Dr Dynatra Subasinghe

Dynatra Subasinghe graduated as a veterinarian with honours from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka. As an undergraduate she received the Newman society award for best performance in the third year of the undergraduate degree and distinctions in multiple subjects in the BVSc program. Subsequently she joined the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science teaching team and worked as a demonstrator and completed an internship in small animal practice. She then received The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, International Union of Toxicology scholarship to complete the Post Graduate Diploma in Toxicology from Royal Melbourne institute of Technology, Australia. She was awarded an Asian institute of Technology and French government scholarship and completed her MSc in Toxicology Technology and Management in Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand. As a post graduate student, she served the student union as the Editor in chief and chairperson of the media affairs team representing post graduate students from around 45 Asian countries. Dynatra Subasinghe received the prestigious YP Sinhania award for outstanding master’s thesis for her research work and graduated as the top student in the class.

Upon returning to Sri Lanka, she continued teaching in higher education and led a team of small animal charity practice veterinarians and support staff in a post tsunami disaster relief rabies control program in the southern coast of Sri Lanka. Subsequently, she continued her post graduate studies as a Cambridge Commonwealth Trust scholar and New Hall College Centenary Scholar at the University of Cambridge and completed her PhD in Biological sciences.  Keen to continue practicing as a veterinarian, during her PhD she undertook further training in veterinary medicine and surgery in several practices in the UK in multiple species. After successfully completing the MRCVS examination she obtained membership of the RCVS. She returned to Sri Lanka after completing a postdoctoral placement at the University of Oxford. She continued to work in both private and charity sector small animal practice as a team leader for several years while teaching as a visiting lecturer in multiple state universities in Sri Lanka. During this period, she was involved in teaching small animal medicine and surgery to both Sri Lankan and international veterinary students. In her role as a veterinarian in the charity sector she worked and researched extensively into rabies control and humane dog population control under one health. She also coordinated responsible pet ownership education programs via the media and through public and school education programs. Subsequently she joined the University of Colombo as a Senior Lecturer and taught as a visiting lecturer in several Sri Lankan state universities and worked part-time in small animal clinical practice. After returning to the UK,  she undertook several years of small animal general practice and joined the University of Surrey Vet School in 2018. 

Dynatra Subasinghe is the Program Leader/ Program Director for the clinical years of the BVMSci program. She teaches small animal general and charity practice. She has led the year 1 of the BVMSci program and coordinated other modules incluing a clinical practice module in the 3rd year of the program. She serves as a Senator in the University of Surrey Senate. She was awarded the senior fellowship of the Higher Education Academy in 2021. Since she joined the university she has served as international champion of the school and as Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences representative for the Student Experience Subcommittee. As a member of the  Employability work group, she chaired the first panel for diversity in the workplace in 2021 vet school careers event to discuss ethnicity, diversity, and inclusion in the veterinary workplace in preparation of students entering the veterinary workplace. She initiated and chaired the organising committee for the first school of veterinary medicine research celebration event in 2020. She has mentored colleagues working towards their Certificate in Higher Education and Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy.

Due to her background in teaching in higher education, research in toxicology, pharmacology, and small animal general and charity practice, she currently undertakes research in to teaching and learning in higher education and explores avenues to enhance Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) in all aspects of veterinary practice with an emphasis on small animal general practice. She collaborates with multiple organisations in the UK and overseas.