Nalinika Obeyesekere, a veterinarian from Sri Lanka and WSAVA Award winner, has joined the Executive Board of the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA). Obeyesekere co-founded the first multi-veterinarian companion animal veterinary practice in Sri Lanka – Pet Vet Clinic – and is also a co-founder of the Society of Companion Animal Practitioners of Sri Lanka (SCAP).
She is CEO of the Blue Paw Trust, an animal welfare charity in Sri Lanka and, in 2018, received the inaugural WSAVA Award for Companion Animal Welfare in recognition of her work to raise standards of veterinary care in the country.
She has been appointed to the WSAVA Executive Board for a one-year term under a by-law which states that the Executive Board may appoint an additional Board Member.
Obeyesekere will represent the Asia-Oceania region.
Two of the WSAVA’s Clinical Committees have also appointed new members.
The Therapeutic Guidelines Group (TGG), which works to ensure best practice for the selection and use of veterinary medicines, appointed Fergus Allerton of the UK, Pawel Beczkowski of Hong Kong, Jennifer Granick of the USA, and Ana Martins Mateus of Belgium.
The WSAVA Global Pain Council, which works to raise standards for the management of pain around the world, appointed Adetola Rasheed Ajadi of Nigeria, Conny Mosley of Canada, Nameeta Nadkarni of India and Mike Petty of the USA.
“Dr Obeyesekere’s passion for raising standards of veterinary care and her knowledge and experience of working in Asia make her an outstanding addition to our Executive Board, which now includes members from every region of the world,” WSAVA President Ellen van Nierop said. “We welcome her and the new members of the Therapeutics Guidelines Group and Global Pain Council. We also thank them for the contribution they will make to the profession globally during their term.”