Prof. Nilanthi Renuka de Silva, MBBS (Colombo), MSc (London), MD (Colombo), has been re-appointed as Vice Chancellor of the University of Kelaniya for a second three-year term, with effect from 24^th of August 2023.

She is Senior Professor and Chair of Parasitology at the Faculty of Medicine, a post she has held since 2003. She was Dean of the Faculty of Medicine for six years from 2012 to 2018, Director of the Quality Assurance Council of the University Grants Commission from 2018 to 2020 and Vice-President of the Sri Lanka Medical Council from 2016 to 2020. She is an expert advisor on Neglected Tropical Diseases to the World Health Organization, serving both WHO Headquarters and the South East Asia Regional Office in many different capacities since 2000. She has served in a similar advisory capacity to other international entities: Children Without Worms at the Task Force for Global Health in Atlanta, USA; the Partnership for Child Development at Imperial College London; the International Task Force for Disease Eradication at the Carter Centre in Atlanta, USA; and the DeWorm3 project of the British Natural History Museum.

A respected scientist, the main focus of her research has been on soil-transmitted helminth infections, particularly their epidemiology, treatment, and control. She has over 100 publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals, with an h-index of 34. She is a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences of Sri Lanka, has won several Presidential Research Awards, and has been Listed in World’s Top 2% of Scientists Database compiled by Stanford University and Elsevier.

Prof. de Silva’s vision is to transform the University of Kelaniya to a highly competitive research university that excels in teaching, learning, research and innovation, while promoting a culture of inclusiveness, diversity and social responsibility. She has also committed to enhance the collaboration and engagement of the university with its stakeholders and partners, both locally and globally.