Founder and Vision

FOUNDER AND VISION

founder

Dr. Suharsha Kanathigoda

Founder and Chairman

Dr. Suharsha Ruwan Kanathigoda

MBBS, DipPallMed (RACP), MSpMed(UNSW), FRACGP, FAChPM (RACP), PCEP (Harvard)

  • Director of Palliative Care, ACT
  • Senior Staff Specialist in Palliative Medicine
  • Clare Holland House/Calvary Health Care ACT
  • Senior Lecturer Australian National University
  • Deputy Chair Royal Australasian College of Physicians NSW/ACT
  • Founder and Chairman of Shanthi Foundation Australia

Dr Suharsha Kanathigoda is the Founder and Chairman of Shanthi Foundation, a registered charity in Australia, Sri Lanka and Canada, which propagates Palliative Care throughout the world, especially in developing countries.

He is the Director of Palliative Care and a Senior Staff Specialist in Palliative Medicine at Clare Holland House and Calvary Hospital in Canberra, ACT, Senior Clinical Lecturer with the Australian National University and Deputy Chair of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in NSW/ACT.

Dr Kanathigoda is an executive member and the Principal Site Investigator at Calvary Hospital and Clare Holland House for the Palliative Care Clinical Studies Collaborative (PaCCSC), which is the largest such group in the world involved in multi- centre Randomised Controlled Studies in Australia. As the Director of the Palliative Care Stream he is responsible for all clinical services at Clare Holland House and Calvary Hospital, including the Inpatient Unit (a top 10 facility), Home Based Palliative Care service, Consults service, and speciality outpatient clinics such as the Motor Neurone Disease service, Renal Supportive Care service and the Aboriginal Palliative Care service all of which he was instrumental in starting in the ACT. He has a keen interest in educating clinicians and medical students in Australia and overseas.

Dr Kanathigoda, through the Shanthi Foundation has embarked on its biggest aspiration yet…

…building the world’s first Eco-Friendly Palliative Care Hospital.

Dr Kanthigoda is the Patron of the Palliative Care Association in Sri Lanka. He has been involved in many Palliative Care teaching initiatives in Australia, Sri Lanka and India. He is also a member of the Boston Research Group on Psychedelics and is presently reading for his PhD through the University of Notre Dame in Sydney which involves looking at demoralisation in patients with slowly progressive life limiting illnesses including Fronto-Temporal Dementia and the therapeutic role of psychedelics in this population of patients.

He has won many national and international awards including a Presidential Award for services rendered to Palliative Care in Sri Lanka (2016) , NAIDOC award for development of Aboriginal Palliative Care in Australia (2018 and 2020) and the Integrity award for the Consultative Service at Canberra Hospital (2015).

He has been married to his wife Neelia for over 25 years, with whom he travels around the world developing Palliative Care services through Shanthi Foundation. He is also extremely interested in bringing social change to rural communities in developing countries around the world through education, renewable energy initiatives and female empowerment.