Sunday Times 2
Kelaniya Uni scientists win National Research Council’s top award
View(s):The President’s Awards for Scientific Research 2020 organised by the National Research Council was held recently at the Auditorium of Sri Lanka Institute of Architects (SLIA), under the patronage of Prof Hemantha Dodampahala, Chairman, NRC. Awards were given out for the top-ranked research papers published in prestigious scientific journals in 2018 that had a substantial contribution from Sri Lankan scientists. The simple but elegant ceremony was held as an online event due to the pandemic situation with the physical participation limited to the top 20 researchers (Of the top 100 scientific publications) and the Council of NRC.
Prof Asita de Silva receiving award for the best scientific publication from NRC Chairman Dr Hemantha Dodampahala
A team of medical researchers led by Prof Asita de Silva, Senior Professor of Pharmacology at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, received the award for the best scientific publication in 2018 based on the SCImago Journal Ranking (SJR) system used by the NRC. The research team included Prof Arjuna de Silva (University of Kelaniya), Prof Senaka Rajapakse (University of Colombo), Dr Gotabhaya Ranasinghe, Dr Stanley Amarasekra, Dr Vajira Senaratne, Dr W Shantharaj, Dr Mervyn Fernando, Dr Sepalika Mendis, Dr Jayanthimala Jayawardena, Dr Janake Munasinghe, Dr Nirmali Tissera, Dr Suresh Mendis, Dr Sanjeewa Wijekoon and collaborators from the George Institute for Global Health based in Australia. The research findings published in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) showed a strategy of initial or early use of a fixed-dose combination of three medicines at half standard dose was more effective than current standard of care given to patients with high blood pressure as first-line treatment to control blood pressure.