• B.S. (Truman State University, Missouri, USA),
• Ph.D. (Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, USA)

• Immunology
• Molecular Biology
• Biotechnology
• Parasitology

• Clinical genetics and immunological studies on infectious diseases (Dengue, tuberculosis and Melioidosis)
• Sequencing of current circulating dengue viruses in Sri Lanka to study the Phylogeography and the fitness/virulence of the virus.
• Studies on Melioidosis patients and the infecting Burkholderia pseudomallei strains in Sri Lanka
• Human Immune signatures of Dengue virus exposure in infection, disease and vaccination
• Human Immune signatures of Mycobacterium tuberculosis exposure in infection, disease and vaccination
• The identification of HLA class I and class II T cell epitopes from dengue virus
• Understanding / identifying the genetic and immunological differences of patients who have had
• Studies on SARS-CoV2 virus and infected patients

1. Joyce, S., Negishi, I., Boesteanu, A., De Silva, A. D., Sharma, P., Chorney, M.J., Loh, D.Y., and Van Kaer, L. (1996) Expansion of natural (NK1+) T cells that express T cell receptors in transporters associated with antigen presentation-1 null and thymus leukemia antigen positive mice. J. Exp. Med., 184:1579-1584
2. Boesteanu, A., De Silva, A. D., Nakajima, H., Leonard, W.J., Peschon, J.J., and Joyce, S. (1997) Distinct Roles for Signals Relayed through the Common Cytokine Receptor Chain and Interleukin 7 Receptor Chain in Natural T Cell Development. J. Exp. Med. 186: 331-336
3. Joyce, S., Woods, A.S., Yewdell, J.W., Bennink, J.R., De Silva, A. D., Boesteanu, A., Balk, S.P., Cotter, R.J., and Brutkiewicz, R.R. (1998) A natural ligand of mouse CD1d1: cellular glycosylphosphatidylinositol.
   Science 279: 1541-1544.
4. De Silva, A. D., Boesteanu, A., Song, R., Nagy, N., Harhaj, E., Harding C.V. and Joyce, S. (1999) Thermolabile H-2Kb molecules expressed by TAP-deficient RMA-S cells are occupied by low affinity peptides. J. Immunol.163:4413-4420.
5. De Silva, A. D., Park, J.-J., Matsuki, N., Stanic, A.K., Brutkiewicz, R., Medoff, M. E. and Joyce, S. (2002) Lipid protein interactions: the assembly of CD1d1 with cellular phospholipids occurs in the endoplasmic reticulum. J. Immunol.168:723-733.
6. Park, J. J., Kang, S.J., De Silva, A. D., Stanic, A. K., Casorati, G., Hachey, D. L., Cresswell, P., and Joyce, S. (2004) Lipid-protein interactions: Biosynthetic assembly of CD1 with lipids in the endoplasmic reticulum is evolutionarily conserved. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 101(4):1022-26
7. Roy E., De Silva A.D., Sambandamurthy V.K., Clark S.O., Stavropoulos E., Jacobs W.R. Jr, Brennan J., Chan J., Williams A., Colston M.J., Tascon R.E. (2006) Induction of high levels of protective immunity in mice after vaccination using dendritic cells infected with auxotrophic mutants of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Immunol. Lett. 103(2):196-9
8. Senaratne R.H., De Silva A.D., Williams S.J., Mougous J.D., Zhang T., Chan S., Sidders B, Chan J., Bertozzi C.R., and Riley L.W. (2006) 5’-Adenosinephosphosulphate reductase (cysH) protects Mycobacterium tuberculosis against adaptive immunity. Mol. Microbiol. 59(6):1744-53
9. Tissera H.A, De Silva A.D, Abeysinghe M.R.N, de Silva A.M, Palihawadana P, Gunasena S, Tam C.C., Gamage T.M, De Silva T, Rajapaksa L.C, Amarasinghe A, Letson G.W, Margolis H.S, (2009) Dengue Surveillance in Colombo, Sri Lanka: Baseline seroprevalence among children. Procedia in Vaccinology 1 (2009) 110–114. PMCID: N/A
10. Malavige GN, Rostron T, Rohanachandra LT, Jayaratne SD, Fernando N, De Silva AD, Liyanage M, Ogg G. (2011) HLA Class I and Class II Associations in Dengue Viral Infections in a Sri Lankan Population. PLoS ONE 6(6): e20581. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0020581. PMCID: PMC3111420
11. Weiskopf D, Yauch LE, Angelo MA, John DV, Greenbaum JA, Sidney J, Kolla RV, De Silva AD, de Silva AM, Grey H, Peters B, Shresta S, Sette A. (2011) Insights into HLA-Restricted T Cell Responses in a Novel Mouse Model of Dengue Virus Infection Point toward New Implications for Vaccine Design. J. Immunol. 2011 Sep 14. PMCID: PMC3186824
12. Hasitha A. Tissera, Eng Eong Ooi, Duane J. Gubler, Ying Tan, Barathy Logendra, Wahala M.P.B. Wahala, Aravinda M. de Silva, M.R. Nihal Abeysinghe, Paba Palihawadana, Sunethra Gunasena, Clarence C. Tam, Ananda Amarasinghe , G.William Letson, Harold S. Margolis and Aruna Dharshan De Silva (2011) Dengue Surveillance in Colombo, Sri Lanka: emergence of a new dengue virus type 1 genotype Emerging Infectious Diseases 2011 Nov, 17(11):2053-5. PMCID: N/A
13. Daniela Weiskopf, Michael A. Angelo, Elzinandes L. de Azeredoa, John Sidney, Jason A. Greenbaum, Anira N. Fernando, Anne Broadwater, Ravi V. Kolla, Aruna D. De Silva, Aravinda M. de Silva, Kimberly A. Mattia, Benjamin J. Doranz, Howard M. Grey, Sujan Shresta, Bjoern Peters, and Alessandro Sette (2013) Comprehensive analysis of dengue virus-specific responses supports an HLA-linked protective role for CD8+ T cells Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1305227110. PMCID: PMC3670335
