Ashani Weeraratna

Ashani Weeraratna
Born 1970/1971 (age 46–48)
Nationality Sri Lankan
Citizenship United States, South Africa
Academic background
Alma mater St. Mary's College of Maryland (BA)
George Washington University (MPhil, PhD)
Thesis Loss of Uteroglobin Expression in Metastatic Human Prostate Cancer (1998)
Doctoral advisor Steven Patierno
Academic work
Discipline Cancer research
Sub-discipline Melanoma metastasis
Institutions Wistar Institute
University of the Sciences

Ashani Tanuja Weeraratna (born 1970/1971)[1][2] is a Sri Lanka-born American-South African cancer researcher whose findings are contributing to the scientific understanding of melanoma tumors. She is head of the Weeraranta Lab at the Wistar Institute. Weeraranta is a full professor and co-program leader of the Immunology, Microenvironment, and Metastasis Program at the Wistar Institute and the program director of the cancer biology program at the University of the Sciences.

Early life and education

Weeraratna was born in Sri Lanka and raised in South Africa.[1] From the age of 15, she wanted to become a cancer researcher.[2] In 1988, due to apartheid,[2] Weeraratna left South Africa at the age of 17 to study biology at St. Mary's College of Maryland.[1] She earned a bachelor's degree in 1991. Weeraaratna obtained a Master's in Philosophy from George Washington University in 1997. She earned a doctorate in Molecular and Cellular Oncology from the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences of the George Washington University Medical Center. Her 1998 dissertation was titled Loss of Uteroglobin Expression in Metastatic Human Prostate Cancer. Steven Patierno was her doctoral advisor.[3] From 1998 to 2000, Weeraratna completed post-graduate training and was a postdoctoral fellow in experimental therapeutics and pharmacology at the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, then known as the Johns Hopkins Oncology Center.[4]

Career

Cancer research

In 2007, Weeraranta worked in the Laboratory of Immunology at the National Institute on Aging.[5] Weeraratna was an associate professor and program leader of the Tumor Microenvironment and Mestasisis Program at Wistar Institute.[1] In 2014, she was the recipient of an R01 grant from the National Cancer Institute.[6] In 2015, her research encompassed the effects of aging on skin and the corresponding changes in tumor growth.[7] She was named the Ira Brind associate professor, in 2016.[8] In receiving the professorship, Wistar Institute president and CEO, Dario Altieri remarked that "Dr. Weeraratna has demonstrated outstanding scientific initiative and is a great ambassador for our Institute...she is changing the way we understand melanoma, as she and her team seek ways to prevent and treat this dangerous disease. Under her leadership, we look forward to continued innovation and growth during these exciting times of research expansion at Wistar."[9] She is head of the Weeraranta Lab at the Wistar Institute. The lab researches molecular mechanisms related to melanoma metastasis, especially the Wnt signaling pathway. Weeraranta also investigates how changes to tumor microenvironments can change melanoma growth and the development of therapeutic resistance.[1]

In 2018, Weeraranta became a full professor and co-program leader of the Immunology, Microenvironment, and Metastasis Program at the Wistar Institute.[1] She is the program director of the Cancer Biology doctorate program at University of the Sciences.[10]

Activism

In June 2018, Weeraranta spoke at a Families Belong Together protest in Norristown, Pennsylvania. She revealed the difficulties she faced while emigrating without family to pursue the American Dream. Weeraranta spoke out against the Trump administration family separation policy, instead highlighting the scientific achievements and economic growth attributed to immigrants in the United States. She urged others to exercise their right to vote, stating that she was only recently able to do so because she is an immigrant.[2]

Selected works

  • Weeraratna, A. T.; Arnold, J. T.; George, D. J.; DeMarzo, A.; Isaacs, J. T. (2000). "Rational basis for Trk inhibition therapy for prostate cancer". The Prostate. 45 (2): 140–148. ISSN 0270-4137. PMID 11027413.
  • Weeraratna, Ashani T.; Jiang, Yuan; Hostetter, Galen; Rosenblatt, Kevin; Duray, Paul; Bittner, Michael; Trent, Jeffrey M. (2002). "Wnt5a signaling directly affects cell motility and invasion of metastatic melanoma". Cancer Cell. 1 (3): 279–288. ISSN 1535-6108.
  • Weeraratna, Ashani T. (2005). "A Wnt-er Wonderland—The complexity of Wnt signaling in melanoma". Cancer and Metastasis Reviews. 24 (2): 237–250. ISSN 0167-7659.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Ashani Weeraratna, Ph.D." Wistar Institue. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Leach Leads Hundreds in Protest Demanding Trump Keep Families Together - Senator Leach". Senator Leach. 2018-06-30. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  3. ↑ Weeraratna, Ashani Tanuja (1998). Loss of uteroglobin expression in metastatic human prostate cancer (Thesis).
  4. ↑ "Ashani Weeraratna - Faculty Biosketch". www.med.upenn.edu. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  5. ↑ Microarray data analysis : methods and applications. Korenberg, Michael J. Totowa, N.J.: Humana Press. 2007. ISBN 9781588295408. OCLC 76416554.
  6. ↑ Ashani, Weeraratna,. "Promotion of tumor invasion and pseudosenescence by the aging microenvironment". Grantome.
  7. ↑ Ashani Weeraratna on Aging and Melanoma, OncLive Insights, 2015-12-14, retrieved 2018-07-06
  8. ↑ "People on the Move: Wistar Institute". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 2016-10-10. Retrieved 2018-07-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "The Wistar Institute Names Ashani Weeraratna, PhD, the Ira Brind Associate Professor for Outstanding Scientific Leadership". OncLive. 2016-09-09. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  10. ↑ "Cancer Biology Graduate Program Faculty". University of the Sciences. Retrieved 2018-07-06.
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