Professor Lakshman Samaranayake (Sam) is the Immediate past Dean and honorary Professor of Oral Microbiomics and Infection at the University of Queensland, School of Dentistry. Prior to this he was the Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Hong Kong for a decade (now considered the No 1 Dental School in the World by QS World University Rankings). He is also an Honorary Professor at the Eastman Dental Institute, UK and many other universities in China, Saudi Arabia, India, Oman and Indonesia.

Professor Samaranayake earned his doctoral degree at the University of Glasgow, UK where he was a Consultant/ Senior Lecturer in Oral Medicine and Pathology. Then he served as a Professor at the University of Alberta, Canada, and at the Universities of Hong Kong and Queensland.

Considered the foremost international authority in oral candidal infections, he has authored more than 400 ISI publications cited in the literature over 17,000 times (h-index 67), and five text books translated into six languages. For his research he has received many accolades including the Distinguished Scientist Award of the International Association for Dental Research, and the coveted King James IV Professorship of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, UK.

He has also served as a World Bank Consultant in Problem Based Learning (PBL), a council member of the FDI and the Chair of its Science Commission. He is a much sought after speaker and lectured extensively in more than 40 countries, on the subjects of oral micriobiomics, infection control and dental education.