Tissa Vitharana

Upali Tissa Vitharana (born 30 August 1934) is a Sri Lankan physician, politician, former Member of Parliament and former cabinet minister. He is the current leader of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), a member of the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA).

Vitharana was born 30 August 1934 in Nuwara Eliya in central Ceylon. He was the son of Pieris Vitharana, a Public Works Department engineer, and N. P. Maggie Perera, sister of N. M. Perera. He was educated at Trinity College, Kandy and Ananda College, Colombo. He played cricket for both schools. After school he joined the University of Ceylon's medical faculty in Colombo, graduating in 1959 with a MBBS degree. Vitharana captained the university's cricket team in 1957/58 and took part in the Sara Trophy Tournament.

Vitharana is married to Kamini Meedeniya. They have a son, Ranil.

After university Vitharana worked as a medical officer (1959-67) and was registrar at Colombo General Hospital in 1963/64. His post graduate work earned him a MD degree in clinical medicine from the University of Ceylon in 1965. He then went to study in the UK, obtaining a Diploma in Bacteriology from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in 1968 and a Ph.D. in virology from the University of London in 1971. Specialising in bacteriology and virology, Vitharana joined the Medical Research Institute (MRI) in Colombo in 1972, serving as its director from 1983 to 1994. He was head of the virology department at the MRI from 1972 to 1994. Vitharana was a consultant virologist at the Edinburgh City Hospital's Regional Virus Laboratory in the 1980s. He was deputy director of the Victoria Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory in Melbourne from 1991 to 1993.

Following retirement in 1994 Vitharana was a professor of microbiology at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura from 1995 to 2000 and an advisor to the Minister of Science and Technology from 1994 to 2001.

Vitharana joined the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) in 1974. On 20 January 2004 the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) formed the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA). The Communist Party of Sri Lanka CPSL and LSSP joined the UPFA in February 2004. Vitharana was appointed as a UPFA National List MP in the Sri Lankan Parliament following the 2004 parliamentary election. He was appointed Minister of Science and Technology after the election.

Vitharana was re-appointed as a UPFA National List MP following the 2010 parliamentary election. He lost his cabinet position after the election but shortly afterwards, in May 2010, he was appointed Minister of Technology and Research. He was promoted to Senior Minister of Scientific Affairs in November 2010. He lost his cabinet position following the 2015 presidential election.

At the 2015 parliamentary election Vitharana was placed on the UPFA's list of National List candidates. However, after the election he was not appointed to the National List.