14. Tam CC, Tissera H, de Silva AM, De Silva AD, Margolis HS, Amarasinge A (2013) Estimates of dengue force of infection in children in Colombo, Sri Lanka. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2013 Jun 6;7(6):e2259. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0002259. PMCID: PMC3674987
15. Hasitha A Tissera, Ananda Amarasinghe, Aravinda M de Silva, Jeroen De Man and Aruna Dharshan De Silva (2013) A comparison of an in-house IgM and IgG assay with a commercial Panbio kit, in a paediatric cohort in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Dengue Bulletin 2013, Vol 37.101-106. PMCID: N/A
16. Hasitha A Tissera, Ananda Amarasinghe, Aravinda M de Silva, Clarence C Tam, Aruna Dharshan De Silva, G William Letson, and Harold S Margolis Surveillance of dengue in a community cohort in Metropolitan Colombo, Sri Lanka: part I methods and study population. Dengue Bulletin 2013, Vol 37.141-159. PMCID: N/A
17. Calis JJA, Maybeno M, Greenbaum JA, Weiskopf D, De Silva AD, Sette A¸mir KS, Peters B (2013) Properties of MHC Class I Presented Peptides That Enhance Immunogenicity. PLoS Comput Biol 9(10): e1003266. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003266. PMCID: PMC3808449
18. Karen E. Ocwieja, Anira N. Fernando, Scott Sherrill-Mix, Sesh Sunduraraman, Rashika Nandu Tennekoon, Rashmi Tippalagama, Shivankari Krishnananthasivam, Gayani Premawansa, Sunil Premawansa, Aruna Dharshan De Silva (2014) Phylogeography and Molecular Epidemiology of an epidemic strain of DENV-1 in Sri Lanka. American Journal of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene, May 5, ePrint (impact factor 2.59). PMCID: PMC4125241
19. Tissera H, Amarasinghe A, De Silva AD, Kariyawasam P, Corbett KS, Katzelnick L, Tam C, Letson GW, Margolis HS, de Silva AM. (2014) Burden of Dengue Infection and Disease in a Pediatric Cohort in Urban Sri Lanka. American Journal of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene, May 27. pii: 13-0540. PMCID: PMC4080552
20. Corbett KS, Katzelnick L, Tissera H, Amerasinghe A, de Silva AD, de Silva AM. (2014) Preexisting Neutralizing Antibody Responses Distinguish Clinically Inapparent and Apparent Dengue Virus Infections in a Sri Lankan Pediatric Cohort. J.Infect Dis. Feb15;211(4):590-9 PMID: 25336728
21. Weiskopf D, Angelo MA, Bangs DJ, Sidney J, Paul S, Peters B, De Silva AD, Lindow JC, Diehl SA, Whitehead S, Durbin A, Kirkpatrick B, Sette A.(2014) The Human CD8+ T Cell Responses Induced by a Live Attenuated Tetravalent Dengue Vaccine Are Directed against Highly Conserved Epitopes. J Virol. 2015 Jan 1;89(1):120-8. doi: 10.1128/JVI.02129-14. Epub 2014 Oct 15.
22. Tillekeratne L, Bodinayake C, Nagahawatte A, Vidanagama D, Devasiri V, Arachchi WK, Kurukulasooriya R, De Silva AD, Østybe T, Reller ME, Woods CW.(2015) An Under-Recognized Influenza Epidemic Identified by Rapid Influenza Testing, Southern Sri Lanka, 2013. American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene. 2015 May;92(5):1023-9. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.14-0708. Epub 2015 Mar 2.
23. Sathkumara HD, De Silva NR, Handunnetti S, De Silva AD.(2015) Genetics of common variable immunodeficiency: role of transmembrane activator and calcium modulator and cyclophilin ligand interactor. Int J Immunogenet. 2015 Aug;42(4):239-53. doi: 10.1111/iji.12217. Epub 2015 Jun 19.
24. Krishnananthasivam S, Fernando AN, Tippalagama R, Tennekoon R, De Man J, Seneviratne D, Premawansa S, Premawansa G, De Silva AD. (2015) Evaluation of a commercial rapid test kit for detection of acute dengue infection. Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health 46.4 (Jul 2015): 602.
25. Weiskopf D, Bangs DJ, Sidney J, Kolla RV, De Silva AD, de Silva AM, Crotty S, Peters B, Sette A. (2015) Dengue virus infection elicits highly polarized CX3CR1+ cytotoxic CD4+ T cells associated with protective immunity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015 Aug 4;112(31):E4256-63. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1505956112. Epub 2015 Jul 20. PMID: 26195744
26. Weiskopf D, Cerpas C, Angelo MA, Bangs DJ, Sidney J, Paul S, Peters B, Sanches FP, Silvera CG, Costa PR, Kallas EG, Gresh L, de Silva AD, Balmaseda A, Harris E, Sette (2015) A. Human CD8+ T-Cell Responses Against the 4 Dengue Virus Serotypes Are Associated With Distinct Patterns of Protein Targets. J Infect Dis. 2015 Dec 1;212(11):1743-51. Epub 2015 May 15.
27. Fernando AN, Malavige GN, Perera KN, Premawansa S, Ogg GS, De Silva AD. Polymorphisms of transporter associated with antigen presentation, tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-10 and their implications for protection and susceptibility to severe forms of dengue fever in patients in Sri Lanka.(2015) J Global Infect Dis 2015;7:157-64. Available from: http://www.jgid.org/text.asp?2015/7/4/157/170501
