Skip to menu Skip to content Skip to footer
Professor Hemamali Samaratunga
Professor

Hemamali Samaratunga

Email: 

Overview

Background

Hemamali Samaratunga MBBS (Hons) LRCP (London) MRCS (UK) FRCPA, FRCPath

  • Specialist Anatomical Pathologist, Managing Director, Aquesta Specialised Uropathology
  • Full Professor, University of Queensland Faculty of Medicine
  • Visiting Medical Officer, Greenslopes Private Hospital

Hemamali graduated with honours from the University of Sri Lanka, Colombo Medical School and completed Pathology specialty training in Queensland. She held a number of consultant posts in both hospital and private practice. In 2008 she established Aquesta Uropathology which now provides diagnostic uropathology services to the majority of urologists in Queensland and Northern New South Wales. In addition to this she maintains a large second opinion consultation practice with requests obtained from throughout Australia and from overseas.

She is active in Genitourinary Pathology research with collaborators in Australia, USA, Canada, Karolinska Institute in Sweden and the Wellington School of Medicine in New Zealand. She held the position of Secretary of the International Society of Urological Pathology from 2015 to 2019.

She was a contributor to the 2004, 2015 and 2022 World Health Organization (WHO) books on Classification of Tumours: Pathology and Genetics of Tumours of the Urinary and Male Reproductive System. She participated in the 2015 revision of the WHO Tumour Classification in Zurich, Switzerland (4th edition) as member, Prostate Tumour Panel. She was a representative of the Expert Groups formulating structured reporting protocols for the Royal College Pathologists of Australasia on kidney, testis and prostate cancer and is currently chairperson of the structured reporting protocols for Genitourinary cancer. She is also currently the Convener for the RCPA Uropathology Quality Assurance Program.

Qualifications

MBBS (HONS) LRCP (London) MRCS (UK) FRCPA FRCPath

Current UQ Appointments

Academic Title-Professor

Non-UQ Appointments

2008 - current: Specialist Anatomical Pathologist & Managing Director, Aquesta Specialized Uropathology

2015 - Current: Visiting Medical Officer, Greenslopes Private Hospital

2003 - 2021: Visiting Medical Officer, Princess Alexandra Hospital

June 2001 - Oct 2008: Specialist Anatomical Pathologist, Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology, Brisbane

1993 - 1997: Specialist Anatomical Pathologist, Royal Brisbane Hospital

1998 - 2001: Senior Anatomical Pathologist, North Brisbane Hospitals Board

Research Interests

  • Granular tumour necrosis
  • Diagnosis of limited adenocarcinoma on prostate needle biopsy
  • Ductal adenocarcinoma of prostate
  • Mucinous adenocarcinoma of prostate
  • Radical prostatectomy handling and reporting
  • Micropapillary urothelial cancer
  • Mimics of bladder cancer

Awards and other Esteem Indicators

2017 Admitted to Fellowship of the Royal College of Pathologists, London (FRC Path) for sustained excellence in published works

2022 Awarded the Grawitz Medal of the International Society of Urological Pathology for distinguished service to the discipline of Urological Pathology

2023 Author of the publication Percentage grade 4 tumour predicts outcome for prostate adenocarcinoma in needle biopsies from patients with advanced disease: Ten year data from the TROG 03.04 RADAR Trial. Pathology 54: 49- 54, awarded the prize of

Article of the Year by the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia.

2024 Distinguished Fellowship Award of the Royal College Pathologists of Australasia

For distinguished service to the discipline of Urological Pathology

Keywords

Pathology, Genitourinary cancer, Prostate, Kidney, Urinary tract, Testis, Penis

Availability

Professor Hemamali Samaratunga is:
Available for supervision

Research impacts

She has over 320 scientific publications and has a Google Scholar H-index of 56 with 18150 citations. To date she has authored or co-authored 28 books, 21 book chapters and 274 peer-reviewed publications. Apart from her primary research activities Professor Samaratunga actively collaborates with other research groups and is a regular contributor - often as primary or senior author to international research consortia. One notable contribution has been her involvement in the development of artificial intelligence programs for the reporting of prostate cancer. In collaborative studies involving colleagues from the Netherlands, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand and the United States she was chosen to be one of three expert pathologists to review all cases, thus setting the gold standard for the diagnosis and grading of prostate cancer. These studies have been published in highly prestigious journals as noted in her CV. Importantly in comparative studies, the AI program informed by the findings of group of three pathologists that included Professor Samaratunga, outperformed all other AI programs.

