Professor Tissa Wijeratne
Neurologist
Professor Tissa Wijeratne, OAM MD PhD FRACP FRCP (Edin) FRCP (London) FAHA FAAN FEAN, stands as a distinguished senior neurologist, clinician-scientist, advocate, and global health expert committed to advancing global brain health and preventing neurological disorders. His groundbreaking initiatives in World Brain Day and Brain Health since 2010 have left a lasting impact globally, inspiring over a billion individuals to embrace preventive brain health concepts over the past decade.
In his pivotal role as the Director and Chair of the Department of Neurology and Stroke Services at Western Health in St Albans, Victoria, Australia (postcode 3021), Professor Wijeratne plays a crucial role in shaping neurology and stroke services. He holds esteemed professorial positions at the University of Melbourne, La Trobe University, Victoria University, RMIT University in Australia, and the University of Rajarata, Sri Lanka.
Professor Wijeratne's substantial contributions extend to mentoring over 450 basic physician trainees in Australia, with 62 of them advancing to become neurologists since 2006. He remains actively involved in leading train-the-trainer workshops for the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, having conducted well over 100 workshops and trained over 1,000 Australian physicians in supervision skills. With ten supervised PhDs completed, he currently oversees four neurologists engaged in groundbreaking research on various aspects of brain health within the field of neurosciences.
Acknowledging his exceptional contributions to medicine as a neurologist, Professor Tissa Wijeratne received the prestigious Order of Australia Award (Order of Australia Medal) on January 26, 2023, becoming the first Sri Lankan-Australian neurologist to achieve this distinction.
His scholarly impact is underscored by the publication of over 350 papers, boasting a citation index exceeding 110,000 and an impressive h-index of 80. Presently, he holds the title of the highest-cited practicing headache neurologist in Australia.
Pioneering new initiatives, Professor Wijeratne led the establishment of the Australia New Zealand Headache Society in 2014, actively contributing to its constitution, logo design, and the development of its inaugural website. Additionally, he made history as the first Sri Lankan/Australian neurologist appointed as the President of the Asian Regional Consortium of Headache (www.archhub.org). He co-founded and serves as the Medical Director of the Australian Institute of Migraine (www.instituteofmigraine.com.au) and initiated the celebration of World Migraine Day on June 18 (www.steps4migraine.com.au). He is also the founder and Chair of the first-ever migraine-targeted national charity in Australia (www.migrainefoundation.org.au).
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