28. Hasitha Tissera, Ananda Amarasinghe, Sunethra Gunasena, Aruna Dharshan De Silva, Leong Wei Yee, October Sessions, Chanaka Muthukuda, Paba Palihawadana, Wolfgang Lohr, Peter Byass, Duane J. Gubler, Annelies WilderSmith (2016) Laboratory-Enhanced Dengue Sentinel Surveillance in Colombo District, Sri Lanka: 2012-2014. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 10(2): e0004477. doi:10.1371/journal. pntd.0004477
29. de Alwis R, Bangs DJ, Angelo MA, Cerpas C, Fernando A, Sidney J, Peters B, Gresh L, Balmaseda A, de Silva AD, Harris E, Sette A, Weiskopf D (2016) Immunodominant Dengue Virus-Specific CD8+ T Cell Responses Are Associated with a Memory PD-1+ Phenotype. J Virol. 2016 Apr 14;90(9):4771-9. doi: 10.1128/JVI.02892-15. Print 2016 May.
30. Weiskopf D, Angelo MA, Grifoni A, O’Rourke PH, Sidney J, Paul S, De Silva AD, Phillips E, Mallal S, Premawansa S, Premawansa G, Wijewickrama A, Peters B, Sette A (2016) HLA-DRB1 Alleles Are Associated With Different Magnitudes of Dengue Virus-Specific CD4+ T-Cell Responses. J Infect Dis. 2016 Oct 1;214(7):1117-24. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiw309. Epub 2016 Jul 20
31. Bodinayake CK, Tillekeratne LG, Nagahawatte A, Devasiri V, Kodikara Arachichi W, Strouse JJ, John J. Strouse, October M. Sessions, Ruvini Kurukulasooriya, Anna Uehara, Shiqin Howe, Xin Mei Ong, Sharon Tan, Angelia Chow, Praveen Tummalapalli, Aruna D. De Silva, Truls Østbye, Christopher W. Woods, Duane J. Gubler, Megan E. Reller (2016) Emergence of Epidemic Dengue-1 Virus in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 10(10): e0004995. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0004995
32. Angelo MA, Grifoni A, O’Rourke PH, Sidney J, Paul S, Peters B, De Silva AD, Phillips E, Mallal S, Diehl SA, Kirkpatrick BD, Whitehead SS, Durbin AP, Sette A, Weiskopf D. (2016) Human CD4+ T cell responses to an attenuated tetravalent dengue vaccine parallel those induced by natural infection, in magnitude, HLA restriction and antigen specificity.J Virol. 2016 Dec 14. pii: JVI.02147-16. [Epub ahead of print] PMID:27974563
33. Natesan M, Corea E, Krishnananthasivam S, Sathkumara HD, Dankmeyer JL, Dyas BK, Amemiya K, De Silva AD, Ulrich RG (2017) Calprotectin as a Biomarker for Melioidosis Disease Progression and Management. J Clin Microbiol. 2017 Apr;55(4):1205-1210. doi:10.1128/JCM.02284-16. Epub 2017 Feb 8.
34. Grifoni A, Angelo M, Sidney J, Paul S, Peters B, de Silva AD, Phillips E, Mallal S, Diehl SA, Botten J, Boyson J, Kirkpatrick BD, Whitehead SS, Durbin AP, Sette A, Weiskopf D. J Virol. 2017 Mar 29;91(8). pii: e02133-16. doi: 10.1128/JVI.02133-16. Print 2017 Apr 15.PMID:28148797
35. Krishnananthasivam S, Sathkumara HD, Corea E, Natesan M, De Silva AD.(2017) Gene Expression Profile of Human Cytokines in Response to Burkholderia pseudomallei Infection. mSphere. 2017 Apr 19;2(2). pii: e00121-17. doi: 10.1128/mSphere.00121-17. eCollection 2017 Mar-Apr. PMID:28435890
36. Krishnananthasivam S, Jayathilaka N, Sathkumara HD, Corea E, Natesan M, De Silva AD.(2017) Host gene expression analysis in Sri Lankan melioidosis patients. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2017 Jun 19;11(6):e0005643. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0005643. eCollection 2017 Jun.
37. Uehara A, Tissera HA, Bodinayake CK, Amarasinghe A, Nagahawatte A, Tillekeratne LG, Cui J, Reller ME, Palihawadana P, Gunasena S, De Silva AD, Wilder-Smith A, Gubler DJ, Woods CW, Sessions OM. (2017) Analysis of Dengue Serotype 4 in Sri Lanka during the 2012-2013 Dengue Epidemic. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2017 Jul;97(1):130-136. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.16-0540. PMID: 28719296
38. Grifoni A, Pham J, Sidney J, O’Rourke PH, Paul S, Peters B, Martini SR, de Silva AD, Ricciardi MJ, Magnani DM, Silveira CGT, Maestri A, Costa PR, de-Oliveira-Pinto LM, de Azeredo EL, Damasco PV, Phillips E, Mallal S, de Silva AM, Collins M, Durbin A, Diehl SA, Cerpas C, Balmaseda A, Kuan G, Coloma J, Harris E, Crowe JE Jr, Stone M, Norris PJ, Busch M, Vivanco-Cid H, Cox J, Graham BS, Ledgerwood JE, Turtle L, Solomon T, Kallas EG, Watkins DI, Weiskopf D, Sette A. (2017) Prior Dengue virus exposure shapes T cell immunity to Zika virus in humans. J Virol. 2017 Oct 4. pii: JVI.01469-17. doi: 10.1128/JVI.01469-17.
39. Grifoni A, Angelo MA, Lopez B, O’Rourke PH, Sidney J, Cerpas C, Balmaseda A, Silveira CGT, Maestri A, Costa PR, Durbin AP, Diehl SA, Phillips E, Mallal S, De Silva AD, Nchinda G, Nkenfou C, Collins MH, de Silva AM, Lim MQ, Macary PA, Tatullo F, Solomon T, Satchidanandam V, Desai A, Ravi V, Coloma J, Turtle L, Rivino L, Kallas EG, Peters B, Harris E, Sette A, Weiskopf D.(2017) Global Assessment of Dengue Virus-Specific CD4+ T Cell Responses in Dengue-Endemic Areas. Front Immunol. 2017 Oct 13;8:1309. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2017.01309. eCollection 2017.
