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AVRI Team

Executive Board

Executive Director,

Roy Malleappah

Herpetological Field Operations Specialist; Recipient Humanitarian Service Awards, 'Commando Regiment' Sri Lanka Army; Construction Engineer/General Contractor; Wildlife Conservationist.

Director,

Dana Savorelli

Founder and President of Midwest Tongs, Inc.; Founder of the United States Snakebite Research Team; Founder and Director of Monkey Island Rescue and Zoological Sanctuary, Inc.


Director,

Kimberly McWhorter, BA, MPH, CPH

Board Certified in Public Health by the National Board of Public Health Examiners; Program Coordinator/Educator for Riverside County, California Community Health Agency; Program Planner; Grant writer; Recipient California State Association of Counties Merit Award for creation and implementation of an innovative local government program.
Advisory Board
Overall Liaison for AVRI in Sri Lanka :

Muditha Dela Bandara

A self-effacing committed Naturalist and Philanthropist, during Secondary School days he was responsible for awakening the need to protect endangered wildlife - like turtles - in several schools.  He started the first protected Turtle Hatchery on the Southern coast of Sri Lanka. He was one of the youngest to join "Young Zoologists Club" based at the National Zoological Gardens, Dehiwala during its formative stages. At present he plays a very important role in the traditional religio-cultural life of Sabaragamuwa Province as the "Basnayaka Nilame" of  Uggal Aluthnuwara Kataragama Devale of Balangoda, Sri Lanka.

Principal Investigator, University of Peradeniya

Dr. Indika Gawarammana, MBBS, MD, MRCP

Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya; Consultant Physician at the Professorial Medical Unit of the Teaching Hospital, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka; Senior lecturer in Medicine; Senior lecturer in Clinical Toxicology; Conjoint Senior lecturer in Clinical Toxicology, University of Newcastle, Australia; Director of Clinical Research- South Asian Clinical Toxicology Research  Collaboration

Envenomation Consultant

Dr. Kolitha Sellahewa, MBBS, MD, FCCP, FRACP(Hon.), MACEP(Hon.)

Chairman Snakebite Expert Committee SLMA, Past President Ceylon College of Physicians; Wealth of experience and expertise in the management of snake bite in Sri Lanka; Published many peer reviewed articles on snakebite and conducted extensive clinical research on snakebite.

Pharmacology and Toxicology Research Consultant

Dr. Daniel E. Keyler, Pharm.D.

Professor, Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, University of Minnesota, College of Pharmacy and Graduate School, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Co-Director, Pharmacology-Toxicology Research Laboratories, Minneapolis Medical Research Foundation

Professional Consultant (Envenomations) - American Zoo & Aquarium Association Zoos in the USA, multiple private zoos, the United States Armed Forces and Minnesota Poison Control System       


Veterinary Consultant

Dr. Tejbir Sandu, DVM, Ph.D.,
MA, M.V.Sc.


Veterinarian, Ph.D. in Medical Entomology, Research Associate for Northwest Mosquito and Vector Control District   

Reptile  Husbandry:

Jim Harrison and Kristen Wiley

Directors, Kentucky Reptile Zoo



Kim, Jim, and Kristen
 
Top Photo: Hump Nosed Viper, Hypnale hypnale by Kim McWhorter