LSU Vet Med announces inaugural Associate Dean for Diagnostic Operations
April 05, 2023
Dr. Udeni Balasuriya
The LSU School of Veterinary Medicine is pleased to announce that Udeni Balasuriya, BVSc, PhD, is the inaugural associate dean for diagnostic operations. Dr. Balasuriya is also the director of the Louisiana Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (LADDL), a full-service AAVLD-accredited laboratory housed in LSU Vet Med.
The associate dean for diagnostic operations will be a key member of the LSU Vet Med senior leadership team and report directly to Oliver A. Garden, BVetMed, PhD, DACVIM, DECVIM-CA, dean of LSU Vet Med. Dr. Balasuriya will serve as LSU Vet Med's diagnostic principal and help to promote the school's mission of "we protect." LADDL operates in partnership with LSU Vet Med and provides animal disease diagnostic services to agricultural and general communities, enhances research development and adaptation of diagnostic tests and protocols, researches and investigates livestock and companion animal diseases impacting the health and wellbeing of the animals and citizens of Louisiana, and researches selective diseases impacting the economics on the animal industries of Louisiana.
Dr. Balasuriya is a leader in laboratory diagnostics and disease diagnosis and surveillance using classical and contemporary laboratory techniques. The position requires working collaboratively across the school and university, shaping and implementing a dynamic strategic plan to advance the school's diagnostic and translational research status, fostering collaboration across the institution, developing new and nurturing existing external partnerships, and creating the necessary infrastructure to support a growing diagnostic enterprise. A keen understanding of a variety of funding mechanisms, advocacy, and compliance is essential.
Dean Garden gave the following congratulations to Dr. Balasuriya on his new position: “It gives me the greatest pleasure to announce that Dr. Udeni Balasuriya is our inaugural Associate Dean for Diagnostic Operations. Combining substantive experience in leading a world-class diagnostic laboratory with his talent and drive as a research virologist, Dr. Balasuriya is the ideal candidate for this new position in our school. The associate deanship will extend his current role into one with strategic and fiscal oversight of our whole diagnostic enterprise, and the development of novel diagnostic tests by innovative research. I could not be more enthusiastic about the future of the diagnostic operations, in the delivery of both animal and human healthcare, and offer Dr. Balasuriya my heartfelt congratulations on this well-deserved success.”
Added Dr. Balasuriya, “I am delighted to serve as the inaugural associate dean for diagnostic operations at LSU Vet Med and excited to provide leadership, management, and oversight to the diagnostic testing services at the Louisiana Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory to protect animal and human health and bring financial sustainability to the institution. I look forward to working collaboratively across the school and university to advance the school's diagnostic and translational research mission and create the necessary infrastructure to support a growing diagnostic enterprise."
About LSU Vet Med: Bettering lives through education, public service, and discovery
The LSU School of Veterinary Medicine is one of only 33 veterinary schools in the U.S. and the only one in Louisiana. The LSU SVM is dedicated to improving and protecting the lives of animals and people through superior education, transformational research, and compassionate care. We teach. We heal. We discover. We protect.