The IRIS program would like to acknowledge and celebrate the hard work of the Ophthalmologists who have made our program a success. The dedication displayed by Dr. Nishantha Wijesinghe, Dr. Susith Kulasekera, and Dr. Sanditha Wickramasinghe has made a genuine impact by providing sight-saving surgery to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in the Northern Territory.
Dr. Nishantha Wijesinghe
Dr. Nishantha Wijesinghe is an eye surgeon with over 24 years of experience in Ophthalmology. He is a General Ophthalmologist with a particular clinical interest in Cataracts, Paediatric Ophthalmology, Medical Retina and Glaucoma. He performs cataract and other ophthalmic surgeries at Darwin Private Hospital.
He is a fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists.
He graduated with MBBS from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka in 1998 and obtained a Doctor of Medicine (MD) in Ophthalmology in 2006.
Dr. Wijesinghe completed a fellowship in General and Paediatric ophthalmology at the University of Sydney before moving to Darwin in 2008.
With 16 years of experience at Royal Darwin Hospital, he leads the outreach team of ophthalmology providing a high standard of eye care to remote and rural communities in the Top End.
He is involved in the supervision and teaching of registrars in ophthalmology, orthoptists, optometrists and medical students at Royal Darwin Hospital, including as a term supervisor for the Sydney Eye Hospital ophthalmology registrar program and an examiner in basic sciences (OBCK) for the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists.
Dr Kulasekara
Dr Kulasekara is a Comprehensive Ophthalmologist (Specialist Eye Surgeon) with over 18 years of experience in Ophthalmology.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists (FRANZCO), is Fellowship trained in Medical and Surgical Retina from the University of Adelaide (2010-2011),
He is a member of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Retinal Specialists (ANZSRS), and The American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS). Dr Kulasekara is also certified in Minimally Invasive Glaucoma Surgery (MIGS). He has done Graduate Research in Ophthalmology at the University of Toronto, Canada (2012-2015).
Dr Kulasekara graduated with MBBS (honours) from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 2002 and obtained a Doctor of Medicine (MD) in Ophthalmology in 2009.
Dr Kulasekara is a Consultant Ophthalmologist attached to Royal Darwin Hospital with 9 years of experience in the territory. He visits rural and remote communities in the Northern Territory to provide his services to the people living in those areas. He is also a term supervisor for Ophthalmology trainees and teaches medical, optometry, and orthoptic students.
Dr. Sanditha Wickramasinghe
Dr. Sanditha Wickramasinghe is an Ophthalmologist (Specialist Eye Surgeon) with over 14 years of experience in Ophthalmology. He is a Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists and the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, United Kingdom. He is a comprehensive Ophthalmologist with a special interest in eyelid and Oculoplastic Surgery.
Sanditha is also a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow and a member of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons since 2014.
He graduated from the University of Colombo with MBBS (honours) in 2003 and obtained postgraduate qualifications in 2010. He then completed his Fellowship training in North Wales in the UK (2012-2014) where he gained more expertise in Cataract surgery, Medical Retina, Glaucoma and Oculoplastic surgery. He had further experience in Oculoplastic surgery in Liverpool. Dr Wickramasinghe is also certified in Minimally Invasive Glaucoma Surgery (MIGS).
Dr Wickramasinghe joined the Department of Ophthalmology at Royal Darwin Hospital in 2018 and has been serving the Territory since then. He was actively engaged in the outreach eye care programme and has a good understanding of the local culture. He is no stranger to patients in Katherine, Gove and most remote communities. He has also worked as a Fellow at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead and Westmead Hospitals in Sydney.
