A C E Koch Oration
Prof. Arthur Cecil Elsley Koch was the first Ceylonese Professor of Physiology. In memory of late Prof. A.C.E. Koch, the Physiological Society of Sri Lanka organises the Annual ACE Koch memorial oration to be delivered by a distinguished physiologist, scientist or clinician. Prof. Koch was born on 20 Nov 1903. Having received his primary and secondary education at Royal College
Biography of Professor A C E Koch
Prof. Arthur Cecil Elsley Koch was the first Ceylonese Professor of Physiology.
Prof. Koch was born on 20 Nov 1903. Having received his primary and secondary education at Royal College, he entered the Ceylon Medical College in 1922. His academic record in the Colombo Medical School was brilliant. He passed all his professional examinations in the first class, gaining a grand total of six distinctions and five medals. He joined the Department of Physiology as a demonstrator in 1935. In 1948 he proceeded to Oxford, UK for his postgraduate studies to work with Prof. C.G. Douglas FRS, the great respiratory physiologist who invented the famous "Douglas bag".
Koch did some pioneering research work at Oxford. His findings were published in 1951 jointly with Douglas in a paper on "Carbohydrate metabolism and muscular exercise" in the prestigious Journal of Physiology. On his return he was appointed to the Chair in Physiology in 1952 to be the first native citizen of Ceylon to hold this post until his retirement in 1968. From 1952 to 1957 he was the General Editor of the Ceylon Journal of Science. From 1953 to 1959 he was Co-Editor of the Ceylon Medical Journal. In 1966 he elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England without examination.
Undoubtedly the greatest impact of Prof. Koch was as a teacher in Physiology. He taught Physiology for one-third of a century with an amazing enthusiasm. Above all, Professor Koch’s immense popularity as a teacher derived from the fact that he tried to take a personal interest in his students. He was hearty in his encouragement of students and lavish in his praise of them.
In 1968 Professor Koch retired in the fullness of years and honours. He was elected an Emeritus Professor and kept in touch with the Physiology Department which was then staffed entirely by his pupils. In retirement he tried to find fulfillment in his life-long avocations – photography, literature, music and the repairing of watches and clocks. Within an year of retirement he passed away.
On his return he was appointed to the Chair in Physiology in 1952 to be the first native citizen of Sri Lanka to hold this post until his retirement in 1968.
Past Orations
| Year | Orator | Title |
| 2022 | Prof. Priyadarshika Hettiarachchi | Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food |
| 2021 | Prof. Indu Nanayakkara | Heart rate variability: Can it be a marker of disease? |
| 2019 | Prof, Sudheera Kalupahana | Role of brown adipose tissue in energy homeostasis - a fat lot of good? |
| 2018 | Prof. Savithri Wimalasekera | Air and Lungs; in Health and Disease |
| 2017 | Prof Anthony Bakker | Modulation of excitation-contraction coupling in skeletal muscle |
| 2016 | Dr Deepthi de Silva | Exploring the complexities of congenital heart disease |
| 2015 | Prof. Sharaine Fernando | Lead and Cadmium as Male reproductive toxicants: the known and unknown |
| 2014 | Prof. Ajith De Awis | Nanotechnology of today, medicine of tomorrow |
| 2013 | Prof. Shripad B Deshpande | Dual pathways for the pulmonary C reflex |
| 2012 | Prof. Vajira Weerasinghe | Evoked Potentials as functional scalpels of the human brain |
| 2011 | Professor Rezvi Sheriff | Kidney function tests in clinical practice & research quantitative fallacy? |
| 2010 | Professor Asoka Dissanayake | Ulcerative colitis, a smelly gas, sulfasalazine and garlic |
| 2009 | Professor Upali Illangaskera | Metabolic syndrome as a cardiovascular risk factor in Sri Lanka |
| 2008 | Professor Anura Weerasinghe | The lymphocyte in bone marrow transplantation: Friend or foe? |
| 2007 | Professor Arjuna Aluwihare | Physiological and ethical challenges in transplantation and xenotransplantation |
| 2006 | Professor S N Arseculeratne | Humour and creativity |
| 2005 | Professor Shanthi Mendis | Unraveling the mysteries of pathophysiology of heart disease |
| 2004 | Professor C T Kappagoda | Role of pulmonary sensory receptors in regulating vascular fluid volume |
| 2003 | Professor J T La Brooy | The pathophysiology of the immune response to bacterial and food antigens in the intestine |
| 2002 | Dr S Anandarajan | Hermann von Helmholtz: The Physiologist reformer of ophthalmology |
| 2001 | Professor V Basnayake | Joy in Science: Accounts of Sri Lankan scientists |
| 2000 | Not held | |
| 1999 | Professor Colvin Goonaratna | Journalogy and CMJ |
| 1998 | Dr D P Jewell | (Not available) |
| 1997 | Dr K I Deen | Making sense of colonic and anorectal motility |
| 1996 | Professor M Udupihille | Respiratory functions in Sri Lankans |
| 1995 | Professor A S Dissanayake | Some remembered yesterdays |
| 1994 | Professor S R Kottegoda | (Not available) |
| 1993 | Dr CG Uragoda | Some doctors celebrated for their non-medical achievements |
| 1992 | Dr A Gabriel | (Not available) |
| 1991 | Justice Percy Colin — Thome | Critical analysis of the role of the judiciary in society |
| 1990 | Ms Daloraine Brohier | Medicine in the Dutch period and the later contribution of the Burghers |
| 1989 | Professor T W Wikramanayake | Auxology of school girls with special reference to their age at menarche |
| 1988 | Dr P Sivasubramaniam | Physiology and the clinician |
| 1987 | Professor Carlo Fonseka | History of Physiology in Sri Lanka |