40. Weiskopf D, Angelo M, Zapardiel J, Seumois G, De Silva A, De Silva AD, Vijay P, Peters B,Sette A. (2016) DENV-specific CD4 T-cells dominantly recognize capsid-derived epitopes and display a cytotoxic phenotype. J Immunol.2016 May 1:196 (1) Supplement 147.13 Online ISSN 1550-6606
41. Tian Y, Babor M, Lane J, Schulten V, Patil VS, Seumois G, Rosales SL, Fu Z, Picarda G, Burel J, Zapardiel-Gonzalo J, Tennekoon RN, De Silva AD, Premawansa S, Premawansa G, Wijewickrama A, Greenbaum JA, Vijayanand P, Weiskopf D, Sette A, Peters B. (2017) Unique phenotypes and clonal expansions of human CD4 effector memory T cells re-expressing CD45RA. Nat Commun. 2017 Nov 13;8(1):1473. doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-01728-5.
42. Montoya M, Collins M, Dejnirattisai W, Katzelnick LC, Puerta-Guardo H, Jadi R, Schildhauer S, Supasa P, Vasanawathana S, Malasit P, Mongkolsapaya J, de Silva AD, Tissera H, Balmaseda A, Screaton G, de Silva AM, Harris E. (2018) Longitudinal Analysis of Antibody Cross-Neutralization Following Zika and Dengue Virus Infection in Asia and the Americas. J Infect Dis. 2018 Apr 2. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiy164. [Epub ahead of print]
43. Bodinayake CK, Tillekeratne LG, Nagahawatte A, Devasiri V, Kodikara Arachchi W, Strouse JJ, Sessions OM, Kurukulasooriya R, Uehara A, Howe S, Ong XM, Tan S, Chow A, Tummalapalli P, De Silva AD, Østbye T, Woods CW, Gubler DJ, Reller ME. (2018) Evaluation of the WHO 2009 classification for diagnosis of acute dengue in a large cohort of adults and children in Sri Lanka during a dengue-1 epidemic. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2018 Feb 9;12(2):e0006258. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0006258. eCollection 2018 Feb. PMID 29425194
44. Patil VS, Madrigal A, Schmiedel BJ, Clarke J, O’Rourke P, de Silva AD, Harris E, Peters B, Seumois G, Weiskopf D, Sette A, Vijayanand P. Precursors of human CD4+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes identified by single-cell transcriptome analysis. (2018) Sci Immunol. 2018 Jan 19;3(19). pii: eaan8664. doi: 10.1126/sciimmunol.aan8664. PMID:29352091
45. Grifoni A, Weiskopf D, Lindestam Arlehamn CS, Angelo M, Leary S, Sidney J, Frazier A, Phillips E, Mallal S, Mack SJ, Tippalagama R, Goonewardana S, Premawansa S, Premawansa G, Wijewickrama A, De Silva AD, Sette A. (2018) Sequence-based HLA-A, B, C, DP, DQ, and DR typing of 714 adults from Colombo, Sri Lanka. Hum Immunol. 2018 Feb;79(2):87-88. doi: 10.1016/j.humimm.2017.12.007. Epub 2017 Dec 28. PMID:29289740
46. Sathkumara HD, Merritt AJ, Corea EM, Krishnananthasivam S, Natesan M, Inglis TJJ, De Silva AD. Clinical, Bacteriologic, and Geographic Stratification of Melioidosis Emerges from the Sri Lankan National Surveillance Program. (2018) Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2018 Feb;98(2):607-615. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.17-0441. Epub 2018 Jan 4. PMID:29313474.
47. Premkumar L, Collins M, Graham S, Liou GA, Lopez CA, Jadi R, Balmaseda A, Brackbill JA, Dietze R, Camacho E, De Silva AD, Giuberti C, Dos Reis HL, Singh T, Heimsath H, Weiskopf D, Sette A, Osorio JE, Permar SR, Miley MJ, Lazear HM, Harris E, de Silva AM. (2018) Development of Envelope Protein Antigens To Serologically Differentiate Zika Virus Infection from Dengue Virus Infection. J Clin Microbiol. 2018 Feb 22;56(3). pii: e01504-17. doi: 10.1128/JCM.01504-17. Print 2018 Mar. PMID:29263206
48. Corea EM, de Silva AD, Thevanesam V.(2018) Melioidosis in Sri Lanka. Trop Med Infect Dis. 2018 Feb 21;3(1). pii: E22. doi: 10.3390/tropicalmed3010022. PMID:30274420
49. Fernando SJA, Faiz NM, Handunnetti SM, De Silva AD, Dasanayake WMDK, Wickramasinghe GD, Karunatilake RMCH, de Silva NR. (2018) Preliminary study on chronic granulomatous disease in Sri Lanka. Allergy Asthma Clin Immunol. 2018 Sep 17;14:37. doi: 10.1186/s13223-018-0264-7. eCollection 2018. PMID:30237823
50. Mapalagamage M, Handunnetti S, Premawansa G, Thillainathan S, Fernando T, Kanapathippillai K, Wickremasinghe R, De Silva AD, Premawansa S. (2018) Is Total Serum Nitrite and Nitrate (NOx) Level in Dengue Patients a Potential Prognostic Marker of Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever? Dis Markers. 2018 Jul 5;2018:5328681. doi: 10.1155/2018/5328681. eCollection 2018. PMID:30069272
51. Tillekeratne LG, Bodinayake CK, Simmons R, Nagahawatte A, Devasiri V, Kodikara Arachchi W, Nicholson BP, Park LP, Vanderburg S, Kurukulasooriya R, De Silva AD, Østybe T, Reller ME, Woods CW. (2018) Respiratory Viral Infection: An Underappreciated Cause of Acute Febrile Illness Admissions in Southern Sri Lanka. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2018 Dec 26. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.18-0699. [Epub ahead of print] PMID:30594268

