based at King’s College London is a Professor and the Head of Oral Medicine. Formerly he was a senior research fellow at the Royal College of Surgeons in London. He served at the Peradeniya University from 1976-1990, in the later years as Professor of Oral Medicine.

He was born in Dodanduwa where he grew up until his parents moved to Galle and had his primary and secondary education at Mahinda College Galle. He entered the University of Ceylon in 1965 and qualified as a dental surgeon in 1969 with First Class Honours. He completed his postgraduate education in London and Glasgow.

In 1976 he received his doctorate for developing techniques to measure replication human cells and observing differences in the growth of cancer cells.

While lecturing in Sri Lanka at the Dental School in Peradeniya for 15 years he immensely contributed to the delivery and growth of dental education in Sri Lanka. His research was on early detection of mouth cancer and on disorders of the mouth that later change to cancer.

He contributed to the world literature on the nomenclature, classification and identification of disorders, called precancerous conditions.

In collaboration with the World Health Organisation he conducted several innovative studies in Sri Lanka on screening and early detection of oral cancer using the primary health care model.

In 1989, Professor Warnakulasuriya received the National Award for Scientific Achievements from the Natural Resources, Energy and Science Authority of Sri Lanka. The Award was presented by the Prime Minister at a function at the Temple Trees.

In 1990, he was the recipient of the Johnson and Johnson International Prize for the best community oral health programme awarded by the FDI World Dental Federation. The Peradeniya University awarded him an honorary DSc (Honoris Causa) for his scientific achievements bringing distinction to his Alma Mater.

He has over 30 years of experience in leading research programmes on cancer detection, including several oral cancer population screening programmes in high and low risk countries.