Dr Nadisha S Piyarathne

Department of Basic Sciences,
Faculty of Dental Sciences

piyarathnenadisha@dental.pdn.ac.lk, Nadisha.piyarathne@abdn.ac.uk

+94 081 239 7352, +94 071 565 1845

Dr Nadisha Piyarathne

Senior Lecturer
PhD (UK 2022)
Honorary research fellow (University of Aberdeen, UK)
BDS (Hons) Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

Biography

I graduated with BDS First Class Honors (2014) topping the batch of D/08 from University of Peradeniya and was awarded the Best Student of the Year 2014, by the Sri Lanka Dental Association. Following, opted for a research and academic career by joining the Faculty of Dental Sciences, University of Peradeniya in 2015 as a probationary lecturer in the Basic Sciences Department. In 2018, I was able to secure a Elphinestone Scholarship from the University of Aberdeen.

I completed my Doctoral Degree with University of Aberdeen in 2022, under the theme of ‘Salivary Biomarkers and Risk Factors in Oral Cancer and Oral Potentially Malignant Disorders’ two highly cited publications in peer-reviewed indexed Q2 journals.

As a recognition for the my enthusiasm for research, the University of Aberdeen offered me a ‘Honorary Research Fellowship’ for 2023-2026 period. I am currently working as a senior lecturer and Secretary of the Center for Research in Oral Cancer at the Faculty of Dental Sciences, University of Peradeniya.

Research Awards, Grants & Patents:

Elphinstone Scholarship, University of Aberdeen, 2018
General Convocation, University of Peradeniya; Sri Lanka. 2015 • Prof. Brito Muthunayagam gold medal • Dr. Ranjan Abesinghe prize for Dental surgery • Lakshman Samaranayake award for excellence in oral medicine and oral pathology • Gold medal for excellence in Restorative dentistry
Sri Lanka Dental Association – Gold Medal for the Best student of the year 2014
Commendable Oral Pathology Project at Oral Pathology open day, University of Peradeniya (2014)
Co-investigator for the study “Applications of white light images and artificial intelligence for the early detection of oral cancer in Sri Lanka” which received a competitive 2.5 Mn LKR worth Multi-disciplinary Research Grant -2022 from the University of Peradeniya. In collaboration with Faculty of Engineering, University of Peradeniya, and Cancer Research Malaysia (local and foreign collaboration).

Research Interests

Oral cancer
Systematic review
Molecular and Digital Diagnostics
Salivomics

Ongoing Research Projects

Multidisciplinary projects: A project on ‘Early detection of oral cancer with white light images’ in collaboration with Department of Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Peradeniya A project on ‘Improving oral health in pre-school children’ in collaboration with Department of Environmental Engineering, Sociology and Agriculture Faculties, University of Peradeniya
Systematic reviews: Antimicrobial resistance in Sri Lanka in collaboration with University of Malyasia, Kentalan Musculoskeletal disorders among Dentists / Management of Lateral Pterygoid Muscle in TMD/ Oral Health Related Quality of Life / Role of Exosomes in Head and Neck cancer in collaboration with University of Aberdeen, UK
Student projects: Molecular detection and Antifungal susceptibility testing of Candida Albicans conducted by undergraduate students of Faculty of Allied Health Sciences Knowledge, Attitude, Perceptions on the use of Artificial Intelligence among staff and undergraduates of Faculty of Dental Sciences Evaluation of Empathy among Dental undergraduate students, at Faculty of Dental Sciences, University of Peradeniya

Research Enrolment and Opportunities

I am open to research collaborations for multi-disciplinary projects and systematic reviews

Publications

Hettiarachchi PVKS, Piyarathne N, Siriwardena BSMS, Jayasinghe RD, Perera S, Tilakaratne WM. Controversies in Verruco Papillary Lesions of the Oral Cavity - A Systematic Review. Oral Dis. 2022, Doi: 10.1111/odi.14306. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35801381. (Impact factor-3.21, 2022). NP role: Protocol design, data extraction, quality assessment, data analysis, manuscript writing.
Piyarathne NS, Rasnayake R.M.S.G.K, Angammana R, Chandrasekera P, Ramachandra S, Weerasekera M, Yasawardene S, Abu-Eid R, Jayasinghe J.A.P & Gupta E. Diagnostic salivary biomarkers in oral cancer and oral potentially malignant disorders and their relationships to risk factors – A systematic review, Expert Review of Molecular Diagnostics, 2021, Doi: 10.1080/14737159.2021.1944106 (Impact factor-5.22, 2021). NP role: Protocol design, conducting literature research, data extraction, quality assessment, data analysis, manuscript writing.
Paranagama MP, Piyarathne NS, Nandasena TL, Jayatilake S, Navaratne A, Galhena BP, Williams S, Rajapakse J, Kita K. The Porphyromonas gingivalis inhibitory effects, antioxidant effects and the safety of a Sri Lankan traditional betel quid - an in vitro study. BMC Complement Med Theraputics. 2020, 20(1):259. Doi: 10.1186/s12906-020-03048-6. PMID: 32819379; PMCID: PMC7439561 (Impact factor-3.47, 2020). NP role: Sample collection, laboratory analysis including antioxidant assays, colorimetric assays, herbal extraction methods