52. Grifoni A, Costa-Ramos P, Pham J, Tian Y, Rosales SL, Seumois G, Sidney J, De Silva A D, Premkumar L, Collins MH, Stone M, Norris PJ, Romero CME, Durbin A, Ricciardi MJ, Ledgerwood JE, de Silva AM, Busch M, Peters B, Vijayanand P, Harris E, Falconar AK, Kallas E, Weiskopf D, Sette A.Cutting Edge: Transcriptional Profiling Reveals Multifunctional and Cytotoxic Antiviral Responses of Zika Virus-Specific CD8+ T Cells.J Immunol. 2018 Dec 15;201(12):3487-3491. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1801090. Epub 2018 Nov 9. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6287102/pdf/ji1801090.pdf

53. Raut R, Corbett KS, Tennekoon R N, Premawansa S, Wijewickrama A, Premawansa G, Mieczkowski P, Rückert C, Ebel GD, De Silva AD, de Silva AM.Dengue type 1 viruses circulating in humans are highly infectious and poorly neutralized by human antibodies.Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019 Jan 2;116(1):227-232. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1812055115. Epub 2018 Dec 5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6320508/pdf/pnas.201812055.pdf

54. Tian Y, Babor M, Lane J, Seumois G, Liang S, Goonawardhana NDS, De Silva AD, Phillips EJ, Mallal SA, da Silva Antunes R, Grifoni A, Vijayanand P, Weiskopf D, Peters B, Sette A.J Clin ,. Dengue-specific CD8+ T cell subsets display specialized transcriptomic and TCR profiles. The journal of clinical investigation. 2019 Mar 18;130:1727-1741. doi: 10.1172/JCI123726 PMID: 30882366 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6436856/pdf/jci-129-123726.pdf

