Crux of a titanic legacy: Emeritus Professor Sanath P. Lamabadusuriya

Crux of a titanic legacy: A panegyric accolade to Emeritus Professor Sanath P. Lamabadusuriya

Dr LakKumar Fernando, senior paediatrician and one whose paediatric career was shaped by the man

Dr B. J. C. Perera, senior paediatrician and long-standing professional colleague of the man

( From https://www.sundaytimes.lk/260913/sunday-times-2/crux-of-a-titanic-legacy-a-panegyric-accolade-to-emeritus-professor-sanath-p-lamabadusuriya-656702.html)

There are some whose names become so deeply entwined with the history of a profession that it becomes impossible to provide a realistic account of it without acknowledging their superlative contributions. In Sri Lankan paediatrics, Emeritus Professor Sanath P. Lamabadusuriya undoubtedly occupies such a hallowed place. We could write reams about the man and still fall well short of doing justice to his sparkling career.

We write this appreciation not simply to recount the many positions he has held, the awards he has received or the extraordinary achievements. Those impressive accomplishments speak for themselves. We write because we believe that it is vital to honour great individuals while they are still amongst us.

Our reasons for writing this tribute come from two different but closely connected perspectives.

One of us, LakKumar Fernando, encountered Prof. Lamabadusuriya when he was a medical student. That influential encounter proved pivotal. Indeed, it would be no exaggeration to say that, had Dr LakKumar Fernando not encountered Prof. Lamabadusuriya during his early years as a medical student, he may not have become a paediatrician.

The other author, B.J.C. Perera, has known Prof. Lamabadusuriya as a senior student at the Colombo Medical Faculty, as a contemporary, a colleague and a fellow paediatrician. Their professional lives ran alongside for even more than a decade and a half, working together at Colombo’s Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children. Such a long association provides a unique opportunity to bear witness not only to the achievements of a great paediatrician but also to the person behind them: as a colleague, clinician, teacher, professional leader and, above all, as a close friend.

Thus, this tribute represents two generations and two perspectives: one from someone whose professional life was profoundly influenced by an inspiring teacher at a formative stage and the other from a close contemporary and colleague. Yet, despite these different perspectives, we arrive at the same conclusion. Prof. Sanath P. Lamabadusuriya is one of the truly great figures in the history of Sri Lankan paediatrics.

In 49 BC, Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon and famously declared, “Alea iacta est”, which means “the die has been cast”. When Sanath Punsara Lamabadusuriya was born on December 30, 1942, into a family whose surname began with “Lama”, meaning child, perhaps the die was indeed cast. Destiny may well have decreed that he would become a paediatrician. Be that as it may, the rest is history.

His career has been extraordinary in both breadth and duration. Following his early training in Sri Lanka and subsequent exposure to paediatrics and paediatric gastroenterology in the United Kingdom, he returned to devote the greater part of his professional life to the advancement of paediatrics, medical education and child health in this country.

One of his most enduring contributions was his role as the founder professor and head of the Department of Paediatrics at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Ruhuna. In a developing new faculty, he established foundations upon which generations of doctors and paediatricians would subsequently build their careers. He later served as senior professor and head of the Department of Paediatrics at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, and subsequently dean of that faculty. For many, reaching even one of these positions would represent the pinnacle of a professional life. For Prof. Lamabadusuriya, they were simply milestones in a larger journey.

He has been a clinician, teacher, researcher, mentor, examiner, administrator and leader. He contributed substantially to the development of postgraduate paediatric training in Sri Lanka and played an important role in shaping generations of paediatricians as Chairman of the Board of Study in Paediatrics and Chief Examiner for postgraduate examinations.

His leadership extended well beyond universities and hospitals. He served as President of the Sri Lanka Paediatric Association, President of the Sri Lanka Medical Association and subsequently President of the Asia Pacific Paediatric Association. His expertise was sought nationally and internationally, and he contributed to important initiatives relating to child health, immunisation and medical education, including work with the World Health Organisation.

The recognition he received internationally reflected the esteem in which he was held. His MBE, bestowed by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1991, was an exceptional recognition for a Sri Lankan medical professional. His academic distinctions and fellowships from leading medical institutions further testify to the international standing he achieved while remaining deeply committed to the development of medicine in Sri Lanka.

His contribution to research has also been remarkable, with approximately 140 publications in national and international peer-reviewed journals.

Another important, less widely known chapter of his career was his role as co-director of the Sri Lanka Cleft Lip and Palate Project, together with Dr Michael Mars of the UK. This collaboration resulted in the creation of the world’s largest database of unoperated cleft lips and palates, together with important benefits for affected children and families. He was also instrumental in establishing the Diploma course in Speech Therapy at the University of Kelaniya, which has since helped produce much-needed speech therapists for the country.

