Dilini Vethanayagam

Area of Study / Keywords

HHT PAVMs Shunts embolic strokes asthma severe asthma health services

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About

Personal Statement:

My clinical, educational and research goals are to foster high quality patient-oriented care; developing methods to more efficiently navigate today’s complex medical system especially for rural and remote care; assess and evaluate methods to improve patient care coordination. In addition to my work as a Respirologist and a trained Asthma Specialist, I am the Center Director for the Edmonton Hereditary Haemorrhagic Telangiectasia (HHT) Center, the second HHT Center in Canada (and first in Western Canada). The Edmonton HHT Center was also one of the founding Centers for the North American HHT Network (2008) which participates in collaborative research initiatives.

Dr. Dilini Vethanayagam followed her medical degree from the University of Alberta with a rotating internship at Dalhousie University, an internal medicine residency at Queen’s University, a respirology fellowship at the University of Western Ontario and an asthma clinical research fellowship at McMaster University. She was recruited from Hamilton Health Sciences to the University of Alberta in 2003.  

Dr. Vethanayagam is a respirologist and general Internist on staff with Alberta Health Services, primary location based at the University of Alberta Hospital / Kaye Edmonton Clinic. She developed the structure for respiratory clinical telehealth for distance care patients, including those on First Nations reserves. 

Leadership and Collaborations:

Dr. Vethanayagam sits on the University of Alberta’s General Faculties Council (GFC) and is the GFC elected representative to the U of A Board of Governors. Previously she sat as a GFC member on the U of A Senate. She also sits on the Edmonton Zone Advisory Council (AMHSP rep) and was previously on the Executive of the University of Alberta Hospital Medical Staff Society. She was on the Alberta Medical Association Respiratory Section executive. She was the prior director of the AHS EZ Induced Sputum Lab (2004-2013). Prior Medical Director of the Edmonton Regional Severe Asthma Clinic. Other prior community administration includes being on the conference committees for the Alberta Lung Association (and ARDS), Ontario Thoracic Society Better Breathing Conference and CTS Asthma Guidelines Committee.

She has been the Medical Director of the Edmonton Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia (HHT) Center since it's inception in 2003, with formal accreditation by the International HHT Foundation in 2006. This Center serves Western Canada.

Dr. Vethanayagam developed the Canadian Severe Asthma Network to foster improved care for patients with severe asthma within the Canadian health system. In 2016, she developed the online Refugee Health educational lecture series as an outreach for the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. The series is intended to help primary care physicians and patients better understand the health needs of new Canadians, many of whom have escaped traumatic situations. In 2018, she initiated a project to create student awareness of mental health care as part of the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry’s outreach on student mental health for the University of Alberta. Dr. Vethanayagam also developed the structure for respiratory clinical telehealth for distance care patients, including those on First Nations reserves.

Dr. Vethanayagam was awarded the Physician of the Year (2019) by the Edmonton Zone Medical Staff Association. In 2017 was awarded the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award by the GOLD Foundation and the Woman of the Year award from the University of Alberta’s Academic Women’s Association. She was a 2018 nominee for the Undergraduate Research Award and a 2016 nominee for the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Mentorship award.

See also:

Canadian Severe Asthma Network: www.severeasthma.ca

General Faculties Council: www.governance.ualberta.ca

University of Alberta Senate: https://www.ualberta.ca/why-
ualberta/administration/chancellor-and-senate/senate;

International HHT Foundation: www.curehht.org

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Research

Dr. Vethanayagam’s clinical research is focused in two areas: asthma and severe asthma along with associated obstructive airways disorders and b) Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia (HHT) and Pulmonary Arterio-Venous Malformations (PAVMs) which are associated with HHT and can lead to strokes.  

She is part of the National Institutes of Health-funded Rare Diseases Consortium from which there are ongoing publications (currently in its third five-year cycle of funding).

She has published in peer-reviewed journals, including Canadian Journal of Respiratory, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Canadian Medical Association Journal; Journal of Asthma; Clinical Investigative Medicine; European Respiratory Journal; American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine; Allergy, Asthma and Clinical Immunology; Canadian Journal of Neurologic Sciences along with many web-based publications and business reports for Alberta Health Services. 

She has performed reviews for the following journals: Canadian Journal of Respiratory Critical Care Sleep Medicine; Environment International; International Journal of Public Health, Canadian Respiratory Journal; Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology; Canadian Family Medicine and others. She is a past Associate Editor for Clinical Investigative Medicine.

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Teaching

In addition to classroom instruction, Dr. Vethanayagam supervises undergraduate and graduate trainees and Respirology residents on educational research projects. She has supervised and mentored both undergraduate and graduate students in different faculties within the University of Alberta, along with other Canadian and international universities. She provides clinical supervision to postgraduate pulmonary and general internal medicine residents and inter-disciplinary mentorship to nurses (trainees, those in practice) and Nurse Practitioners with an interest in the respiratory field.

