Dr Himaya Siddhihalu Wickrama Hewage
Researcher biography
I am a biochemist with a passion for exploring venom chemistry to develop medicinal tools. My main research focus is on the complex venom systems to elucidate structure-function of venom peptides for medicinal and biotechnological use. I have developed multidisciplinary state-of-the art approaches using proteo-genomics, pharmacology and behavioural studies to rapidly investigate venoms. This rational and systematic approch is used to unravel therapeutically valuable venom peptides while understanding the chemical evolution and origins of venom. Currently I am a lead scientist of the cone snail venom research program at IMB. I am deciphering new mechanisms of conotoxin diversification from ancestral species to relatively new lineages to establish evolutionary trajectories of venoms while investigating the structure and function of these highly optimised venom components as potential leads for treatment of pain.