Amerasinghe, Felix P

Felix Amerasinghe was a noted Sri Lankan medical entomologist. He was known for his work on the taxonomy and ecology of disease-transmitting arthropods. Amerasinghe graduated from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, and received his Ph.D. from the University of Bristol, United Kingdom, in 1977. He made important long-term studies in the effects of irrigation on mosquito populations and malaria transmission, and became an authority on Japanese encephalitis. The development of keys for the identification of South Asian mosquitoes was one of his important contributions, greatly enhancing disease surveillance programs.

Amerasinghe worked principally at the University of Peradeniya, but also at the University of Sri Lanka, and in later years joined the International Water Management Institute as research leader, initiating studies on the socioeconomic impact of malaria, malaria parasitology, and molecular biology. He died in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on June 7, 2005.