55. Kose N, Fox J M, Sapparapu G, Bombardi R, Tennekoon R N, De Silva A D, Elbashir S M, TheisenM A, Humphris-Narayanan E, Ciaramella G, Himansu S, Diamond M S, Crowe Jr.J E.(2019).A lipid-encapsulated mRNA encoding a potently neutralizing human monoclonal antibody protects against chikungunya infection. Science Immunology 2019,May 17:Vol. 4, Issue 35, eaaw6647 DOI: 10.1126/sciimmunol.aaw6647  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6629435/pdf/nihms-1033148.pdf

56. Jayasinghearachchi H S, Corea E M, Krishnananthsivam S, Sathkumara H D, Francis V R, Abeysekere T R, De Silva A D. microbial Resour Announc 2019 Aug 15;8(33) pii:e00645-19, doi:10.1128/MRA.00645-19 PMID: 31416870 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6696645/pdf/MRA.00645-19.pdf

57. Grifoni A, Moore E, Voic H, Sidney J, Phillips E, Jadi R, Mallal S, De Silva A D, De Silva A M, Peters B, Weiscopf D, Sette A. front immunol.2019 Jul 5; 10:1568. doi:10.3389/fimmu2019 01568 e collection 2019 PMID : 31333679 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5646259/pdf/fimmu-08-01309.pdf

