Ranil Sonnadara’s primary faculty appointment is in the Department of Surgery at McMaster University. He also holds academic appointments in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, the McMaster Institute for Music and the Mind, in the Health Research Methodology and Health Science Education programs, and in the Schools of Computational Science and Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at McMaster University. He also holds a status only appointment in the Department of Surgery at the University of Toronto.

In addition to his academic appointments, Ranil also serves as the President, Chief Research Officer and CEO for Compute Ontario.

A behavioural neuroscientist by training, Ranil uses a variety of different methodologies to study changes in the body that arise as a result of learning and practice, from the initial stages of skill acquisition through to elite and expert level performance across a wide variety of domains. He is particularly interested in the role of feedback in learning and assessing complex skills. Ranil’s interests in this area grew out of his own experiences as a professional musician and an elite level coach. He still works as a composer and sound designer for theatre as time permits.