Senior Professor Preethi Vidya Udagama is the Chair Professor in Zoology and Environment Sciences at the Faculty of Science, University of Colombo. She received her primary education at Mahamaya Balika Vidyalaya and secondary education at Devi Balika Vidyalaya. Prof Udugama is a true alumna of University of Colombo where she received her Bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences in 1980, Master’s degree in Nuclear Science in 1984 and Doctoral degree in Immuno-parasitology in 1990. From 1990 to 1994 she served as a postdoctoral fellow and a visiting fellow at the Tree Physiology and Biotechnology Laboratory of the University of New Brunswick, Canada.

She joined the Department of Zoology, University of Colombo as a senior lecturer in 1994 and was promoted to the post of Professor in 2008, Senior Professor in 2016 and Chair Professor in 2021. She also served as the Head of the Department of Zoology and Environment Sceinces from 2021 to 2023, where she has rendered an invaluable service to the Department. During her long academic tenure spanning nearly three decades, Prof Udagama was instrumental in developing number of new courses and has contributed immensely to the development of new undergraduate and postgraduate study programs in the Department. She was instrumental in establishing the combinatorial research laboratory in 1998 that has served large number of academics, postgraduate students, and undergraduates. She also played a pivotal role in establishing the Center for Immunology and Molecular Biology in 2021 and the Career and Personal Development Programme of the Faculty of Science in 2009 where she has served as the Chairperson of the Career Guidance Committee and the Founder Director of the Career Guidance Unit.

She has been an outstanding teacher and a mentor and have supervised 15 PhDs and MPhils, 8 MScs/MDs and more than 50 undergraduate research projects. She has also extended her service to the faculty and the university where she has served in number of faculty and university level committees including chairperson of the research committee of the Faculty of Science and the chairperson of the Annual Research Symposium Organizing Committee in 2020.

Prof Udagama also has a spectacular record of service to our profession as she has served in numerous professional Bodies. She served as the General President of the Sri Lanka Association for the Advanement of Science in 2019, President of the Institute of Biology, Sri Lanka in 2000 and numerous national committees and sub committees.

She is also a researcher par excellence, where her research interest has been mainly on immunology, parasitology, immunotoxicology and immunomodulatory activity of natural products. She has contributed as an author or co-author for 78 research papers, three book chapters, 254 scientific communications presented at local and international conferences. She also holds five national patents. Her research publications are widely cited by her peers with more than 2000 citations and a h-index and i10 index of 30 and 49 respectively.  

She has received numerous awards in recognition of her research contributions, including 10 Presidential Research Awards, General Research Committee Award given by the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science, 4 Senate Awards for Research Excellence, 3 SUSRED awards given by the National Science Foundation, National Research Council Merit Award and the Merit award in Biotechnology given by the National Science Foundation. Further, in recognition of her distinguished and continuing achievements in original research she has been inducted as a Fellow of the Institute of Biology in 2010 and a Fellow of the National Academy of Science in 2017.

In closing, the Department of Zoology and Environment Sciences in tabling this note of appreciation on behalf of the University of Colombo, would like to take this opportunity to wish Professor Udagama, good health and happiness in her retirement.