Experience
The engineering, quantitative sensing, computational modeling, and extracellular-vesicle biology behind an independent neurodegeneration program.
My training has moved from engineering interfaces and quantitative sensing to extracellular-vesicle biology and neurodegeneration. Each chapter added a capability needed to turn a complex biological signal into a rigorous, useful measurement.
At Yale, I work across secondary progressive multiple sclerosis and ALS, with related studies in neuroimmune disease, remyelination, and aging. The work combines Astroscope™ EV isolation with miRNA/mRNA multi-omics, interpretable computational modeling, and context-of-use thinking so a molecular signature can be evaluated as a research-stage prognostic or monitoring candidate rather than called a diagnostic too early.
My computational modeling foundation began in quantitative sensing: using PCA/LDA and pattern-recognition approaches to interpret high-dimensional odor data from biohybrid sensors at CEA. It now informs EVd3x, a source-attributed multi-omic workspace, and the future cohort models I plan to build with clinical collaborators. The engineering thread—from MEMS and RNA-extraction prototypes at Louisiana Tech to SPRI, biohybrid surfaces, and cleanroom nanofabrication across IMEC and Chalmers—became vesicle isolation, membrane-on-a-chip measurement, secretory-vesicle assays, and a neurodegeneration-focused EV platform at Yale.
Sri LankaAccess, education, and public purpose
My commitment to accessible science begins in Sri Lanka. Long before my research career, I contributed to post-tsunami preschool rebuilding, child nutrition, and STEM education—experiences that continue to shape how I think about who sophisticated health technologies should serve.
Arbeiter Samariter Bund - post-tsunami preschool rebuilding and child-safe spaces in coastal Sri Lanka.
World Vision - Positive Deviance / Hearth nutrition programs for under-five children.
Boost Foundation - science and mathematics education for rural Sri Lankan schools.
USA - Engineering, computation, and measurement
B.S. in Nanosystems Engineering (top 5%) at Louisiana Tech University, with a biomedical concentration and a Mathematics minor. Early MEMS and RNA-extraction prototypes established the systems-thinking and quantitative base for later biosensing work.
Louisiana Tech - Nanosystems Engineering, biomedical track, and Mathematics minor.
France - Quantitative sensing and early AI/ML
Ph.D. in Biophysics at Université Grenoble Alpes, with thesis work at CEA on the biomimetic opto-electronic nose platform behind Aryballe's odor technology. I paired device physics and biohybrid interfaces with PCA/LDA pattern recognition to learn from complex, high-dimensional sensor responses—a foundation for the interpretable multi-omic modeling I use today.
Universite Grenoble Alpes - Ph.D. in Biophysics.
CEA - nano-biosensors, biohybrid surfaces, and PCA/LDA signal interpretation for the opto-electronic nose platform.
Aryballe - startup built from the opto-electronic nose technology.
Europe - Nanofabrication for biologically grounded devices
Erasmus+ M.Sc. in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology at KU Leuven, cleanroom training at IMEC, and advanced nanofabrication at Chalmers University of Technology. This training made it possible to build measurement platforms with the control and reproducibility required for biological samples.
KU Leuven - Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (bio-nanotechnology).
IMEC - advanced nanoelectronics and cleanroom training.
Chalmers University - nanofabrication and device work.Yale - EV multi-omics, AI/ML, and precision neurology
Now a Postdoctoral Associate in Neurology at Yale School of Medicine, building cell-type-enriched EV multi-omic programs for neurodegeneration. I integrate rigorous EV isolation, functional vesicle biology, interpretable ML, and EVd3x to move from a plasma signal to a biological hypothesis and a next validation study.
Yale School of Medicine - Neurology and Pathology; EV biology, translational multi-omics, and precision-neurology research.Training people to move between disciplines.
I teach through hands-on projects, clear technical communication, and close attention to how a question becomes an experiment. My experience includes biomedical-engineering prototyping and venture translation at Yale/EduExplora, SPRI and surface-chemistry training at ESONN, and mathematics and science instruction in Sri Lanka.
Engineering Devices: Bench to Product
Designed and taught a summer course connecting biomedical-engineering concepts to prototypes, intellectual property, and pitch decks.
A Biomimetic Opto-electronic Nose
Taught SPRI principles and surface-chemistry functionalization to international PhD students and postdoctoral researchers.
Mathematics and science in rural schools
Delivered instruction in schools facing persistent staffing and educational-resource gaps.
Tech Trends Transforming Startups
Invited lecturer for the Human Resource Management series on emerging biotechnologies and their impact on the global startup ecosystem.
Mentoring has included lipid nanoprobes, SPRI sensing, EV isolation mechanics, oligodendrocyte-enriched EVs for remyelination research, and plasma-membrane- on-a-chip development.
Recent and former trainees include Uma Maya Sthanu (2024–present; undergraduate, Stanford University), Magdalena Gerstendörfer (2026–present; Biomedical Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München), Vanessa Escobar (2020–2021; SyMMES, CEA–CNRS–Université Grenoble Alpes–Grenoble INP), and Finja Bokstaller (2025–2026; Yale postgraduate research trainee). Their projects have ranged from computational biomarker analysis to calcium-dependent protein interactions, oligodendrocyte- enriched EVs, and biomimetic optoelectronic sensing.