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= Professor Tissa Wijeratne = Professor Tissa Wijeratne (MD PhD FRACP FRSM FAAN FAHA FRCP (Edin) FRCP (London) FEAN is the Chair, Department of Neurology at Western Health, Melbourne, Australia. He is a senior Neurologist and the Director of the stroke Unit, Neuroscience Research Unit, Movement disorders program, Headache program at Western Hospital, Melbourne. He is a Professor in Neurology and clinical Associate Professor in Medicine, Western Health Clinical School, and University of Melbourne, Australia. He is currently the director and chair of the department of Neurology at Western Health, president of Asian Regional Consortium for Headache (ARCH). He is the first Australian neurologist to receive the AAN’s 2020 Kenneth M. Viste, Jr., MD Patient Advocate of the Year Award. Tissa is an adjunct Professor Victoria University, RMIT, La Trobe University Australia. He is a visiting Professor of Neurology, University of Rajarata, Sri Lanka since 2013.

Tissa has supervised over 450 basic physician trainees in Australia since 2006 and continue to facilitate train the trainer workshops on behalf of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in Australia since the inception of this program ( well over 100 workshops with where over a 1,000 Australian physicians were trained with skills in supervision)

Early Life
Born and raised in what Tissa describe as “the jungle,” Tissa’s life started in one of the remotest parts of Sri Lanka: a village called Kirioruwa- Bandarawela in the central mountainous area. Electricity, hot water, television, and telephone were all miles away from them at the time.

Tissa fondly recalls days spent reading in the shade of a tree in the rice fields that surrounded his family home — the place where sky and earth met, almost kissing each other daily. The mountains were covered with a layer of lush tea bushes. Tissa’s home sat on the top of one of these mountains.

As a young boy, He would spend hours reading his favorite magazine, the Mihira, children’s weekly.↵Fast forward several decades. He is now the director of stroke services, neuroscience research unit, academic affairs director, and international affairs director at a leading public health service and a leading educational institution in Melbourne, Australia. Tissa was appointed to the chair of the Department of Neurology at Western Health in Australia to promote better brain health through his leadership to manage patients from 166 countries with unique culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

Education
He graduated with high marks and secured one of the most prestigious internship appointments in Sri Lanka, at the professorial University Medical Unit and University Surgical Unit at National Hospital in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

In 1999, he moved to New Zealand as part of her training in psychiatry. He had the good fortune of working with a remarkable young infectious disease physician, Dr Richard Everts, who pushed me to complete physician training in Australasia while I was contemplating a neurobiology PhD.

He studied at the Royal Australian College of Physicians, FRACP Neurology, from 2000- 2006, and has been educational supervisor for Western Health from December 2005 and has been volunteering for stroke master class series from 2008 to present.

Professor Tissa got accredited by the Board Certification as a Specialist in Gerontological Nutrition (CSG) and became the first Sri Lankan-born neurologist to lead an academic department of neurology in Australia in 2016. He completed the world first PhD in COVID-19 and Brain. He coined the new syndrome “Post Covid-19 Neurological Syndrome” and “serial systemic immune-inflammatory indices” on becoming a key opinion leader and global leader in the field of neuroimmunology during the first 18 months of the pandemic.

Research Work
He leads a successful stroke care program at Western Health where the team manages a large volume of stroke and TIA patients in western metropolitan Melbourne. He has supervised advanced training of fifteen neurologists since 2007. This included supervision of training of five overseas neurologists at the premises of Western Health. In 2010, Tissa joined the Education Committee, World Federation of Neurology to continue his work in the field of neurology education with his international colleagues from the rest of the world. He was a key part of this committee till 2014. In 2014, he was invited to sit in the advocacy and public awareness committee, World Federation of Neurology till 2018. Tissa was the lead contributor for the World Brain Day education material which was distributed throughout the world in early July 2014. He was part of the national advocacy and policy committee, RACP, education and learning committee for four years. Tissa was the membership officer, public officer (Director), Stroke society of Australasia from 2011-2013.

His current research involved central post stroke pain, stroke epidemiology, models of stroke thrombolysis, models of TIA management, seizures in the elderly, neurocysticercosis, quality of life in multiple sclerosis, neurophysiology of central and peripheral pain and young stroke.

Career
2005 – Present: Director at Stroke Services &Neuroscience Research Unit, Western Hospital

2008 – 2012: Advisor, Faculty at Palatucci Advocacy Graduate, American Academy of Neurology.

2010 – 2013: Member, Education committee World Federation of Neurology. Here he was handling workshops, lectures and symposia in Australia, Thailand, USA, Austria during his tenure as a member of the education committee.

2016 – present: Academic Director in Medicine, Head, International Affairs University of Melbourne, Western Health Campus. Here he fostered young doctors, nurses and allied health colleagues to pursue academic research degrees with University of Melbourne, the number one University in Australia. He also rolled-out landmark clinical research projects and mini fellowships in 2017-2020 period.

2018 – present: Director & Chair, Department of Neurology Director & Chair, Department of Neurology, Western Health. The Department of Neurology provides a range of neurological services (stroke, epilepsy, movement disorders, multiple sclerosis, peripheral neuropathy, headache medicine, neuromuscular junction disorders) at Western Health. The Department of Neurology has 32 Neurology and Stroke beds located on one floor of the hospital: Ward 3E, Sunshine Hospital. The ward includes an Acute Stroke Unit comprising twenty-five beds.

2018 – present: Chair, Global Policy and Advocacy Committee World Federation Of Neurology

2018 – present: Chair Special Interest Group for Headaches and Migraines, World Federation of Neurorehabilitation.

2021 – present: Part time Adjunct Professor Victoria University

2022 – present: President Asian Regional Consortium of Headache. Asian Regional Consortium for Headache (ARCH) is the peak non-profit academic and clinical leadership group responsible for 71 Asia-Oceania nations and regions. ARCH cater for 65% of the world with nearly five billion people. Prof Tissa Wijeratne is the fifth President, ARCH and first Australian neurologist to be the President of this prestigious international organization

Awards and Honors
He was awarded with the “Master of Headaches” by the International Headache Society early 2014. He was the foundation joint secretary, Australia and New Zealand Headache Society, Australia which was established in 2014. He wrote the orginal constitution, designed the logo, launched the first version of the website ,single handedly at that time.

He became the ambassador, Asia Pacific region, World Federation of Neurorehabilitation in 2012.

He was awarded with ambassador, Asia Pacific Region, American Academy of Neurology annual scientific meeting in 2012, 2013 and 2014.

He was nominated and elected as a fellow, American Academy of Neurology early 2014. He was appointed as a member, editorial board, Neurology in Clinical Practice by American Academy of Neurology.

Tissa has published 269 papers (author, co-author or contributory author) to date. He has presented more than hundred international lectures (brain health related) in various parts of the world. At present he has citation index of 82000 with a H index of 74 and an i10 index of 126. Professor Tissa Wijeratne is the first ever visiting Professor of Neurology to be appointed to a Sri Lankan University. ↵He was appointed as a Visiting Professor of Neurology at Rajarata University, Sri Lanka as well as at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya to promote neurology education in Sri Lanka. Professor Wijeratne is an Adjunct Professor associated with Victoria University, Australia, La Trobe University Australia.