New Frontiers: Extracellular Vesicles

Prof Suresh Mathivanan Suresh Mathivanan completed his PhD in proteomics and bioinformatics at the Institute of Bioinformatics, India and Johns Hopkins University, USA. Suresh joined Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Melbourne, Australia for his first postdoctoral position. In 2011, he received a NH&MRC Peter Doherty fellowship to study the role of exosomes in cancer cells. In 2015, he was awarded an ARC DECRA to study the role of exosomes in intercellular communication. Suresh established his own research group in the Department of Biochemistry, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science (LIMS) at La Trobe University after receiving a LIMS fellowship in 2011. Mathivanan laboratory is focused in exploring exosomes and their role in cancer and intercellular communication. Currently, he is funded by an ARC Future Fellowship (FT2: 2018-2022) to investigate exosome biogenesis. He has authored over 94 papers that are cited more than 20000 times (Google Scholar;July 2020) and has been recognized as a highly cited researcher in 2018 and 2019. Currently, he serves as the Director of the Research Centre for Extracellular Vesicles (RCEV) in La Trobe University.
Dr Pamali Fonseka Pamali Fonseka is an early career scientist at the La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science. Dr Fonseka was awarded PhD in Dec 2018 from La Trobe University. Her PhD thesis was on the role of exosomes in intra-tumour heterogeneity and cross-species communication. She has been working in the field of extracellular vesicles for past 7 years. Dr Fonseka has made numerous contributions to the extracellular vesicles field and has published 11 manuscripts in well reputed journals. Dr Fonseka was awarded CASS foundation science/medical grant and ECR travel grant by the Research Centre for Extracellular Vesicles in 2020. She is the current secretary of La Trobe institute for Molecular Science postdoctoral society and ECR representative ofResearch Centre for Extracellular Vesicles. Currently, her research focuses on exosome biogenesis and role of extracellular vesicles in transfer of chemoresistance to recipient cells.
Dr Christina Nedev Christina's research career stems from that of an infection and immunity background. Her PhD and first post-doctoral studies at La Trobe University (LIMS) focused on identifying apoptotic factors involved in immune cell death during sepsis. She identified a crucial receptor responsible for signalling cell death of innate immune cells during the early phase of sepsis leading to host immune suppression and ultimately death in severe cases. This research has been published in Nature Immunology, 2020. In more recent times, she has shifted focus of research which currently entails using exosomes for cancer therapy.
Dr Ishara Atukorala Ishara Atukorala is an early career researcher at the La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science. Ishara completed her PhD in 2019 at La Trobe University where she explored the role of cadherins in colorectal cancer progression and metastasis and developed an antibody to block the active binding cites of them. She has been working on extracellular vesicles with specific focus on biogenesis and secretion. Dr Atukorala is exploring novel protein candidates and biological pathways involved in biogenesis of extracellular vesicles. Her research further extends to understand the role of cadherins in extracellular vesicle mediated metastasis of colorectal cancer.