Record details

General information

Nominating Government

Sri Lanka

Profile of the Expert

Prof Chamari Hettiarachchi obtained BSc Honors (Botany) in 1996 from University of Colombo and PhD (Molecular Biology & Biochemistry) (2003) from (International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) affiliated to Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. She was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Department of Cell and Molecular Biology (2004 -2006) and Visiting Scientist at Department of Biological and Environmental Science, (2011-2012) University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Her specialization is in Molecular Biology, Biochemistry and Microbiology and she has more than thirty publications in indexed international journals in the area of her specialization. She is a recipient of SUSRED award 2013 on the supervision and conducting of postgraduate research degree and presidential awards 2008 & 2015. At present she is attached to the University of Colombo as a Professor in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry.

Personal Information

Coordinates

Prof. Chamari Hettiarachchi

Department of chemistry, university of Colombo, Sri Lanka

Colombo, Western

Sri Lanka

Phone:	+94 (0)71 440 6264
Fax:	+94 (0)11 250 3367
Email:	chamarih@chem.cmb.ac.lk
Url:	https://www.res.cmb.ac.lk/chemistry/chamari-hettiarachchi/

Gender

Female

Nationalities

Sri Lankan

Date of birth

1970

Place of birth

Sri Lanka

Current employment

Employer / Organization

University Of Colombo, Sri Lanka

Type of organization

Academic or research institute

Department / Division / Unit

Department of chemistry

Start date

2006

Main responsibilities

Teaching & conducting research in the area of Biotechnology (molecular biology, biochemistry, biosafety & microbiology)

Employment history

Countries or regions where you have worked

India
Sweden

Previous employment

Employer / Organization

University Of Gothernburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

Start date

2004

Ending date

2006

Type of organization

Academic or research institute

Main areas of responsibility

Research in area of Molecular Biology & Biosafety

Previous employment

Employer / Organization

Industrial Technology Institute, Sri Lanka

Start date

1998

Ending date

2004

Type of organization

Academic or research institute

Main areas of responsibility

Research in the area of Microbiology

Formal education

First Degree or other academic distinction and subject

Example: B.Sc. in Microbiology

B.Sc. in Botany

Name of academic institution

University Of Colombo, Sri Lanka

Start date

1992

Ending date

1996

Formal education

Second Degree or other academic distinction and the subject

Example: M.Sc. in Microbiology

Ph.D. In Molecular Biology & Biochemistry

Name of academic institution

Jawahar Lal Nehru University, India

Start date

2000

Ending date

2003

Other professional qualifications

List of other relevant professional qualifications

Achieved Seda standards after successfully completing the staff education development in UK accredited certificate course in teaching higher education

Guest Researcher - Department of Plant & Environmental Science, University Of Gothenburg, Sweden, Feb 2011 - Feb 2012

Areas of Expertise

Main areas of expertise

Intellectual property rights
Genetic engineering
Biochemistry
Biotechnology
Microbiology
Molecular biology
Genomics
LMO detection
Risk assessment
Risk management
Project management
LMO field monitoring
Botany, forestry and plant agricultural sciences
Biosafety Clearing-House

Publications

List most important publications related to the expert main field of expertise.

Kajendran K, Chandrasekharan N V, Hettiarachchi C M, Wijesundera W S S (2019): Molecular characterization and expression of α-gliadin genes from wheat cultivar Dacke in Bg 250 rice variety, GM Crops & Food 1-13. DOI: 10.1080/21645698.2019.1622990

Datta, S., Hettiarachchi. C., Johansson, H., Holm, M. (2007) SALT TOLERANCE HOMOLOG 2 (STH2), a B- box protein in Arabidopsis that activates transcription and positively regulates light mediated development. The Plant Cell, 19, 3242-3255.

Divisekera, D.M.W.D., Samarasekera, J.K.R.R., Hettiarachchi, C. Gooneratne J., Choudhary M. I., Gopalakrishnan S. & Wahab A.T. (2019). Lactic acid bacteria isolated from fermented flour of finger millet, its probiotic attributes and bioactive properties. Annals of Microbiology 69 (2), 79-92.

List of other publications files

List of other publications.doc

Awards and Professional Memberships

Awards received

2017 Presidential awards for scientific research, Sri Lanka

2013 SUSRED award, National Science Foundation for supervision of postgraduate
Research degree

2008 Presidential awards for scientific research, Sri Lanka

Professional memberships

Life Member of Sri Lanka Institute of Biology

Life Member of Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science (SLAAS)

Language proficiency

"A" = Excellent, "B" = Good, "C" = Fair

Mother Tongue

Singhalese

Speaking / Level (A B C)

English

Reading / Level (A B C)

English

Writing / Level (A B C)

English

References

Record #115807

Prof R D Wijesekera

Head

Department of Chemistry

University of Colombo

Colombo

Sri Lanka

Phone:	+94 11-250 3367
Email:	ramanee@chem.cmb.ac.lk

Record #115808

Prof. Preethi Udagama Udagama

Senior Professor

Department of Zoology and Environment Sciences

University of Colombo

Colombo

Sri Lanka

Phone:	+94 (0)11 215 8395
Fax:	+94 (0)11 250 8395
Email:	preethi@zoology.cmb.ac.lk

Record #115809

Prof. Thusitha U Abeytunga

Senior Profesor

Department of Chemistry

University of Colombo

Colombo

Sri Lanka

Phone:	+94 (0)11 250 3367
Fax:	+94 (0)11 250 3367
Email:	thusitha@chem.cmb.ac.lk

Additional Information

Since 2000 she conducts research related to genetically modified organisms. She was involved in conducting risk assessment of GMO in India as well as in Sweden during her PhD and postdoctoral training and she was trained for the same.