Dr. S.P. Sumanasena is working as an Senior Lecturer - Grade I in the Department of Disability Studies, University of Kelaniya.Medical Faculty Responsibilities: Teaching Speech and hearing sciences and MBBS students Final MBBS clinical teaching Physiotherapy students: upgrade course Curriculum review and developing new curriculum for integrated BSc degree Modular coordinator for SHS students Research supervisor for SHS (BSc) and occupational therapy (BSc upgrade) students Examiner final year MBBS, ERPM and SHS Service Functions: Conducting multidisciplinary clinic for children with disabilities and early intervention for at risk infants Developmental surveillance clinics held at the Colombo North Hospital in collaboration with the department of pediatrics. Learning clinic and collaborating with the Ministry of Education with student assessments and teacher training. Professional Contributions: President - Sri Lanka Association of Child Development (2015/2016) Chair elect :International Affairs, American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine, USA.2015/2016 Research Interests : Child development Childhood disabilities Capacity building for healthcare and other multidisciplinary teams working with children with disabilities Qualitative research Ongoing research : Development and Using of Multisensory Sinhala alphabet tool for children with dyslexia Awards and fellowships: National Science Foundation: Travel Grant (2014) : To present two posters at the American Academy of Cererbal Palsy and Developmental Medicine, San Diego, USA Travel Grant by the Government of Malaysia (2014) : To be a resource person at the International Seminar on Autism in Malaysia (ISAM) International scholarship 2011: American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine, USA. International student CIHD grant (GBP 1500) as a partial funding for the MSc Programme: 2007; Centre for International Child Health and Development; Institute of Child Health; University College of London, London, UK.

Child development, Childhood disabilities, Capacity building for healthcare and other multidisciplinary teams working with children with disabilities and Qualitative research