Sunday Times 2
Remembering the legendary physiologist, Prof. K.N. Seneviratne
View(s):Professor Keerthi Nissanka Seneviratne was born in Elpitiya, Galle on November 22, 1929 as the second son of Dr. Robert and Mrs Laura Seneviratne. He had his primary and secondary education at Royal College, Colombo and won the Arunachalam Prize for General Knowledge in 1946 and 1947. He obtained his MBBS degree with honours in 1954 from the University of Ceylon, Colombo, gaining a distinction in Medicine and winning the Gold Medal for Operative Surgery.
Prof. K. N. Seneviratne
After completing his clinical training as a young doctor, he joined the Department of Physiology of the Colombo Medical School on secondment as a Demonstrator in 1957. Due to his interest in research, he went to the UK and obtained his Ph.D from the University of Edinburgh. He was promoted to the post of Professor of Physiology at the age of 39 in 1969 and was in the post until 1981. He had extended his services as a reservist Captain in the Sri Lanka Army too.
The Institute of Postgraduate Medicine which later became the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine was established by Prof. K.N. Seneviratne in 1974 and he worked there as a Founder Director until he was appointed as a Regional Advisor to the World Health Organisation in 1981 and continued to work in the same capacity until 1986.
His area of specialisation in research was on neurophysiology with special attention to diabetic neuropathy. He had used the isolated sciatic nerves of healthy and alloxan-diabetic rates to determine permeability of blood nerve barriers in diabetes and understand why diabetic patients develop nerve damage.
He wrote several research papers on the subject area in accredited international journals. They include:
*Seneviratne, K.N. and Peiris, O.A. (1969). The effects of hypoxia on the excitability of the isolated peripheral nerves of alloxan-diabetic rats. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. 32; 462-469.
*Seneviratne, K.N. (1972). Permeability of blood nerve barriers in the diabetic rat. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. 35: 156-162.
*Seneviratne, K.N. and Weerasuriya, A. (1974). Nodal gap substance in diabetic nerve. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. 37: 502-513.
With the untimely death of Prof. K.N. Seneviratne on August 10, 1986 in Bali, Indonesia, Sri Lanka lost a brilliant scientist, a great teacher and above all, a nice human being.
In memory of late Prof. K. N. Seneviratne, the second Ceylonese Professor of Physiology, the Physiological Society of Sri Lanka organises the annual K.N. Seneviratne Memorial Oration. This year the K.N. Seneviratne Memorial Oration is delivered by a distinguished physiologist and scientist Vidya Nidhi Prof. Mangala Gunatilake from the Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo on December 10, at 6 p.m. The title of the oration is ‘Rabies Revisited: Past, Present and the Way Forward’. Due to the Covid pandemic, the oration is conducted on an online platform.
In addition, the Physiological Society of Sri Lanka presents an annual K.N. Seneviratne Memorial Research Award for an original investigational work done in physiology by undergraduates or postgraduates.
His brother Nihal Seneviratne and family established a fund in 1999 with the support of friends and pupil of late Prof. K.N. Seneviratne to award a prize in memory of this great human being. This prize is awarded as a medal to the student who obtains a distinction and highest marks for Physiology at the Faculty of Medicine, Colombo, every year,
Further, Mr Nihal Seneviratne and family have established another fund for awarding the Prof. K.N. Seneviratne Memorial Award which is a cash prize of Rs. 50,000 to the student who obtains the highest marks for Physiology at the examination held at the end of the first year of the medical curriculum of the Colombo Medical Faculty. This has been awarded since 2011.