Sanoji Wijenayake
Assistant Professor
Department:
Biology
Fields:
- Biology
- Children and Babies
- Neuroscience
Areas of Expertise:
- Maternal obesity
- Maternal nutrient stress
- Cellular stress
- Epigenetics (Nurture vs Nature)
- Early childhood development
- Neurodevelopment
- Neuroinflammation
- Mammalian milk
- Bioactive components of milk
- Milk and it's role in development
- Biological nanovesicles
- Extracellular vesicles
- Hypoxia/ischemia
Languages Spoken:
- English
Available To:
- Appear on radio or TV
- Appear as a public speaker
- Provide comment to media
- Write articles
- Discuss research with industry, government, and others
About:
Dr. Wijenayake is an Assistant Professor at the University of Winnipeg. She is an early career researcher with expertise in cell & molecular biology, biochemistry, epigenetics, extracellular vesicles, developmental biology, and bioinformatics (sequenced “big” data).
She is passionate about uncovering the therapeutic potential of milk-derived exosomes, especially in the context of improving neonatal health. Mechanistic insights obtained from her research can be used to improve nutritional benefits of formula feeding in premature neonates, fortification of pasteurized human donor milk with bovine and/or human milk-derived exosomes, and the development of oral therapeutics for necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in premature neonates in Canada.
She anticipates her research will identify multitudes of novel genes and developmental pathways that could be altered by epigenetic changes in response to maternal obesity and shed light on an important epigenetic regulator, milk-derived exosomes and milk microRNAs that may govern early life development.
Media and Research Expert