58. Burel JG1, Pomaznoy M1, Lindestam Arlehamn CS1, Weiskopf D1, da Silva Antunes R1, Jung Y2, Babor M1, Schulten V1, Seumois G1, Greenbaum JA3, Premawansa S4, Premawansa G5, Wijewickrama A6, Vidanagama D7, Gunasena B8, Tippalagama R9, deSilva AD1,9, Gilman RH10,11, Saito M12, Taplitz R13, Ley K2,14, Vijayanand P1,15, Sette A1,15, Peters B1,15. Elife. 2019 Jun 25;8. pii: e46045. doi: 10.7554/eLife.46045. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6592685/pdf/elife-46045.pdf

• President’s Award for Scientific Publication in 2011 (received in 2014)
• National Award for Science & Technology Achievements (NASTA) for Harnessing advanced technologies through international collaborations in 2014 (received from President H.E. Maithripala Sirisena, in February 2015)
• President’s Award for Scientific Publication in 2013 (received in Nov 2015)
• President’s Award for Scientific Publication in 2014 (received in Nov 2016)
• Invited Speaker, Allergy & Immunology Society of Sri Lanka (2011)
• Invited Speaker, Nanotechnology in Public Health (2012)
• Invited Speaker, PathWest Laboratories, Perth, Australia (2013)
• Invited Speaker, Department of Hygiene, Microbiology & Social Medicine, Innsbruck Medical University, Austria (2014)
• Invited Speaker, United States Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases, Maryland USA (2016 & 2018)
• President’s Award for Scientific Publication in 2016,award received in Nov 2018
• President’s Award for Scientific Publication in 2017, the top 100 Sri Lankan Scientific publications with 20% or more authors from Sri Lankan institutes, 4 scientific publications I co-authored received awards, award received in Aug 2019
• Keynote Speaker, Annual Meeting of the Sri Lankan Society for Microbiology, Peradeniya Sri Lanka “The importance of basic immunology research in dengue vaccine design” 25th Oct, 2019
• Invited Speaker, Takeda Pharmaceuticals (Takeda Vaccines Unit), Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA “History of the Dengue strains circulating in Sri Lanka”, 4th March, 2020
• Best oral presentation of the Technical session in Medicine at the 13th International Research Conference, general Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, Sri Lanka “Prospective study on the clinical characteristics, viral positivity and antibody response in an asymptomatic/minimally symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 positive Navy cohort in Sri Lanka” 2020
• Ranked 25th in Sri Lanka and 1st (highest) at General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, Sri Lanka based on World Scientist and University Rankings 2021

Awarded grants, awaiting Sri Lankan government approvals

• NIH/NIAID Fed. Award: 75N93019C00067 De Silva (Sri Lankan Subcontract PI)04/2020-09/2024
  Proteome-wide Characterization of T cell Epitopes from Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Vaccination and Active Infection Major Goal: To define MTB-derived T cell epitopes associated with vaccination and active TB infection.
• DARPA sub-contract 10/2019 – 09/2021
  Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency HR001118S0023 Duke University USA, De Silva AD – subcontract: Modeling Epigenetic Memory in Toxicity (MEMENTO)
  The aim of the Sri Lankan component is to identify epigenetic factors which may play a role in susceptibility to Melioidosis

• Director, KDU-CARE (Institute for Combinatorial Advanced Research and Education), General Sir John Kotelawala Defense University, Ratmalana, Sri Lanka (Nov 2017 to Nov 2019).
• Senior Lecturer (Grade 1), Department of Paraclinical Sciences, General Sir John Kotelawala Defense University, Ratmalana, Sri Lanka since Jun 2017.
• Adjunct Associate Professor, Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute of Allergy & Immunology, La Jolla, CA (Since 2012)
• Consultant/ Research advisor, Duke-Ruhuna Collaborative Program, Duke Global Health Institute, Durham, NC (2012 – 2017)
• Visiting Lecturer in Immunology, Institute of Biotechnology, Molecular Biology & Biochemistry, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka (2008 to date)
• Director/ Senior Research Scientist, Genetech Research Institute, Colombo, Sri Lanka (2007- 2017)
• Research Fellow, Department of Medicine/ Infectious Diseases, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY from (2000 – 2007)

