1. Specialist Training

Dr Herath completed her respiratory and sleep medicine training in New Zealand, Australia and Canada.
She became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in 2011 and completed her Sleep Medicine training at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and Woolcock Institute in Sydney in 2012. In 2013 she went on to achieve a Master of Philosophy in sleep medicine at the University of Sydney.
Her master’s study investigated vigilance in sleep apnoea patients.
Further studies at the prestigious McGill University in Montreal, Canada resulted in a Fellowship in Interventional Bronchoscopy and Thoracic Malignancy in 2014.
Dr Herath is one of the very few respiratory specialists who have completed a dedicated year long fellowship in lung cancer and advanced bronchoscopy in a North American Centre.

2. Research Involvement

Dr Herath is an honorary lecturer at the University of Sydney; published widely in major peer-reviewed journals in all areas of respiratory medicine and has won multiple scholarships and grants for her research contributions.

She is the lead author in a Cochrane review looking at prophylactic antibiotic use in COPD.

She is currently conducting several multi-centre international trials as the lead investigator, looking at introducing safer and more effective biopsy methods in diagnosing lung cancer, using advanced bronchoscopic methods. Dr Herath established the first Radial EBUS and cryo-biopsy services in New Zealand and has commenced these services at Westmead Public Hospital and The Sydney Adventist Hospital.

3. Scholarships & Awards

Dr Herath was the recipient of a Fulbright scholarship from Health Workforce New Zealand that enabled her extensive advanced training in interventional bronchoscopy and pleural procedures in thoracic malignancy in Canada. She has also won the Boehringer Ingelheim travel award for the best presentation in COPD in 2013, enabling her to present her studies in an international forum.

Dr Herath firmly believes in keeping up to date with current practice and improving her technical procedural skills as well as safety and comfort in procedures for the patient. She participates in a European hands-on interventional procedural course on a yearly basis. She also participates in regular short term fellowships in North American and European Centres.

4. Life outside Medicine

Dr Herath is a mother of three children Tishaan, Ranalee and Niven. Dr Herath is a keen basketball player having captained the university women’s basketball team for three consecutive years during her undergraduate years in Sri Lanka. She is also an ardent skier.

Special Interests

Dr Herath has broad clinical interests in sleep medicine, general respiratory as well as management of lung cancer.

Lung cancer and related procedures including EBUS, tumour removal, cryobiopsy and stent placement

Dr Herath had extensive training and expertise in the diagnosis and management of lung cancer. She is a member of the Crown Princess Mary Cancer Centre Lung multi-disciplinary team in Westmead. Lung cancer management through a multi-disciplinary team involvement leads to better care for the patients.

Dr Herath personally performs all the required procedures for her lung cancer patients from diagnosis through to symptom relief and believes in ongoing comprehensive care and support for her patients throughout difficult times. She has extensive experience in Radial EBUS, Linear EBUS, Rigid bronchoscopy, Argon plasma coagulation, metallic stenting and cryobiopsy. She performs pleural procedures including thoracoscopy for the diagnosis of tumours as well as tuberculosis, Indwelling pleural catheter insertion and thoracoscopic pleurodesis. Dr Herath has strong expertise in diagnosing abnormal nodules and masses in the lungs and she uses Radial EBUS and cryobiopsy which are safer, new techniques that are utilised for this purpose.

Sleep Medicine

Dr Herath has expertise in Obstructive Sleep Apnoea management with CPAP devices as well as Oral splints. She personally reports sleep studies of her patients. She also has expertise and special interest in narcolepsy, sleep and neurological disorders and behavioural problems during sleep (parasomnias).

General Respiratory Medicine

Dr Herath has expertise in airways disease including all general respiratory diseases. Dr Herath is the ongoing lead author with the Cochrane Collaboration on the paper dedicated to antibiotic use in chronic obstructive airways disease. She had published broadly in highly competitive medical journals like the JAMA and Lancet Respiratory Medicine in management of chronic obstructive airways disease and bronchiectasis. She has multiple peer reviewed papers and presentations with large number of views.

Dr Herath continues to do both clinical bed side teaching and lectures for medical students at the University of Sydney.