Dushani earned a Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Colombo in Sri Lanka. She then enrolled in the University of Notre Dame to pursue a PhD in Biochemistry, conducting research under the guidance of Dr. Margaret Schwarz. Her doctoral project identified Endothelial Monocyte Activating Polypeptide II (EMAP II) as a strategic early regulator of SPHKs and unique identification of EMAP II mediated signaling and epigenetic activity of sphingosine kinases in the pulmonary hypertension lung vasculature.

Dushani joined the lab of Dr. Timothy Hla in February 2023, where she intends to study the role of systemic and environmental factors on sphingolipid metabolism and the epigenetic and transcriptional regulation of genes that metabolize sphingolipids in the breakdown of the blood-brain barrier during the aging process.

Publication highlights:

Ranasinghe ADCU, Schwarz MA. Integrating epigenetics and metabolomics to advance treatments for pulmonary arterial hypertension. Biochem Pharmacol. 2022

Ranasinghe ADCU, Lee DD., Schwarz MA. EMAPII mediated transcriptional regulation and translocation of SPHK1 in pulmonary smooth muscle cells. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - Molecular and Cell Biology of Lipids. 2020

Tennakoon TMPB, Rushdhi M, Ranasinghe ADCU et al. Values of molecular markers in the differential diagnosis of thyroid abnormalities. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol. 2016 

Email: dushani.ranasinghe@childrens.harvard.edu