Since childhood, Dr. Gunasekera has always been full of questions. His interest in science stemmed from finding answers to these questions. This curiosity persists to this date and is reflected in his strong interest in medical research.
Dr. Gunasekera graduated with a Second Class Upper Division Honours in his medical degree (MBBS) in 2005 from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Colombo and went on to earn his post graduate qualifications (MD) in Pediatric Oncology from the Post Graduate Institute of Medicine in 2011 at the University of Colombo in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Subsequently he completed a Fellowship in Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant at the Birmingham Children’s Hospital in Birmingham, United Kingdom. This experience exposed him to the disparities that exist in the world of cancer care and motivated his subsequent work on bridging these gaps.
Dr. Gunasekera currently works at the National Cancer Institute in Sri Lanka as a consultant in pediatric and adolescent oncology. This is the only dedicated pediatric oncology unit in Sri Lanka and sees around 750 new patients a year. His research interests include understanding barriers in cancer care in low income settings and cancer policy.
Education
MBBS - University of Colombo (2006)
MD - Post Graduate Institute of Medicine, University of Colombo (2011)
Selected Publications
Joseph N, Gunasekera S, Ariyaratne Y, Choudhury A. Clinical Oncology in Sri Lanka: Embracing the Promise of the Future. International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, Volume 105 (Issue 3): Pages 466-470, 2019.
Gunasekera S, Seneviratne S, Wijeratne T, Booth CM. Delivery of Cancer Care in Sri Lanka. Journal of Cancer Policy, 2018.
Syrimi E, Gunasekera S, Norton A, Velangi M, Motwani J. and Hiwarkar P. (2017), Single dose Rasburicase is a clinically effective pharmacoeconomic approach for preventing tumour lysis syndrome in children with high tumour burden. Br J Haematol. doi:10.1111/bjh.14689
Maddumage P, Somathilake M, Gunasekera DS. A retrospective study on the outcome of childhood Germ Cell Tumours treated in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka Journal of Cancer, Volume 2 (Issue 1): 2019.
Gunasekera DS. A case for Cancer Research in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka Journal of Cancer, Volume 1 (Issue 1): 2019.
Last update: November 2019