Works

Search Professor Hemamali Samaratunga’s works on UQ eSpace

295 works between 1988 and 2025

61 - 80 of 295 works

2020

Journal Article

The 2019 International Society of Urological Pathology (ISUP) Consensus Conference on Grading of Prostatic Carcinoma

Van Leenders, Geert J.L.H., Van Der Kwast, Theodorus H., Grignon, David J., Evans, Andrew J., Kristiansen, Glen, Kweldam, Charlotte F., Litjens, Geert, McKenney, Jesse K., Melamed, Jonathan, Mottet, Nicholas, Paner, Gladell P., Samaratunga, Hemamali, Schoots, Ivo G., Simko, Jeffry P., Tsuzuki, Toyonori, Varma, Murali, Warren, Anne Y., Wheeler, Thomas M., Williamson, Sean R., Iczkowski, Kenneth A. and ISUP Grading Workshop Panel Members (2020). The 2019 International Society of Urological Pathology (ISUP) Consensus Conference on Grading of Prostatic Carcinoma. American Journal of Surgical Pathology, 44 (8), E87-E99. doi: 10.1097/PAS.0000000000001497

The 2019 International Society of Urological Pathology (ISUP) Consensus Conference on Grading of Prostatic Carcinoma

2020

Journal Article

Perineural invasion by prostate adenocarcinoma in needle biopsies predicts bone metastasis: Ten year data from the TROG 03.04 RADAR Trial

Delahunt, Brett, Murray, Judith D., Steigler, Allison, Atkinson, Chris, Christie, David, Duchesne, Gillian, Egevad, Lars, Joseph, David, Matthews, John, Oldmeadow, Christopher, Samaratunga, Hemamali, Spry, Nigel A., Srigley, John R., Hondermarck, Hubert and Denham, James W. (2020). Perineural invasion by prostate adenocarcinoma in needle biopsies predicts bone metastasis: Ten year data from the TROG 03.04 RADAR Trial. Histopathology, 77 (2) his.14107, 284-292. doi: 10.1111/his.14107

Perineural invasion by prostate adenocarcinoma in needle biopsies predicts bone metastasis: Ten year data from the TROG 03.04 RADAR Trial

2020

Journal Article

Granular necrosis: a distinctive form of cell death in malignant tumours

Samaratunga, Hemamali, Delahunt, Brett, Srigley, John R., Berney, Daniel M., Cheng, Liang, Evans, Andrew, Furusato, Bungo, Leite, Katia R. M., MacLennan, Gregory T., Martignoni, Guido, Moch, Holger, Pan, Chin-Chen, Paner, Gladell, Ro, Jae, Thunders, Michelle, Tsuzuki, Toyonori, Wheeler, Thomas, van der Kwast, Theodorus, Varma, Murali, Williamson, Sean R., Yaxley, John W. and Egevad, Lars (2020). Granular necrosis: a distinctive form of cell death in malignant tumours. Pathology, 52 (5), 507-514. doi: 10.1016/j.pathol.2020.06.002

Granular necrosis: a distinctive form of cell death in malignant tumours

2020

Journal Article

Identification of areas of grading difficulties in prostate cancer and comparison with artificial intelligence assisted grading

Egevad, Lars, Swanberg, Daniela, Delahunt, Brett, Ström, Peter, Kartasalo, Kimmo, Olsson, Henrik, Berney, Dan M., Bostwick, David G., Evans, Andrew J., Humphrey, Peter A., Iczkowski, Kenneth A., Kench, James G., Kristiansen, Glen, Leite, Katia R. M., McKenney, Jesse K., Oxley, Jon, Pan, Chin-Chen, Samaratunga, Hemamali, Srigley, John R., Takahashi, Hiroyuki, Tsuzuki, Toyonori, van der Kwast, Theo, Varma, Murali, Zhou, Ming, Clements, Mark and Eklund, Martin (2020). Identification of areas of grading difficulties in prostate cancer and comparison with artificial intelligence assisted grading. Virchows Archiv, 477 (6), 777-786. doi: 10.1007/s00428-020-02858-w

