Several fruitful meetings were held on 2nd and 3rd of May 2024 during Prof. Woods’ visit to Sri Lanka.
Prof. Woods, Prof. G. Tillekeratne, and Dr. M.R.P. Kurukulassoriya met to discuss the funding and grant opportunities by the DGHI in creating a One Health network in Sri Lanka. Dr. S. Wickramasinghe joined them and he was updated regarding the progress of the ICGEB-CRP Grant Application: Addressing Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae in Southern Sri Lanka
A detailed discussion regarding the clinical trial for the study “TREAT-SL: Treatment of Lower Respiratory Tract Infection In Sri Lanka”, was then held with the presence of Prof. Woods, Prof. Tillekeratne, Dr. W. de Zoysa, Dr. D. R. Palangasinghe, Dr. Kurukulasooriya, and Ms Jayani Gamage.
The day concluded with a dinner at the Jetwing Lighthouse.
The next day, a meeting with the Dean of the faculty of Medicine was set, attended by the Dean, Prof. T. P. Weerarathne, Prof. Woods, Prof. C.K. Bodinayake, Prof. A. Nagahawatte, Prof. Tillekeratne, and Dr. Kurukulasooriya. They discussed developing the infrastructure and further expansion of the collaborative research activities, for which Prof. Weerarathne showed his interest and agreed to provide his support.
After the Dean’s meeting ended, Dr. T. Wickramatunga and Mr. S. L. P. Evin joined the other attendees to discuss the development of a course in Research Methodology. The decision was taken to proceed with the next steps to begin the course.
Surveillance study for Dengue and other Respiratory Viral infections, future grants, and collaboration updates were then discussed.
With Dr. Lakmal joining the discussion, further improvement of the laboratories, future grants opportunities, and his research ideas related to Leptospirosis were discussed.
