Dr Prasanna Dinesh Koggalage joined the Community and Health Research Unit (CaHRU) in January 2022 as an International Research Fellow, from the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Dinesh will be on placement with CaHRU for 12 months. As a medical doctor, he has special research interests in medical tourism, healthcare quality and safety, primary healthcare and human resource management. He has several local and international publications in Sri Lanka Journal in Medical Administration, International Journal of Research Foundation of Hospital and Healthcare Administration, Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, AIMS Public Health, International Journal of Procurement Management and Journal of Health Policy and Management.
Whilst working with CaHRU, Dinesh would like explore healthcare quality and safety strategies and also, Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in the primary healthcare system in the UK. During his stay, he will also find out about pre-hospital care and Accident and Emergency services in the UK and their applicability to Sri Lanka’s health system. Dinesh is also looking forward to learning more about conducting Systematic Reviews and Qualitative Research under the supervision of Professor Niro Siriwardena.
More about Dr Koggalage’s career: Dinesh is a medical doctor (M.B.B.S.) graduated with a Second Class honours from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka in 2006. He completed his Master’s Degree (MSc) in Medical Administration with a Gold Medal at the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine (PGIM), University of Colombo 
following which he started his career as a Medical Manager and was appointed the Deputy Director and then, the Director of District General Hospital, Gampaha which is the largest tertiary care provider in Gampaha district in the Western province of Sri Lanka. Dinesh obtained his doctoral qualification (MD) in Medical Administration in 2020 from the PGIM, University of Colombo, following which he was trained in the Office of the Director General of Health Services and the Management, Development and Planning Unit of the Ministry of Health. Then, he was appointed the Deputy Director and the Director of the Health Promotion Bureau of the Ministry of Health which is the national focal point for health education and publicity in Sri Lanka. He has also earned a Commonwealth Executive Master’s degree in Business Administration (CEMBA), Postgraduate Diploma in Healthcare Quality and Safety from the University of Colombo and Diploma in Public Procurement and Contract Administration (DIPPCA) from the Miloda Academy for Financial Studies of the Ministry of Finance.