Professor Sachith Mettananda, Professor (Chair) of Paediatrics, has been appointed as the new Chairman of the Research Council of the University of Kelaniya,

effective from the 15^th of February 2024. Professor Mettananda graduated MBBS from the University of Colombo with First Class Honours and obtained MD in Paediatrics and Board Certification as a Specialist in Paediatrics from the University of Colombo and a DPhil in Clinical Laboratory Sciences from the University of Oxford. He joined the University of Kelaniya in 2006 as a Lecturer (Probationary) and was promoted to Professor in 2019. Before taking up the post of Chairman of the Research Council, he served the University as Head of the Department of Paediatrics (2020-2024) and Chairman of the Research Management Committee of the Faculty of Medicine (2022-2024). He is a renowned researcher with over 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals, many of which are in high-impact journals, including Nature, Blood, Nature Communications, and Lancet Global Health.