Sharmila Dissanaike, MD, chair of Lubbock-based Texas Tech University Health Sciences' Center Department of Surgery, has been elected the 2025 president of the American Burn Association, FOX affiliate KCBD reported Jan. 18.
Dr. Dissanaike is a clinically active trauma, burn and acute care surgeon and the current assistant medical director of the University Medical Center Timothy J. Harnar Burn Center, also in Lubbock. She has won more than 50 awards for clinical, academic and research excellence, according to the news outlet.
"She is only one of 24 female surgeons chairing a department of surgery in nearly 200 medical schools across North America," Steven Berk, MD, TTUHSC executive vice president and School of Medicine dean, told KCBD. "We are proud that Dr. Dissanaike has been appointed to this national role for her accomplishments as a front-running leader in surgery and burn care."
Dr. Dissanaike is also chair of the American Burn Association Verification Committee and a member of the American Colleges of Surgeons Trauma Verification Committee and Committee on Trauma. She serves on the boards of the American Burn Association, Southwestern Surgical Congress and the Texas Medical Board.
She will serve as president elect from 2023 to 2024 before becoming president in 2025.