Shanika Basnayake
DPhil Student, 2008-11
Dr Shanika Basnayake, MBBS MA DPhil studied for her medical degree at Merton College before undertaking her DPhil in Neural Control of Cardiovascular Function with DPAG supervised by Professor David Paterson and Mr Alex Green. Her thesis was entitled “Identifying Neurocircuitry Controlling Cardiovascular Function in Humans: Implications for Exercise Control” and generated four peer-reviewed journal publications - Hypertension (volumes 57 and 63), Experimental Physiology (volume 97) and Journal of Applied Physiology (Volume 110). She also acted as supervisor to three third year medical students doing research projects for Final Honour Schools in Medical Sciences.
Dr Basnayake went onto complete her clinical training at Imperial College London, followed by foundation training at Watford General, Charing Cross and Hammersmith hospitals, rotating across a number of specialties including geriatric medicine, acute internal medicine, vascular surgery, psychiatry and respiratory medicine. She also took her medical elective in the Department of Cardiology at Tan Tock Seng Hospital in Singapore.
Most recently, in a change of career direction from 2019, she spent a year at Leiths School of Food & Wine where she completed their Three-Term Diploma in Food and Wine with Distinction, and has put her new-found culinary skills to use at the Taste of London food festival and on BBC’s Saturday Kitchen Live.