Dr Arutha Kulasinghe
Faculty of Health,
School of Clinical Medicine
Biography
Dr Arutha Kulasinghe completed his Bachelor of Science and Honours majoring in Medical Microbiology at the University of Pretoria (South Africa). In 2014, he undertook his PhD studies in the investigation of circulating tumour cells in head and neck cancers at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), receiving his doctorate in 2017. In 2019, Dr Kulasinghe began a Peter Doherty NHMRC Early Career Fellowship to develop biomarkers of immunotherapy response in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and lung cancer. His research aims to use spatial analysis of the tumour microenvironment and profiling of liquid biopsy (circulating tumour cells/circulating tumour DNA) to identify biomarkers of response to immune checkpoint inhibitors. Dr Kulasinghe is supported by a number of funding agencies including the NHMRC, Cure Cancer, the PA Research Foundation and the GPRWMF.Personal details
Positions
- Visiting Fellow
Faculty of Health,
School of Clinical Medicine
Keywords
tumour microenvironment, lung cancer, head and neck cancer, circulating tumour cells, liquid biopsy, spatial profiling
Research field
Medical biotechnology, Oncology and carcinogenesis
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2020
Qualifications
- Doctor in Philosophy (Queensland University of Technology)
Professional memberships and associations
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR Associate Member)
AACR & American Head and Neck Society (AACR AHNS)
Australian Society for Medical Research (ASMR)
Australian Metastasis Research Society (OZMRS)
Brisbane Life Science ECR Symposium (BLISS)
Nanostring GeoMX Translational Leadership Network (GTLN)
Visium Clinical Translational Research Network (CTRN)
COVID-Critical
PREDICT-19
EMCR Forum
Experience
- QUT - News - Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation
- Researcher Success: Dr Arutha Kulasinghe — Funding Cancer Research | Cure Cancer
- Dr Arutha Kulasinghe — Funding Cancer Research | Cure Cancer
- Dr Arutha Kulasinghe: spatial profiling and fighting COVID-19 - The Garnett Passe and Rodney Williams Memorial Foundation (gprwmf.org.au)
- A simple blood test provides personalised therapy for cancer patients. | Fresh Science
- Simple test predicts head & neck cancer spread - YouTube (Channel 7 news)
- Could a simple blood test determine which cancer patients will respond to immunotherapy? - Thinkable.org
- Simple test to predict likely spread of rare cancer (medicalxpress.com)
- RACGP - Simple blood test to predict rare cancers' likely spread
- Blood test to predict the spread of head and neck cancer (labonline.com.au)
Publications
- Kulasinghe, A., Schmidt, H., Perry, C., Whitfield, B., Kenny, L., Nelson, C., Ebrahimi Warkiani, M. & Punyadeera, C. (2018). A collective route to head and neck cancer metastasis. Scientific Reports, 8, 1–8. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/223503
- Kulasinghe, A., Tran, T., Blick, T., O'Byrne, K., Thompson, R., Ebrahimi Warkiani, M., Nelson, C., Kenny, L. & Punyadeera, C. (2017). Enrichment of circulating head and neck tumour cells using spiral microfluidic technology. Scientific Reports, 7. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/104057
- Kulasinghe, A., Perry, C., Kenny, L., Ebrahimi Warkiani, M., Nelson, C. & Punyadeera, C. (2017). PD-L1 expressing circulating tumour cells in head and neck cancers. BMC Cancer, 17, 1–6. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/107053
- Kulasinghe, A., Kenny, L. & Punyadeera, C. (2017). Circulating tumour cell PD-L1 test for head and neck cancers. Oral Oncology, 75, 6–7. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/112736
- Schmidt, H., Kulasinghe, A., Perry, C., Nelson, C. & Punyadeera, C. (2016). A liquid biopsy for head and neck cancers. Expert Review of Molecular Diagnostics, 16(2), 165–172. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/91057
- Kulasinghe, A., Perry, C., Boyle, G., O'Byrne, K., Davies, A., Jovanovic, L., Nelson, C. & Punyadeera, C. (2016). Epithelial-mesenchymal axis in head and neck cancer cell lines. Journal of Solid Tumors, 6(1), 28–37. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/91041
- Kulasinghe, A., Kenny, L., Perry, C., Thiery, J., Jovanovic, L., Vela, I., Nelson, C. & Punyadeera, C. (2016). Impact of label-free technologies in head and neck cancer circulating tumour cells. OncoTarget, 7(44), 71223–71234. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/98655
- Kulasinghe, A., Perry, C., Ebrahimi Warkiani, M., Blick, T., Davies, A., O'Byrne, K., Thompson, R., Nelson, C., Vela, I. & Punyadeera, C. (2016). Short term ex-vivo expansion of circulating head and neck tumour cells. OncoTarget, 7(37), 60101–60109. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/98238
- Schmidt, H., Kulasinghe, A., Kenny, L. & Punyadeera, C. (2016). The development of a liquid biopsy for head and neck cancers. Oral Oncology, 61, 8–11. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/98239
- Kulasinghe, A., Perry, C., Jovanovic, L., Nelson, C. & Punyadeera, C. (2015). Circulating tumour cells in metastatic head and neck cancers. International Journal of Cancer, 136(11), 2515–2523. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/86688
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Arutha, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).