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Sanoji Wijenayake

Assistant Professor


Sanoji Wijenayake
Contact Information

My Research

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