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Founder Director of IBMBB Prof. Eric H Karunanayake Felicitated.

Prof Eric H Karunanayake, Senior Professor of Biochemistry, University of Colombo and the founder director of the IBMBB was felicitated on the 28 th September 2007 at the IBMBB premises.

Prof Karunanayake retired from the University Service after 27 years of dedicated service to the University of Colombo. He is well known locally and internationally as an educator and a visionary who pioneered the establishment of discipline of Molecular Biology in Sri Lanka.

Chancellor of the University of Colombo, His Grace the Archbishop Most Rev. Dr. Oswald Gomis, Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo, Prof. Tilak Hettiarachchy, Former Vice Chancellor of University of Colombo Prof. W D Lakshman, Several Swedish Academics/Scientists including Prof. Ulf Pettersson, Vice-President, University of Uppsalla and number of distinguished academics and other professionals were present at the felicitation.
 
            
 
Professor Karunanayake graduated with a special degree in chemistry in 1967 from University of Ceylon, obtained Masters in Biochemistry in 1972 and PhD in Biochemistry in 1975 from the Imperial Collage, University of London. Before joining the University of Colombo in 1980 as a lecturer in Biochemistry, he served the Ministry of Health as a Biochemist. After joining the University of Colombo he was promoted as an Associate Professor on merit in 1985, and appointed to the Chair of Biochemistry in 1987.
 
Ten years after having been trained as a conventional biochemist, he took up the challenge to be trained in a new emerging field of science which now dominates all branches of life science. Having returned to Sri Lanka after a year of training at the University of Uppsala, in the Department led by Professor Ulf Pettersson Professor Karunanayake built the first ever Molecular Biology Laboratory in Sri Lanka at the Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine in 1986.      
During his tenure at the Faculty of Medicine, he also functioned as the Head of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology where he was extensively involved in undergraduate teaching and curriculam development. He was also responsible for converting the then one year Masters Programme in Biochemistry conducted by the Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, to a two year Masters Programme in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Gene Technology. The success of research programmes led by him culminated in the establishment of the Institute of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biotechnology with funding from the Government of Sweden. This was the first time that the Swedish International Development Agency invested in infrastructure development, once again keeping confidence in Professor Karunanayake, who was the project leader.
 
He obtained expertise as well as financial support from Sweden and gave leadership to a very successful research program, which was considered one of the best if not the best of all programmes supported by SAREC. Professor Karunanayake brought International Recognition to the University of Colombo through high quality research and the amount of research funds he brought in and the facilities established are uncomparable.
To date he has trained 17 PhD students and over 40 Master of Science students in cutting edge of science. Most of whom he trained are still serving the country, either in Sri Lankan Universities or in research establishments.Since moving to the IBMBB, he initiated two Masters Programmes, one in Molecular Life Sciences and one in Cellular and Molecular Immunology.

Research programmes in Molecular Biology he initiated encompassed diverse fields such as parasitic diseases and vectors, genetic disease, cancer and molecular biology of tea, rubber, coconut and rice. In addition, he also established successful research programmes in several other areas including medicinal plants, epilepsy and metabolism of tea. Through these research programmes he developed collaborations with other departments in the Faculty of Medicine, with Department in other Faculties, other Universities and research institutes in Sri Lanka as well as with several Swedish Universities.

In recognition of his contributions to the development of science and Technology, he received both International and National recognition. He was elected a Fellow of the Third World Academy of Science in 1994 and received several awards including Presidential Research Award and Kandy Society of Medicine Health Research Prize. He was awarded Titular National Honor of Vidya Jothi by HE the President of Sri Lanka in 2005. He is currently the Chairman of the National Research Council, Sri Lanka.

Not only Professor Karunanayake has taught generations of Medical students and moulded and nurtured a number of young Sri Lanka Scientists, through hard work and dedication, he has given a legacy, the IBMBB, to the University of Colombo in particular, and to Sri Lanka in general.