In Memory of Kanishka Ratnayaka

Excerpt

Kanishka Ratnayaka passed away following a hard-fought battle against cancer on December 25th, 2021. Kanishka was a brilliant physician and researcher with a passion for innovation in our field, investigating and sharing new discoveries with teams around the world. The remit of the following article was to review iCMR for congenital heart disease but, true to who he was, Kanishka also made sure to include detailed guidance for others to start their own program [1]. I had the honor to assist Kanishka in performing the first pediatric MRI-guided cardiac catheterization at Children’s National Heart Institute in 2015 [2]. Since then, he has been instrumental in setting up the Dickinson Image-Guided Intervention Center at Rady Children’s Hospital where he most recently served as Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at UC San Diego School of Medicine. In the process of all his endeavors, he has trained and inspired multiple teams around the world to continue to make progress. Kanishka mentioned that he considered an alternative career as a high school football coach which was no surprise to those who had the privilege to assist him in the catheterization laboratory who will always remember his words “clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose” at the end of each case. He was certainly an excellent coach to all of us. His work in helping to set up and provide ongoing mentorship to the cardiac catheterization laboratory at the Uganda Heart Institute is another example of his far-reaching positive influence during a career that was cut far too short [3]. His compassion touched the lives of countless friends, colleagues, and patients. He will be missed and remembered by many, but he leaves behind a tremendous legacy. Kanishka is survived by his wife, son, daughter, mother, and brother. When his children are grown, I hope that we can show them all the progress made in the future of congenital cardiac interventions at least in part because of the efforts of their father. …