Professor Panagodage Bertram Fernando had his early education at St Benedict’s College, Colombo from where he won a government scholarship to the Ceylon Medical College in 1918. He qualified LMS (Ceylon) in 1924 and joined the government medical service and served in many parts of the island.
He proceeded to UK in 1930 for post graduate studies and worked at the University College Hospital Medical School. He obtained MBBS (London) in 1931 and MRCP (London) in 1932 and also qualified DTM&H (Eng). On his return he served as the Visiting Physician, General Hospital Colombo for several years and also as the Visiting Paediatrician at the Lady Ridgway Hospital for Children.
In 1936 he was appointed the first Professor of Medicine of the Ceylon Medical College. When the Medical College became part of the newly established University of Ceylon in 1942 he continued as the Professor of Medicine in the Faculty of Medicine. He was awarded an MD in 1951, and elected FRCP in 1952, the first Ceylonese to be awarded that distinction. He also served as acting Dean of the Faculty of medicine and acting Vice-Chancellor of the University of Colombo. He was Honorary Secretary and Treasurer of the Ceylon Branch of the BMA, and President Ceylon Medical Association in 1953. After a long and eventful service of 23 years as Professor, he retired in 1959 owing to a sudden illness and was appointed Emeritus Professor of Medicine of the University of Colombo. He was awarded the OBE for his services to Medical Education.
A brilliant clinician and a keen researcher, Professor Fernando has published research papers on childhood tuberculosis, ascariasis in children, nutritional disorders in childhood, rheumatic heart disease, liver diseases and coronary atherosclerosis and ischaemic heart disease in Ceylon.
| YEAR | TOPIC | ORATOR |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Rh Factor | Sir Cyril Clarke |
| 1975 | Sick sinus syndrome | Dr Upul Wijeyawardena |
| 1978 | Non rheumatic mitral valve disease | Dr J G Soloman |
| 1980 | Diabetic nerve | Prof K N Seneviratne |
| 1983 | Cancer of the lungs in Sri Lanka | Dr S J Stephen |
| 1984 | The elderly patient – Epidemiological & clinical perspective | Dr S Ramachandran |
| 1987 | Neurological manifestations of AIDS | Dr LS Illis |
| 1989 | Advances in the treatment of malaria | Prof David Warrell |
| 1992 | Cerebellar involvement in falciparum malaria | Dr H Janaka de Silva |
| 1994 | Pathogenesis in malaria | Prof Kamani Mendis |
| 1995 | PTCA in IHD – The Singapore Heart Centre Experience | Dr Arthur Tan |
| 1996 | The diabetic foot | Dr Devaka Fernando |
| 1997 | The global epidemic of diabetes | Prof George Alberti |
| 1998 | Morphologic assessment of thyroid disease by cytology and pattern of thyroid enlargement in Sri Lanka | Prof Priyanthi Kumarasinghe |
| 1999 | Advances in the prevention of a stroke | Prof Martin M Brown |
| 2000 | Balloon mitral valvuloplasty- a new approach in the management of a mitral stenosis | Dr Vajira Senaratne |
| 2001 | Medical education in the 21st century | Prof Richard Larkins |
| 2002 | In the eye of the beholder | Prof Christopher Kennard |
| 2003 | SARS and other emerging infections | Prof Malik Peiris |
| 2004 | The pathogenesis and treatment of severe and complicated malaria | Prof Nicholas J White |
| 2005 | Transition in endocrine care between adolescence and adult life | Prof John Monson |
| 2006 | Primary prevention of type 2 diabetes – the Indian experience | Dr A Ramachandran |
| 2007 | The bridge between diabetes, insulin and cardiology | Prof Paresh Dandona |
| 2008 | Addressing global challenges for prevention & control of non-communicable diseases | Dr Santhi Mendis |
| 2009 | Strategies to resolve the management dilemmas in dengue | Dr Kolitha Sellahewa |
| 2010 | Rickettsial infections in Sri Lanka: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow | Professor Ranjan Premaratna |
| 2011 | The QT Interval: from small print to headline news | Dr Neil Dewhurst |
| 2012 | Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease: time for a new model | Prof APS Hungin |
| 2013 | Leptospirosis in Sri Lanka 2003-2012 | Dr S B Agampodi |
| 2014 | Mediators of vascular leak in dengue infections | Dr Neelika Malavige |
| 2015 | Not awarded | N/A |
| 2016 | Not awarded | N/A |
| 2017 | The challenge of treating central nervous system infections | Prof Udaya Ranawaka |
| 2018 | Living with HIV: The Sri Lankan experience | Dr Ananda Wijewickrama |
| 2019 | Not awarded | N/A |
| 2020 | Antimalarial drug discovery: searching for our roots | Prof Niroshini Nirmalan |
| 2021 | From NAFLD to MAFLD: Characterisitc fatty liver disease in Sri Lanka | Prof Madunil Niriella |
| 2022 | Not awarded | N/A |