Dr Kumudika de Silva

Research Fellow

C01 - J.L. Shute, Camden
The University of Sydney
NSW 2570 Australia
Phone: +61 2 9036 7737
Fax: +61 2 9351 1693
Email:

Qualifications

BAppSc (Hons), PhD

Career

1993 University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka
2000 Loyola University Medical Centre, Chicago
2002 - present The University of Sydney

Research Interests

Kumi completed a Bachelor of Applied Science degree (Hons. Class I) at the University of Canberra, where she studied the oxidation of low density lipoproteins for her Honours project. She then worked for two years as a lecturer in Biochemistry at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka.

Kumi returned to Australia to undertake doctoral studies at the John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University, Canberra. During her PhD she studied the adhesion and migration of subsets of human mononuclear cells in response to native and minimally oxidised forms of low density lipoprotein. After completing her PhD, Kumi worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Burns and Shock Trauma Institute, Loyola University Medical Center, Chicago, USA. Here she studied the effects of prostaglandin E2 on IL-6 receptor expression and signal transduction pathways. She found that PGE2 was able to arrest cell proliferation in an in vitro model by down-regulating expression of the IL-6 receptor as well as subsequent signal transduction and identified cell surface receptors used by PGE2. This work provides an explanation for the granulocytopenia seen in thermal injury and sepsis. Kumi was also involved in studies investigating the response of bone marrow stem cells to injury in a murine model.

Kumi joined the Farm Animal and Veterinary Public Health Group in 2002 to study the pathogenesis of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis infection, the cause of Johne’s disease, in sheep. She is currently involved in investigating the cell-mediated immune response in sheep during the early stages of Johne’s disease. Kumi also has a long-held interest in scientific communication and is a member of the Society of Editors (NSW).