Amarasinghe elected to American Academy of Microbiology
Recognized for research on host-pathogen interactions
Amarasinghe
Gaya K. Amarasinghe, PhD, the Alumni Endowed Professor of Pathology & Immunology and a professor of biochemistry & molecular biophysics and of molecular microbiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been elected to the American Academy of Microbiology in recognition of his contributions to the field. The academy is an honorific leadership group within the American Society for Microbiology. Amarasinghe is one of 65 fellows hailing from nine countries elected this year.
Amarasinghe’s research centers on how pathogens affect the immune systems of the hosts they infect. By characterizing the molecular mechanisms active in pathogens and hosts during infection, his work can help identify therapeutic targets to tamp down the negative effects of disease development and progression. Amarasinghe’s lab has recently published findings related to Ebola virus, Marburg virus, respiratory syncytial virus and Rift Valley Fever virus as well as bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus and Mycobacterium tuberculosis, among other pathogens of global concern. Amarasinghe is also committed to mentoring, training undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in a multidisciplinary approach that includes biochemical analyses and biophysical studies.
