Sunitha Wickramasinghe, FRCP

FRCPath The Royal College of Pathologists (RCPath) is a professional membership organisation. Its main function is the overseeing of postgraduate training, and its Fellowship Examination (FRCPath) is recognised as the standard assessment of fitness to pr ...

was a Sri Lankan born

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

and

haematologist Hematology ( always spelled haematology in British English) is the branch of medicine concerned with the study of the cause, prognosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases related to blood. It involves treating diseases that affect the produc ...

. A Professor of Haematology, he was the former Deputy Dean of the

Imperial College School of Medicine Imperial College School of Medicine (ICSM) is the undergraduate medical school of Imperial College London in England, and one of the United Hospitals. It is part of the college's Faculty of Medicine and was formed by the merger of several hist ...

and one of the world's leading authorities on congenital dyserythropoietic anaemiasProf Sunitha Wickramasinghe
/ref> Born to a family of scientists, his father was a Cambridge educated mathematician. Educated at the

Royal College Colombo Royal College, Colombo is a selective entry boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by Rev Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academy by Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton in Janu ...

, he went on to study medicine at the

Colombo Medical College Ceylon Medical College was a public medical school in Ceylon. The college was established in 1870 as the Colombo Medical School. The college was based in Colombo. The college was merged with Ceylon University College in 1942 to form the Universit ...

University of Ceylon The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the Unive ...

graduating with an MBBS degree in 1964. Moving to the United Kingdom, he specialized in haematology and carried out research at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

where he was elected to a Gulbenkian Research Studentship. He gained his PhD in 1968 and was elected to the John Lucas Walker Senior (post-doctoral) Studentship in 1968 along with receiving a ScD in 1984. He was elected to Fellowships of the

Royal College of Pathologists The Royal College of Pathologists (RCPath) is a professional membership organisation. Its main function is the overseeing of postgraduate training, and its Fellowship Examination (FRCPath) is recognised as the standard assessment of fitness to pr ...

, the

Institute of Biology The Institute of Biology (IoB) was a professional body for biologists, primarily those working in the United Kingdom. The Institute was founded in 1950 by the Biological Council: the then umbrella body for Britain's many learned biological societie ...

and received Honorary Membership, later Fellowship of the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...

as well as being made a Honorary Fellow of the Sri Lanka College of Haematology. Prof Wickramasinghe carried out research at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

, thereafter he joined the St Mary's Hospital Medical School in 1970, serving until his retirement in 2000. During this time he was appointed Professor of Haematology and was Deputy Dean at Imperial College School of Medicine at St Mary's. He introduced the

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

course in haematology at St Mary's.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wickramasinghe, Sunitha 20th-century British medical doctors British medical researchers Sri Lankan hematologists Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Alumni of the University of Ceylon (Colombo) Alumni of Churchill College, Cambridge Academics of the University of Leeds Academics of Imperial College London British haematologists English people of Sri Lankan descent Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians Fellows of the Royal College of Pathologists