Proud grandmother of two (Sept 2025)

Logesh Selvakumar, Jonathan Choy, Roman Rashkovetsky, Thomas Jeerakathil, Michael D. Hill, Dilini Vethanayagam

Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology. 2026 January; 10.1139/cjpp-2025-0326

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Tristan Sinnatamby, Jennifer LaBranche, Maxine Farr-Jones, Tiana Fenske, Dilini Vethanayagam

PLOS One. 2025 September; 10.1371/journal.pone.0331690

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Emma Jolene Cameron, Mitchell Wagner, Grace Lam, Dilini Vethanayagam

Canadian Journal of Respiratory, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine. 2025 August; 10.1080/24745332.2025.2535431

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Ryan Alexander Spychka, Michael D. Hill, Jeremy Rempel, Sandeep Naik, Richard Owen, Oliver Halliwell, Thomas Jeerakathil, Karim Samji, Dilini Vethanayagam

Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences / Journal Canadien des Sciences Neurologiques. 2025 August; 10.1017/cjn.2025.10379

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Snigdha Widge, Jacquelyn Paquet, Ling Ling, Dilini Vethanayagam

Journal of Asthma. 2025 July; 10.1080/02770903.2025.2531499

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Karim Bahadurali Samji, G. Sanjaya Chandrarathna, Wasim Khan, Hefin Jones, Richard Owen, Dilini Vethanayagam

Journal of Clinical Medicine. 2025 July; 10.3390/jcm14144842

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Mitchell Wagner, Monette Dimitrov, Dilini Vethanayagam

Canadian Journal of Respiratory, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine. 2024 July; 10.1080/24745332.2024.2362242

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Mitchell J. Wagner, Monette Dimitrov, Grace Y. Lam, Winnie Leung, Gregory J. Tyrrell, Dilini Vethanayagam

PLOS ONE. 2023 July; 10.1371/journal.pone.0288704

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Alexandra Kilian, Giuseppe A. Latino, Andrew J. White, Felix Ratjen, Jamie McDonald, Kevin J. Whitehead, James R. Gossage, Timo Krings, Michael T. Lawton, Helen Kim, Marie E. Faughnan, The Brain Vascular Malformation Consortium HHT Investigator Group

Journal of Clinical Medicine. 2023 April; 10.3390/jcm12072704

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Kaitlin Sparrow, Eric Wong, Lawrence Cheung, Melissa Wang, Dilini Vethanayagam, Pen Li

Canadian Journal of Respiratory, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine. 2022 November; 10.1080/24745332.2022.2048980

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Theodora Ananiadis, Marie E. Faughnan, Dewi Clark, Vikram Prabhudesai, Helen Kim, Michael T. Lawton, Nicholas T. Vozoris, Murali Chakinala, Marianne S. Clancy, Marie E. Faughnan, James R. Gossage, Steven W. Hetts, Vivek Iyer, Raj S. Kasthuri, Helen Kim, Timo Krings, Michael T. Lawton, Doris Lin, Hans-Jurgen Mager, Douglas A. Marchuk, Justin P. McWilliams, Jamie McDonald, Ludmila Pawlikowska, Jeffrey Pollak, Felix Ratjen, Karen Swanson, Dilini Vethanayagam, Shantel Weinsheimer, Andrew J. White, Pearce Wilcox

Annals of the American Thoracic Society. 2022 August; 10.1513/annalsats.202202-130rl

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Agarwal J., Labranche J., Dhillon S., Allison W.T., Jeerakathil T., Vethanayagam D.

CANADIAN JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGICAL SCIENCES. 2022 June; 0 (0):00-00 10.1017/cjn.2022.80

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Sparrow K., Wong E., Cheung L., Wang M., Vethanayagam D., Li P.

Canadian Journal of Respiratory, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine. 2022 May; 0 (0):0 10.1080/24745332.2022.2048980

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Ananiadis T, Faughnan ME, Clark D, Brpabhudesai P, Kim H, Lawton MT, Vozoris NT for the BVMC [author: Vethanayagam D].

Annals ATS. 2022 April; 0 (0):0 10.1513/AnnalsATS.202202-130RL

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Cardinell J.L., Ramjist J.M., Chen C., Shi W., Nguyen N.Q., Yeretsian T., Choi M., Chen D., Clark D.S., Curtis A., Kim H., Faughnan M., Yang V.X.D., Chakinala M., Clancy M.S., Faughnan M., Gossage J.R., Henderson K., Iyer V., Kasthuri R.S., Kim H., Krings T., Lawton M.T., Lin D., Mager J.J., Marchuk D.A., McWilliams J.P., McDonald J., Pawlikowska L., Pollak J., Ratjen F., Swanson K., Vethanayagam D., White A.J., Wilcox P.

