Professor Yamuna Deepani Siriwardana is a clinician, university academic and researcher who also earned the first Sri Lankan PhD on leishmaniasis. She is the author of a series of ten books on leishmaniasis written for different stakeholder groups in the field. She is also a recipient of many scientific awards including Commonwealth Doctoral Scholarship award in UK, a Young Affiliate Fellowship of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), presidential awards, orations, patents, and many other awards for her work on leishmaniasis. She currently serves as a teacher, a postgraduate trainer and a researcher in leishmaniasis.