Rate My Professor Thiloma Liyanage

Thiloma Liyanage is an Assistant Research Fellow in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Health Sciences Division, at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. She earned a Masters of Veterinary Medicine from Chungnam National University from September 2018 to August 2020 and completed her undergraduate field of study at the University of Peradeniya from October 2011 to December 2015. Her research interests encompass veterinary infectious diseases, immunology of infectious diseases, zebrafish as a model organism, immunomodulation, next-generation sequencing, innate immunity, microRNA regulation, recombinant protein expression and purification, cell culture, and co-immunoprecipitation. At the University of Otago, she contributes to projects on chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell immunotherapy and host-pathogen interactions, including the role of host GTPases in controlling bacterial dissemination.

Liyanage has authored or co-authored 26 publications with 194 citations. Notable recent works include "Auto-inducible expression of chimeric antigen receptor T cells using the NR4A1 promoter" (Immunology and Cell Biology, 2026), where she conducted investigations and data curation, and "The host GTPase Dynamin 2 modulates apical junction structure to control cell-to-cell spread of Listeria monocytogenes" (Infection and Immunity, 2024). Her prior research features "Octominin: An antibacterial and anti-biofilm peptide for controlling the multidrug resistance and pathogenic Streptococcus parauberis" (Fish & Shellfish Immunology, 2020), "Molecular insight into regulation of miRNA in the spleen of zebrafish (Danio rerio) upon pathogenic Streptococcus parauberis infection" (Developmental & Comparative Immunology, 2020), "Biological Activity of Porcine Gastric Mucin on Stress Resistance and Immunomodulation" (Animals, 2020), "Chitosan nanoparticle-based in vivo delivery of miR-155 modulates the Viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus-induced antiviral immune responses in zebrafish (Danio rerio)" (2023), and studies on pectin from Spirulina maxima enhancing disease resistance and miR-146a regulatory roles in zebrafish against Aeromonas hydrophila and Edwardsiella piscicida infections.