Scientific Reports (Nature group of pubs). 2022 February; 12 (1):1805 10.1038/s41598-022-05272-1

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Shuang Wu, Erica Kim, Dilini Vethanayagam, Ran Zhao

Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts. 2022 January; 10.1039/D2EM00365A

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K. P. Thompson, the Brain Vascular Malformation Consortium HHT Investigator Group, J. Nelson, H. Kim, L. Pawlikowska, D. A. Marchuk, M. T. Lawton, Marie E. Faughnan

Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases. 2021 December; 10.1186/s13023-020-01579-2

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K. P. Thompson, J. Nelson, H. Kim, S. M. Weinsheimer, D. A. Marchuk, M. T. Lawton, T. Krings, M. E. Faughnan, Murali Chakinala, Marianne S. Clancy, Marie E. Faughnan, James R. Gossage, Steven W. Hetts, Vivek Iyer, Raj S. Kasthuri, Helen Kim, Timo Krings, Michael T. Lawton, Doris Lin, Hans-Jurgen Mager, Douglas A. Marchuk, Justin P. McWilliams, Jamie McDonald, Ludmilla Pawlikowska, Jeffrey Pollak, Felix Ratjen, Karen Swanson, Dilini Vethanayagam, Shantel Weinsheimer, Andrew J. White, Pearce Wilcox, Brain Vascular Malformation Consortium HHT Investigator Group

Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases. 2021 December; 10.1186/s13023-021-02012-y

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Thompson K.P., Nelson J., Kim H., Weinsheimer S., Marchuk D.A., Lawton M.T., Krings T., Faughnan M.E., Chakinala M., Clancy M.S., Faughnan M.E., Gossage J.R., Hetts S.W., Iyer V., Kasthuri R.S., Kim H., Krings T., Lawton M.T., Lin D., Mager H.J., Marchuk D.A., McWilliams J.P., McDonald J., Pawlikowska L., Pollak J., Ratjen F., Swanson K., Vethanayagam D., Weinsheimer S., White A.J., Wilcox P.

Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases. 2021 September; 16 (1):390 10.1186/s13023-021-02012-y

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Right to Breathe Clean Air. 2021 March;

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Thompson K.P., Nelson J., Kim H., Pawlikowska L., Marchuk D.A., Lawton M.T., Faughnan M.E., Chakinala M., Clancy M.S., Faughnan M.E., Gossage J.R., Henderson K., Iyer V., Kasthuri R.S., Kim H., Krings T., Lawton M.T., Lin D., Mager H.J., Marchuk D.A., McWilliams J.P., McDonald J., Pawlikowska L., Pollak J., Ratjen F., Swanson K., terBrugge K., Vethanayagam D., White A.J., Wilcox P.

Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases. 2021 January; 16 (1):12 10.1186/s13023-020-01579-2

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Tsuyuki RT, Midodzi W, Villa-Roel C, Marciniuk D, Mayers I, Vethanayagam D, Chan M, Rowe BH.

CMAJ Open. 2020 September; https://doi.org/10.9778/cmajo.20190168

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Alexandra Kilian, Giuseppe Latino, Andrew White, Dewi Clark, Murali Chakinala, Felix Ratjen, Jamie McDonald, Kevin Whitehead, James Gossage, Doris Lin, Katharine Henderson, Jeffrey Pollak, Justin McWilliams, Helen Kim, Michael Lawton, Marie Faughnan, the Brain Vascular Malformation Consortium HHT Investigator Group

Journal of Clinical Medicine. 2020 August; 10.3390/jcm9092714

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Ross T. Tsuyuki, William Midodzi, Cristina Villa-Roel, Darcy Marciniuk, Irvin Mayers, Dilini Vethanayagam, Michael Chan, Brian H. Rowe

CMAJ Open. 2020 July; 10.9778/cmajo.20190168

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Farah Chowdhury, Steven Stenson, Nona Hait, Tim Graham, Robert Hayward, Meena Kalluri, Eric Wong, Dilini Vethanayagam

2019 July; 10.21203/rs.2.11753/v1

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Farah N. Chowdhury, G. Sanjaya Chandrarathne, Kristopher D. Masilamani, Jennifer T. N. LaBranche, Shaun Malo, Lawrence W. Svenson, Thomas Jeerakathil, Dilini P. Vethanayagam

Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences / Journal Canadien des Sciences Neurologiques. 2019 January; 10.1017/cjn.2018.360

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Stroke. 2011 January; 10.1161/STROKEAHA.110.608224

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Journal of Asthma. 2010 January; 10.3109/02770901003611462

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Canadian Respiratory Journal. 2009 January; 10.1155/2009/206506

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Transplant Infectious Disease. 2009 January; 10.1111/j.1399-3062.2008.00345.x

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CMAJ. Canadian Medical Association Journal. 2009 January; 10.1503/cmaj.081550

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Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology. 2008 January; 10.1007/978-0-387-73693-8_86

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Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. 2007 January; 10.1359/jbmr.061202

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European Respiratory Journal. 2007 January; 10.1183/09031936.00119907

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Canadian Respiratory Journal. 2006 January; 10.1155/2006/435028

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Chest. 2006 January; 10.1378/chest.130.3.741

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Canadian Respiratory Journal. 2005 January; 10.1155/2005/907856

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Allergy: European Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 2005 January; 10.1111/j.1398-9995.2005.00676.x

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American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. 2002 January; 10.1164/rccm.200206-509OC

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