Meet Sri Lankan Researcher — Chamikara Liyanage

What are you currently working on or worked on before?

I am currently working on identifying and characterizing micro peptides involved in developing treatment resistance to prostate cancer. Targeting these micro peptides can be useful in combination with existing therapies or as novel therapeutic targets in prostate cancer. These findings might aid in recovering the economic burden associated with this deadly disease, as well as the quality of life in men. I am currently attached to the School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.

What encouraged you to pursue your research topic?

Prostate cancer develops when abnormal cells in the prostate gland grow in an uncontrolled way, forming a malignant tumor. Although the initial response to existing therapies are effective, patients eventually develop resistance and progress into a fatal prostate cancer phenotype. Previous discoveries hint that dis-regulated long-noncoding RNAs (LncRNA) in cancer cells might be responsible for acquiring treatment resistance, however, the mechanism is still unknown.

For the first time in prostate cancer research, using a novel proteogenomic approach, our research team at QUT found that LncRNAs have the potential to produce micro peptides in prostate cancer cells. This encouraged me to characterize LncRNA-derived micro peptides in prostate cancer, based on their cancer-promoting and cancer-inhibiting molecular functions.

Where do you find your best inspiration for your work?

I have been fortunate enough to learn and work with many of the expertise in the cancer field in Sri Lanka and I grasp the opportunity to further study epigenetic cancer research under the supervision of Prof Preethi Udagama at the faculty of Science, University of Colombo. Her guidance and inspiration made an enormous impact on my career as a scientist and further study and follow a research-Intensive Ph.D. in biomedical sciences.

You can find my publications in my Google scholar profile.

What’s one of your biggest personal achievements so far?

Through persistent hard work, I was able to achieve 1st Class honors for the special degree in immunology and integrative molecular biology. My passion and enthusiasm for research in cancer and my ability to communicate science effectively have resulted in me publishing the first-ever cancer epigenetic research publication in Sri Lanka (2019). This publication was selected among the top editor’s choice publications in the year 2019.

Also, this research was apricated by a Merit award in the health category in the 1st National Undergraduate Research Symposium organized by the National Science and Technology Commission (NASTEC). Furthermore, this study was selected as the best research in the life science category 72nd annual Symposium of Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science (SLAAS).

What lessons would you share with a budding researcher?

During my career, experience has taught me a lot and has made me stronger as a person, as well as a researcher. I hope sharing what I learned will help you deal with your challenges and struggles as a researcher.

• Believe in yourself — At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter who believes or doesn’t believe in you. You have to believe that you have (or you can develop) what it takes to become a researcher.
• Passion is more important than talent — Make sure that you work in an area that you genuinely love!
• Don’t compare your journey to that of other researchers — Because no two researchers are the same and no two research journeys are the same.
• Network and surround yourself with the relevant people — Understand that staying around people who inspire you and pursue the same career as yours will ultimately keep you motivated.
• Patience is important. Rome wasn’t built in one day — It’s okay to take your time as long as you are adopting the right approach.
• Be humble — Celebrate even the smallest achievements but remember there is a lot ahead of you and be humble enough to recognize that you can learn from anyone.
• Take care of yourself — Don’t forget who you are, treat yourself often with good food and music. We produce our best work when we are in our best mental, emotional, and physical shape.

What motivated you to be a researcher?

Being known as the most advanced creature on earth, we human beings heavily rely on growing knowledge and limitless curiosity to understand the mysteries behind the human body. The mounting desire of modern scientists to comprehend the human body on a deeper biological level has inspired me to pursue a career in biomedical sciences.

I was further convinced by the enormous potential of new and advanced molecular biological techniques, that have the potential to provide lasting solutions to life-threatening complex diseases such as cancer. Studying theoretical and practical aspects of Chemistry, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology at the University of Colombo has boosted my understanding indeed, by providing me with a deeper insight into biological research.

According to your opinion, what are the changes that the Sri Lankan education system needs to do, in order to meet the requirement of the international industry and academia?

The traditional education system in Sri Lanka doesn’t provide students with the necessary knowledge and skills based on real-world requirements. Necessary measures should be taken to improve quality education by developing an outcome-based education system. The learning outcome is what a student can do as a result of a learning experience. It describes the key graduate attributes such as generic attributes, transferable, employability, and/or soft skills based on institutional goals or outcomes. In that case, school syllabuses and university programs should be designed linking with the outcomes that full fill the real-world skill or research requirement.