‘Looking back…, at a dazzling star’
The inaugural Dr. Stella De Silva Memorial Oration 2013 will be held on August 5 at 9.45 a.m. at the Hotel Galadari. Titled, ‘Looking back…, at a dazzling star’, it will be delivered by Dr. B. J. C. Perera, President, Sri Lanka Medical Association. This oration has been organised by the Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians.
A Consultant Paediatrician, Dr. Perera was the first President of the Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians (1996/97). He was the Founder President of the Respiratory Disease Study Group of Sri Lanka (2000 – 2006), Chairman of the Board of Study in paediatrics of the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine of the University of Colombo (2003-2006) and currently is a member of the Board of Study in paediatrics of the PGIM. He was an examiner for the medical undergraduates of the Universities of Colombo and Peradeniya, Post graduates of the PGIM of the University of Colombo and external examiner for the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan.
He is widely recognised and respected as an authority on childhood respiratory diseases; Dr. Perera has authored over 80 scientific publications and has been the editor and chapter/joint author of 7 books. His research interests include childhood asthma, respiratory infections, breast-feeding and paediatric HIV disease. He has also served as an Assistant Editor of the Ceylon Medical Journal and Joint Editor of the Sri Lanka Journal of Child Health.
Vidyajyothi Dr. Stella de Silva was one of Sri Lanka’s foremost child specialists. Having graduated from the University of Ceylon with 1st Class honours and a distinction in Surgery in 1942, she subsequently obtained DCH, MRCP (London), MRCP (Edinburgh), FRCP (London), FRCP (Edinburgh) and MD (Ceylon). She served as Senior Paediatrician and Consultant Paediatrician at Lady Ridgeway Hospital and Professor and Head of Department of Paediatrics at the North Colombo Medical College (NCMC). She was President of the Sri Lanka Paediatric Association (1980/81), President of the Sri Lanka Medical Association (1981/82) and Editor/Editor Emeritus of the Sri Lanka Journal of Child Health for a record 36 years. Dr. Stella de Silva passed away in April 2012.
“Dr Stella”, as she was affectionately known, was one of the most sought after paediatricians in the country for well over half a century. She treated countless young children and imparted her knowledge to thousands of medical students and helped to improve the health of the poor in rural communities of Sri Lanka.
Follow @timesonlinelk
comments powered by Disqus