Identification of areas of grading difficulties in prostate cancer and comparison with artificial intelligence assisted grading

2020

Journal Article

Perithyroidal salivary gland acinic cell carcinoma: morphological and molecular attributes of a unique lesion

Juhlin, C. Christofer, Asa, Sylvia L., Jatta, Kenbugul, Naserhojati Rodsari, Homeyra, Shabo, Ivan, Haglund, Felix, Delahunt, Brett, Samaratunga, Hemamali, Egevad, Lars, Höög, Anders and Zedenius, Jan (2020). Perithyroidal salivary gland acinic cell carcinoma: morphological and molecular attributes of a unique lesion. Head and Neck Pathology, 15 (2), 628-637. doi: 10.1007/s12105-020-01187-3

Perithyroidal salivary gland acinic cell carcinoma: morphological and molecular attributes of a unique lesion

2020

Journal Article

The utility of artificial intelligence in the assessment of prostate pathology

Egevad, Lars, Ström, Peter, Kartasalo, Kimmo, Olsson, Henrik, Samaratunga, Hemamali, Delahunt, Brett and Eklund, Martin (2020). The utility of artificial intelligence in the assessment of prostate pathology. Histopathology, 76 (6), 790-792. doi: 10.1111/his.14060

The utility of artificial intelligence in the assessment of prostate pathology

2020

Journal Article

Dataset for the reporting of carcinoma of the bladder-cystectomy, cystoprostatectomy and diverticulectomy specimens: recommendations from the International Collaboration on Cancer Reporting (ICCR)

Comperat, E., Srigley, J. R., Brimo, F., Delahunt, B., Koch, M., Lopez-Beltran, A., Reuter,, Samaratunga, H., Shanks, J. H., Tsuzuki, T., van der Kwast, T., Varma, M., Webster, F. and Grignon, D. (2020). Dataset for the reporting of carcinoma of the bladder-cystectomy, cystoprostatectomy and diverticulectomy specimens: recommendations from the International Collaboration on Cancer Reporting (ICCR). Virchows Archiv, 476 (4), 521-534. doi: 10.1007/s00428-019-02727-1

Dataset for the reporting of carcinoma of the bladder-cystectomy, cystoprostatectomy and diverticulectomy specimens: recommendations from the International Collaboration on Cancer Reporting (ICCR)

2020

Journal Article

Artificial intelligence for diagnosis and grading of prostate cancer in biopsies: a population-based, diagnostic study

Ström, Peter, Kartasalo, Kimmo, Olsson, Henrik, Solorzano, Leslie, Delahunt, Brett, Berney, Daniel M., Bostwick, David G., Evans, Andrew J., Grignon, David J., Humphrey, Peter A., Iczkowski, Kenneth A., Kench, James G., Kristiansen, Glen, van der Kwast, Theodorus H., Leite, Katia R. M., McKenney, Jesse K., Oxley, Jon, Pan, Chin-Chen, Samaratunga, Hemamali, Srigley, John R., Takahashi, Hiroyuki, Tsuzuki, Toyonori, Varma, Murali, Zhou, Ming, Lindberg, Johan, Lindskog, Cecilia, Ruusuvuori, Pekka, Wählby, Carolina, Grönberg, Henrik ... Eklund, Martin (2020). Artificial intelligence for diagnosis and grading of prostate cancer in biopsies: a population-based, diagnostic study. The Lancet Oncology, 21 (2), 222-232. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(19)30738-7

Artificial intelligence for diagnosis and grading of prostate cancer in biopsies: a population-based, diagnostic study

2020

Journal Article

Artificial intelligence assistance significantly improves Gleason grading of prostate biopsies by pathologists

Bulten, Wouter, Balkenhol, Maschenka, Belinga, Jean-Joël Awoumou, Brilhante, Américo, Çakır, Aslı, Egevad, Lars, Eklund, Martin, Farré, Xavier, Geronatsiou, Katerina, Molinié, Vincent, Pereira, Guilherme, Roy, Paromita, Saile, Günter, Salles, Paulo, Schaafsma, Ewout, Tschui, Joëlle, Vos, Anne-Marie, Delahunt, Brett, Samaratunga, Hemamali, Grignon, David J., Evans, Andrew J., Berney, Daniel M., Pan, Chin-Chen, Kristiansen, Glen, Kench, James G., Oxley, Jon, Leite, Katia R. M., McKenney, Jesse K., Humphrey, Peter A. ... ISUP Pathology Imagebase Expert Panel (2020). Artificial intelligence assistance significantly improves Gleason grading of prostate biopsies by pathologists. Modern Pathology, 34 (3), 660-671. doi: 10.1038/s41379-020-0640-y

