Scientific Sessions 2015
The Ninth Annual Academic Sessions of the Faculty of Medical Sciences were held on 1 and 2 April 2015 at the Golden Rose, Boralasgamuwa, under the theme “Challenges in Medicine”. The sessions featured the Faculty Oration delivered by Dr Shalindra Ranasinghe (Senior Lecturer, Department of Parasitology, FMS, USJ) on “Characterisation and genotyping of visceral leishmaniasis causing strains in Sri Lanka and epidemiological findings”. The plenary lecture was delivered by Professor Aloka Pathirana (Professor in Surgery, FMS, USJ) on “Open Surgery – a thing of the past”.
The scientific programme comprised three symposia, each addressing pressing contemporary challenges in medicine. The first symposium focused on infectious diseases, including malaria elimination and prevention of re-introduction, emerging challenges in antibiotic resistance, and practical pitfalls in managing dengue in paediatric patients. The second symposium explored neurodegenerative diseases, with presentations on Parkinson’s disease, vascular risk factors and dementia, and motor neurone disease. The third symposium centred on the prevention of cancer and other non-communicable diseases, covering future challenges in gender-based violence, approaches to identifying pre-cancerous lesions, and evidence-based planning of healthy exercise.
A further highlight of the 2015 sessions was an academic debate on medical education, contrasting the modern and traditional medical curricula, which stimulated wide engagement and discussion among participants. The conference featured 12 oral presentations and 48 poster presentations, reflecting robust scholarly activity and a strong culture of research dissemination within the Faculty.