However, impressive as these achievements may be, neither academic degrees nor professional titles can adequately explain the true influence of Prof. Lamabadusuriya. The real legacy of a great teacher lies not in the positions he occupies but in the people he inspires. In that sense, Prof. Lamabadusuriya has inspired generations.

For some, he was a colleague who worked beside them at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital, sharing the challenges and responsibilities of caring for sick children. For others, he was an accomplished academic whose teachings opened their eyes to the beauty, responsibility and intellectual challenge of paediatrics. For many, he was a mentor. For countless others, he became a standard against which the profession measured academic excellence, professional commitment and service.

The life story of Prof. Lamabadusuriya is also a reminder that the influence of a great teacher can change the course of an individual’s life. There are moments in the lives of young medical students when an encounter with an inspiring teacher determines the direction of an entire career. For one of us, Prof. Lamabadusuriya was precisely such an influence. That is one of the greatest gifts a teacher can give: not simply knowledge, but inspiration; not merely teaching a subject, but inspiring someone to dedicate his or her life to it.

Even more remarkable has been Prof. Lamabadusuriya’s continuing commitment to medicine and medical education beyond the years when most people would have chosen to retire. He retired on September 30, 2025, after an extraordinary 56 years and six months in academic paediatrics, during which he taught three generations of medical students and treated three generations of numerous Sri Lankan families. His service as a visiting senior professor and consultant at the Universities of Rajarata and Sabaragamuwa after his retirement from the Colombo faculty demonstrated that his commitment to teaching and developing paediatrics remained undiminished. The DSc awarded by Sabaragamuwa University and the Lifetime Achievement Award, with automatic induction into the Hall of Fame of the Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians in 2025, were fitting acknowledgements of a lifetime of extraordinary service.

Yet perhaps the greatest recognition does not come in the form of an award. It is found in the institutions he helped to build; in the generations of medical students and junior doctors he taught; in the paediatricians he trained and influenced; and in the colleagues who had the privilege of working alongside him. Ultimately, it is found in the countless children and families whose lives have benefited, directly or indirectly, from the contribution of one man over several decades.

As two paediatricians from different generations and different professional relationships with Prof. Lamabadusuriya, one as a person whose career in paediatrics was profoundly influenced by him and the other as a contemporary and long-standing colleague, we feel privileged to join our voices in paying this tribute.

We have both witnessed, in different ways, the extraordinary influence that one dedicated individual can have on a profession. In Sri Lanka, we sometimes tend to recognise our great teachers and pioneers only after they are no longer with us. We then write tributes, deliver memorial orations and recall the magnitude of their contributions. Perhaps we should do more while they are still here. We should celebrate greatness while we can still shake the hand of the person we honour. We should express our gratitude while they can hear it. We should tell them that their sacrifices mattered and that the generations who followed have not forgotten the foundations they laid.

Professor Sanath P. Lamabadusuriya has given an extraordinary lifetime to children, paediatrics, medical education, research and the development of the medical profession in Sri Lanka. For us, and for countless others, he represents much more than an eminent paediatrician. He represents a generation of physicians who believed that professional excellence carried with it a responsibility to teach, build institutions, mentor others and leave the profession stronger than they found it.

Both of us, the writers of this piece, have openly argued with the good professor about many things, sometimes even in public, but we have never raised our voices against each other. We believe that reasoning and courage need not be expressed at higher decibel levels. If evidence was provided to support a position, he would accept it, and we reciprocated in the same manner. Over the years, we have tacitly agreed even to disagree without being disagreeable. That perhaps reveals something important about the man. Behind the imposing academic credentials and formidable professional achievements was someone who remained approachable, reasonable and, above all, profoundly human.

Today, while we still have the privilege of doing so, we salute him.

Dear Professor, thank you for your lifetime of service. Thank you for the institutions you helped build. Thank you for the generations of doctors and paediatricians you have taught and inspired. Thank you for your leadership, scholarship and unwavering commitment to the children of Sri Lanka. Most importantly, thank you for reminding us, through your own life, what a lifetime in medicine can truly mean. This great man is not merely a distinguished paediatrician of Sri Lanka. He is part of the living history of our profession: a teacher, colleague, mentor and inspiration, whose legacy will continue to resonate through time immemorial.

So, from two colleagues privileged to know him from two very different stages of his remarkable journey, we offer our deepest respect, admiration and gratitude.

Long may Prof. Sanath P. Lamabadusuriya continue to inspire Sri Lankan paediatrics.

This tribute to our illustrious Batchmate was published in the Sunday Times. Sri Lanka.- Speedy -