Professor in Ayurveda Medicine, Founder Dean, Department of Ayurveda Pharmacology, Pharmaceutics and Community Medicine, Faculty of Indigenous Medicine, University of Colombo
Email: kamalperera@fim.cmb.ac.lk
Highest Degree: PhD in Pharmacology (Nanjing/P.R. China)
Fields of Study: Ayurveda Medicine, Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Clinical Immunology and Integrative Medicine
Specialties and academic achievements:
Pathirage Kamal Perera is a Professor in Ayurveda Medicine at the Faculty of Indigenous Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, and the founder Dean of the faculty. He holds a BAMS (Hons) from the University of Colombo, an MSc from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, and a Master’s Degree/PhD in Pharmacology from Nanjing, China. His expertise spans pharmacology, therapeutics, clinical immunology, and integrative medicine, with specialized training in pharmacovigilance and drug safety at the WHO Collaborating Centre (Uppsala Monitoring Centre). He also completed postdoctoral training in clinical drug development and earned a Diploma in Research & Development of Products to Meet Public Health Needs from Nagasaki University, Japan. Professor Perera is a leading clinical researcher in herbal pharmacology, Ayurveda, and traditional medicine in Sri Lanka. He has supervised and trained postgraduate research extensively, including MD specialists and PhD graduates, and has published around 100 indexed and peer-reviewed articles. He serves as an associate editor in Frontiers in Medicine, associate editor of the Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine, and guest editor for Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. He has received multiple accolades for research excellence, including five consecutive Senate Awards and four Vice Chancellor’s Awards. He founded the Unit for Research and Development of Natural Products at the University of Colombo, where he has led over 15 clinical trials in herbal medicine and contributed to the commercialization of clinically validated herbal products through public-private partnerships. Professor Perera has held key leadership roles, including founder Dean of Faculty, Head of the Departments of Allied Sciences and Ayurveda Pharmacology, Pharmaceutics and community Medicine. He was instrumental in developing the MD (Ayurveda) program in University of Colombo and served as its first coordinator. He has also contributed internationally as a senior consultant to the WHO on traditional medicine research and intellectual property rights in Sri Lanka. His current work focuses on promoting Sri Lankan traditional medicine globally, including collaborations in Europe, Japan, and South Asia. He is a full member of the British Pharmacological Society and a life member of the Allergy and Immunology Society of Sri Lanka. His service includes roles in national scientific bodies, ethics review committees, and as President of the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science (Medical Section). Professor Perera’s work is distinguished by its integrative approach bridging classical Ayurvedic Traditional Medicine knowledge with modern scientific research and clinical practice helping elevate the global credibility and evidence-based evolution of traditional medicine.