Upulie Divisekera
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Upulie Divisekera | |
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 Upulie Divisekera in 2017 | |
| Alma mater | |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Monash University |
Upulie Pabasarie Divisekera is an Australian molecular biologist and science communicator. She is a doctoral student at Monash University and is the co-founder of Real Scientists, an outreach program that uses performance and writing to communicate science. She has written for The Sydney Morning Herald, Crikey and The Guardian.
Divisekera wanted to be a scientist since she was a child.[1] She is of Sri Lankan descent.[2] After finishing high school she worked for biochemist Mary-Jane Gething from 1995 through 1997. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Melbourne in 2001.[3] Here she worked on molecular parasitology with Malcolm McConville. Between 2002 and 2004, she worked as a research assistant at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research on apoptosis and antibody production. She joined Australian National University for her postgraduate studies, graduating in 2007.[3] Divisekera worked on the epithelial to mesenchymal transition in fruit fly embryos in Canberra.[2] She worked as a research assistant at the University of Melbourne in 2007. Divisekera worked as a research assistant at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre from 2008 to 2012.[3][4][5] During this time, she worked in developmental biology and cancer research with Mark Smyth.[2] She studied CD73 as a potential immunotherapy for breast cancer.[6] She is a doctoral student in the department of chemical engineering at Monash University working on nanoparticles and drug delivery.[7][8]
