The first Undergraduate Research Symposium of Faculty of Allied Health Sciences was held on the 19th of July 2023 at the University Hospital KDU. Major General Milinda Peiris RWP RSP VSV USP ndc psc MPhil, Vice Chancellor of General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University graced the event as the Chief Guest along with other distinguished guests including the keynote speaker, Prof. Ranil Jayawardena (Professor and Clinical Nutritionist, Department of Physiology, University of Colombo), Brigadier Chinthaka Wickramasinghe USP USACGSC, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Defence & Administration), Prof. KAS Dhammika, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic), Surgeon Captain Dr NRP Perera, Dean FAHS, Prof. Jayantha Balawardane, Acting Executive Director, UHKDU, Brigadier Rohan Wettasinghe, Director Admin – UHKDU, Brigadier Saman Thilakaratne, Director Medical Services – UHKDU, Prof. Aindralal Balasuriya, Dean, Faculty of Medicine. The Chairperson of the first Undergraduate Research Symposium, FAHS was Mr. SADCS Senavirathna and Secretary was Ms. S. Sabalingam.
The first Undergraduate Research Symposium of allied health students was organized to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the FAHS, and the final year students were given an opportunity to present their research findings and knowledge on this platform, pertaining to key issues in their research areas. There were six different technical sessions held in parallel including, Nursing, Physiotherapy, Pharmacy, Radiotherapy, Radiography and Medical Laboratory Sciences. The student presenters were privileged to have the opportunity to receive valued feedback from the keynote speaker and distinguished guest, Prof. Ranil Jayawardena, who further enlightened them about research and evidence-based information. There was a total of 57 scientific research presentations in different disciplines by the allied health students of General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University.
The students who excelled in each technical session were awarded certificates at the closing ceremony. All students who showcased their research were presented with a certificate as a memento of their talent and participation in the event.
