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Lahiru Handunnetthi aims to understand how inflammation and infections contribute to the development of psychiatric and neurological diseases. His work combines genomics methodology and stem cell-derived model systems to elucidate neuro-immune interactions and identify therapeutic targets for neuroinflammatory diseases. Lahiru is involved in the functional characterization of genetic risk alleles discovered through genome-wide association studies, utilizing gene editing techniques and induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neuronal and glial model systems, along with biological samples from patients. He has a specific interest in understanding how the immune system contributes to psychosis and is actively engaged in discovering the roles that autoantibodies and viral infections play in this context. Lahiru completed his DPhil at the Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics at the University of Oxford, focusing on the interactions between genetic and environmental risk factors in neuroimmunological disorders. Additionally, he studied medicine at the University of Cambridge and has held an NIHR funded Clinical Lectureship in Neurology.
Department of Politics and International Relations - Higher Level English requirement.