J.B. Peiris
| Deshamanya Vidya Jyothi Doctor JB Peiris | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | Sri Lanka |
| Nationality |
 Sri Lankan |
| Education |
University of Colombo Royal College Colombo Institute of Neurology, Queens Square, London |
| Occupation | Consultant Neurologist |
| Employer | Ministry of Health Sri Lanka |
| Known for | Founder of Sri Lanka's Institute of Neurology, Pioneer Neurologist, Medical Research, Medical Education |
| Title |
Deshamanya Vidya Jyothi Dr |
Deshamanya Vidya Jyothi J.B. Peiris, MD FRCP is Sri Lanka's most senior neurologist. He was the founder of the Institute of Neurology, Chairman of the Sri Jayewardenapura Hospital and has been an executive Director of the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine.
Educated at Royal College Colombo, he studied medicine Colombo Medical College and gained his MD from the University of Colombo and a Member of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP). He trained at the Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, as a Nuffield Research Fellow London working with Lord Roger Bannister and Dr Ross Russell.
Peiris was appointed consultant neurologist at National Hospital Sri Lanka at the age of 33 and served as the country's sole neurologist for 10 years. During that period he pioneered the expansion of the subject of neurology in Sri Lanka and the establishment of the Institute of Neurology at National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL), constructed entirely from public donations.
The Neurology Unit in the 1970s had beds scattered in four different medical wards in the National Hospital and Peiris had to share the male ward with a physician, the female ward with the cardiologist, dermatologist and three other physicians. The result was that there was cadre provision for one neurologist, with no possibility for the expansion. Peiris refurbished and equipped the former staff tea room into the first neurology intensive care unit.
As Sri Lanka’s only neurologist, Peiris established Sri Lanka’s first Institute of Neurology at NHSL, within three years. In 1984, a four-floor institute dedicated to this specialty was opened, with an intensive care unit, a medical and paediatric ward, a surgical ward, an operating theatre, a private wing, physiotherapy, lecture halls, and pharmacy. Worldwide only a few neurology institutes exist with all these facilities under one roof. In the subsequent years many postgraduates opted for neurology as a specialty after the Institute of Neurology came into existence. There are now over 40 neurologists on the island, with subspecialties in Paediatrics and Neurophysiology. The institute provided the platform and the enabling environment for the growth of neurology as a specialty in Sri Lanka.
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