Our Experts
Kanthi DeAlwis, M.D.
Kanthi DeAlwis, M.D., an internationally respected forensic pathologist, is the Chief Medical Examiner of Honolulu. An Associate Clinical Professor of Pathology at the University of Hawaii School of Medicine, she has performed over 7,000 forensic autopsies and has provided expert forensic testimony in over 700 criminal and civil litigation cases in circuit and district courts in the State of Hawaii.
Dr. DeAlwis is a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, and an editor of The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology. She has published and presented on such topics as mass disasters, drug related deaths, elder abuse and neglect, and head trauma in children. Her death investigation for The Forensic Panel was featured in The Panel’s first Multidisciplinary Peer-Review Symposium at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences in 2006.
Dr. DeAlwis has worked with police departments across Hawaii on issues of neonaticide, sudden unexplained deaths in infancy, the investigation of child deaths, and fatal child abuse. She is known for her extensive experience in mass disaster operations and has responded to such mass disasters as the 1989 crash of a Molokai Air plane, the 1999 Sacred Falls rock slide, the 1999 Xerox murders and the 2001 recovery of victims of the sinking of the Ehime Maru.
In particular, Dr. DeAlwis’ diligence and service was commended by U.S. Navy Admiral Thomas Fargo in 2001. In addition, Dr. DeAlwis was honored for her contributions to pathology by the Honolulu Women in Law Enforcement. This recognition very much reflects Dr. DeAlwis’ unusual ability to blend sensitivity, professional experience and people skills deconstructing questionable and mysterious death in both scientific and human terms.