Artificial intelligence assistance significantly improves Gleason grading of prostate biopsies by pathologists

2020

Journal Article

Use of a trizonal schema to assess targeting accuracy in prostatic fusion biopsy

Franklin, Anthony, Gianduzzo, Tony, Yaxley, John, Kua, Boon, Coughlin, Geoff, Samaratunga, Hema and Gianduzzo, Troy (2020). Use of a trizonal schema to assess targeting accuracy in prostatic fusion biopsy. BJU International, 126 (S1), 6-11. doi: 10.1111/bju.14974

Use of a trizonal schema to assess targeting accuracy in prostatic fusion biopsy

2020

Journal Article

Common benign mimics of prostate cancer

Egevad, Lars, Delahunt, Brett, Tsuzuki, Toyonori, Furusato, Bungo and Samaratunga, Hemamali (2020). Common benign mimics of prostate cancer. Diagnostic Histopathology, 26 (7), 305-311. doi: 10.1016/j.mpdhp.2020.04.001

Common benign mimics of prostate cancer

2019

Journal Article

Dataset for the reporting of urinary tract carcinoma—biopsy and transurethral resection specimen: recommendations from the International Collaboration on Cancer Reporting (ICCR)

Varma, M., Srigley, J. R., Brimo, F., Compérat, E., Delahunt, B., Koch, M., Lopez-Beltran, A., Reuter, V., Samaratunga, H., Shanks, J. H., Tsuzuki, T., van der Kwast, T., Webster, F. and Grignon, D. (2019). Dataset for the reporting of urinary tract carcinoma—biopsy and transurethral resection specimen: recommendations from the International Collaboration on Cancer Reporting (ICCR). Modern Pathology, 33 (4), 700-712. doi: 10.1038/s41379-019-0403-9

Dataset for the reporting of urinary tract carcinoma—biopsy and transurethral resection specimen: recommendations from the International Collaboration on Cancer Reporting (ICCR)

2019

Journal Article

Dataset for reporting of carcinoma of the urethra (in urethrectomy specimens): recommendations from the International Collaboration on Cancer Reporting (ICCR)

Shanks, Jonathan H., Srigley, John R., Brimo, Fadi, Comperat, Eva, Delahunt, Brett, Koch, Michael, Lopez‐Beltran, Antonio, Reuter, Victor E., Samaratunga, Hemamali, Tsuzuki, Toyonori, Kwast, Theo, Varma, Murali and Grignon, David (2019). Dataset for reporting of carcinoma of the urethra (in urethrectomy specimens): recommendations from the International Collaboration on Cancer Reporting (ICCR). Histopathology, 75 (4) his.13877, 453-467. doi: 10.1111/his.13877

Dataset for reporting of carcinoma of the urethra (in urethrectomy specimens): recommendations from the International Collaboration on Cancer Reporting (ICCR)

2019

Journal Article

Data set for the reporting of carcinoma of the renal pelvis and ureter-nephroureterectomy and ureterectomy specimens: recommendations from the International Collaboration on Cancer Reporting (ICCR)

Samaratunga, Hemamali, Judge, Meagan, Delahunt, Brett, Srigley, John, Brimo, Fadi, Comperat, Eva, Koch, Michael, Lopez-Beltran, Antonio, Reuter, Victor, Shanks, Jonathan, Tsuzuki, Toyonori, van der Kwast, Theodorus, Varma, Murali and Grignon, David (2019). Data set for the reporting of carcinoma of the renal pelvis and ureter-nephroureterectomy and ureterectomy specimens: recommendations from the International Collaboration on Cancer Reporting (ICCR). The American Journal of Surgical Pathology, 43 (10), e1-e12. doi: 10.1097/PAS.0000000000001305

Data set for the reporting of carcinoma of the renal pelvis and ureter-nephroureterectomy and ureterectomy specimens: recommendations from the International Collaboration on Cancer Reporting (ICCR)

2019

Journal Article

Is the UICC/AJCC pT2 staging category for clear cell renal cell carcinoma meaningful?

