Expert Witness

Dr Duneesha De Fonseka

Consultant Respiratory Physician

PhD, MRCP, MBChB

Clinical practice experience

Dr de Fonseka graduated from the University of Sheffield with a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery in 2005. She has since completed her PhD at the University of Bristol in 2019, on asbestos related pleural disease. Dr de Fonseka undertook her foundation and core medical training in the South Yorkshire region. She did her specialist respiratory training in the same deanery from 2010. Since 2018, Dr de Fonseka has been practising as a Consultant Respiratory Physician at the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust and an Honorary Clinical Lecturer at the University of Sheffield.

Clinical interests

Dr de Fonseka has a specialist interest in pleural disease and has sat on the British Thoracic Society national guideline committees for both mesothelioma and pleural disease. Her clinical interests include pleural infection, pleural effusions, mesothelioma, diffuse pleural thickening, pneumothorax, and lung cancer. Due to the nature of the sub-speciality she is heavily involved with pleural intervention such as local anaesthetic thoracoscopy, indwelling pleural catheters, intercostal chest drains, and diagnostic/therapeutic pleural aspirations.

Research interests

Dr de Fonseka’s research interests lay within pleural disease and mesothelioma, and the diagnosis and management of these conditions. Dr de Fonseka has conducted successful clinical research trials recruiting patients from across the UK. During the years of 2014 to 2018, Dr de Fonseka was a Clinical Research Fellow at the North Bristol NHS Trust undertaking a PhD in asbestos related pleural disease at the University of Bristol. Her work involved exploring the role of alternative diagnostic modalities in mesothelioma such as PET-CT and MRI scanning.

Teaching & training

Dr de Fonseka is currently an Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at the University of Sheffield. She has given multiple oral and poster presentations relating to her research, both at National and International conferences. These include oral presentations at the 2024 British Thoracic Society (BTS) Winter meeting on Thoracoscopy services in the UK, 2019 BTS Winter meeting on the results of the TARGET Trial, 2018 BTS Winter meeting on the role of MRI in characterising equivocal pleural thickening on CT, and poster presentations at the 2014 American Thoracic Society meeting on the incidence and severity of chronic thromboembolic hypertension since the introduction of a pulmonary embolism clinic, 2014 International Mesothelioma Interest Group meeting on the role of dynamic contrast enhanced MRI in mesothelioma, and a poster presentation at the 2013 British Thoracic Oncology group meeting on evaluating the expedited referral pathway for lung cancer. Additionally, Dr de Fonseka has been a thoracic ultrasound trainer at both British Thoracic Society and European Respiratory Society US courses. She facilitated the Thoracic US course at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals in 2020. She has also been a chest drain placement station facilitator at the European Respiratory Society in 2019.

Summary of publications

Dr de Fonseka has published over 40 peer reviewed articles including 2 national guidelines, in the field of pleural disease.

Memberships of professional bodies

Management experience

Dr de Fonseka is the Clinical Lead for Pleural Disease at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals. She has helped develop the pleural service at the Trust and is involved with clinical governance matters relating to pleural sub-speciality.

Prizes and awards

Other experts in intercostal chest drains