Delahunt, Brett, Dagher, Julien, Egevad, Lars, Yaxley, John, Varma, Murali and Samaratunga, Hemamali (2019). Is the UICC/AJCC pT2 staging category for clear cell renal cell carcinoma meaningful?. American Journal of Surgical Pathology, 43 (9), 1249-1252. doi: 10.1097/PAS.0000000000001308

Is the UICC/AJCC pT2 staging category for clear cell renal cell carcinoma meaningful?

2019

Journal Article

PD-L1 expression and deficient mismatch repair in ductal adenocarcinoma of the prostate

Lindh, Claes, Kis, Lorand, Delahunt, Brett, Samaratunga, Hemamali, Yaxley, John, Wiklund, Nils Peter, Clements, Mark and Egevad, Lars (2019). PD-L1 expression and deficient mismatch repair in ductal adenocarcinoma of the prostate. APMIS, 127 (8), 554-560. doi: 10.1111/apm.12970

PD-L1 expression and deficient mismatch repair in ductal adenocarcinoma of the prostate

2019

Journal Article

Controversial issues in Gleason and International Society of Urological Pathology (ISUP) prostate cancer grading: proposed recommendations for international implementation

Srigley, John R., Delahunt, B., Samaratunga, Hemamali, Billis, Athanase, Cheng, L., Clouston, D., Evans, Andrew, Furusato, B., Kench, J., Leite, K., MacLennan, Gregory, Moch, Holger, Pan, Chin-Chen, Rioux-Leclercq, Nathalie, Ro, Jae, Shanks, Jonathan, Shen, Steven, Tsuzuki, Toyonori, Varma, Murali, Wheeler, Thomas, Yaxley, John and Egevad, Lars (2019). Controversial issues in Gleason and International Society of Urological Pathology (ISUP) prostate cancer grading: proposed recommendations for international implementation. Pathology, 51 (5), 463-473. doi: 10.1016/j.pathol.2019.05.001

Controversial issues in Gleason and International Society of Urological Pathology (ISUP) prostate cancer grading: proposed recommendations for international implementation

2019

Conference Publication

Testicular Metastasis of Non-PSMA Avid and PSA Negative Prostatic Adenocarcinoma

Yaxley, W. J., Yaxley, J. W. and Samaratunga, H. (2019). Testicular Metastasis of Non-PSMA Avid and PSA Negative Prostatic Adenocarcinoma. HOBOKEN: WILEY.

Testicular Metastasis of Non-PSMA Avid and PSA Negative Prostatic Adenocarcinoma

2019

Conference Publication

A Rare Case of Metachronous Primary Testicular Seminomas Diagnosed 16 Years Apart

Yaxley, W. J., Yaxley, J. W. and Samaratunga, H. (2019). A Rare Case of Metachronous Primary Testicular Seminomas Diagnosed 16 Years Apart. HOBOKEN: WILEY.

A Rare Case of Metachronous Primary Testicular Seminomas Diagnosed 16 Years Apart

2019

Journal Article

Somatic alterations detected in diagnostic prostate biopsies provide an inadequate representation of multifocal prostate cancer

Kristiansen, Anna, Bergström, Rebecka, Delahunt, Brett, Samaratunga, Hemamali, Guðjónsdóttir, Jóna, Grönberg, Henrik, Egevad, Lars and Lindberg, Johan (2019). Somatic alterations detected in diagnostic prostate biopsies provide an inadequate representation of multifocal prostate cancer. Prostate, 79 (8) pros.23797, 920-928. doi: 10.1002/pros.23797

Somatic alterations detected in diagnostic prostate biopsies provide an inadequate representation of multifocal prostate cancer

Funding

Past funding

  • 2010 - 2011
    Towards Concurrent Imaging of Primary & Secondary Prostate Cancers
    Royal Brisbane & Women's Hospital Research Foundation
    Open grant

Supervision

Availability

Professor Hemamali Samaratunga is:
Available for supervision

Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.

Media

Enquiries

For media enquiries about Professor Hemamali Samaratunga's areas of expertise, story ideas and help finding experts, contact our Media team:

communications@uq.edu.au