• Chairman, Working committee on Biotechnology at the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka (June 2019 to Dec 2020)
• Member, Working Group on Biotechnology Policy for the Government of Sri Lanka (2009)
• Member, Council Member (2009- 2016), and Secretary (2009 & 2010), Allergy & Immunology Society of Sri Lanka
• Member, Working Committee on Biotechnology & Bioethics at the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka (2013)
• Member, Working Committee on Technology at the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka (2013 up to date)
• Member, American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene, USA (2013 up to date)
• Member, National Biotechnology Council for Sri Lanka (2014-2015)

Ongoing major research support:

• NIH/NIAID Fed. Award:1U19AI118626-01  Sette (PI); De Silva (Sri Lankan PI) 6/15–6/22
  Human Immune signatures of Dengue virus exposure in infection, disease and vaccination (Project 1 – Dengue)
  The aim of the project is the study of human immune signatures of T cells from patients who have been exposed to the Dengue virus.

• NIH/NIAID Fed. Award:1U19AI118626-02  Sette& Bjoern (PI’s at La Jolla Institute, USA); De Silva (Sri Lankan PI)  6/15–6/22
  Human Immune signatures of Mycobacterium tuberculosis exposure in infection, disease and vaccination (Project 2 – Tuberculosis) The aim of the project is the study of human immune signatures of T cells from patients who have been exposed to M. tuberculosis.

• NIH/NIAID Fed Award: 75N93019C00067 (awarded and received Sri Lankan government approvals 02.2022) De Silva (Sri Lankan Subcontract PI) 09/2019-09/2024
  Proteome-wide Characterization of T cell Epitopes from Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Vaccination and Active Infection Major Goal: To define MTB-derived T cell epitopes associated with vaccination and active TB infection.

• DARPA sub-contract (awarded and pending Sri Lankan government approvals)  10/2021 – 09/2022
  Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency HR001118S0023 Duke University USA, De Silva AD – subcontract: Modeling Epigenetic Memory in Toxicity (MEMENTO) The aim of the Sri Lankan component is to identify epigenetic factors which may play a role in susceptibility to Melioidosis

Completed Research Support

• Pediatric Dengue Vaccine Initiative         De Silva (Sri Lankan subcontract –Co-PI)11/08- 7/10
  Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation through the International Vaccine Institute and University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA. Surveillance of dengue in pediatric patients in Sri Lanka
• HHSN272201000026C     Mark Loeb (PI); De Silva (Sri Lankan subcontract PI) 11/11- 3/14
  NIH/NIAID (Main Contract awarded to McMaster University, Canada)
  The Dengue Population Genetics Program
  The project aimed to assess human genetic variants associated with dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) by studying 8750 patients in a global study (1200 samples from Sri Lanka).
• National Dengue Surveillance Project(DengueTools) De Silva 2/12- 10/14 European Union/ Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka                                                                 (Sri Lankan subcontract – Co-PI)
  Dengue surveillance in Sri Lanka.  The Goal of this project was to perform surveillance for dengue in Sri Lanka.
• National Science Foundation, Sri Lanka De Silva 05/15- 05/17
  Sequencing of current circulating dengue viruses in Sri Lanka and correlating them with the specific dengue epitopes with T cell responses from dengue patients, The aim of the project is to identify the currently circulating dengue viruses in Sri Lanka and attempt to link the T cell specific responses to these viruses.
• USAMRMC De Silva (PI) 6/14- 12/15, renewed 09/16 – 09/17
  US Army Medical Research & Material Command (USAMRMC)
  Studies on Melioidosis patients and the infecting Burkholderia pseudomallei strains in Sri Lanka
  The goal of this project is to identify strains of Burkholderia pseudomallei circulating in Sri Lanka and to identify useful biomarkers to predict disease.
• HHSN27200900042C Sette (PI); De Silva (Sri Lankan subcontract PI)09/09–09/14, renewed 10/14-10/18
  NIH/NIAID (Natonal Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases)
  The identification of HLA class I and class II T cell epitopes from dengue virus
  The aim of the project is the systematic identification and validation of CD8 & CD4 epitopes of Dengue virus from the 4 serotypes associated with severe disease in humans.
• National Research Council, Sri Lanka NRC 18-079 (De Silva, PI) 03/2018-07/2021
  “Isolation and identification of environmental Burkholderia pseudomallei and comparative analysis of major virulent associated genes from clinical isolates of infected Sri Lankan Melioidosis patients”
  The aim of the project is to isolate or characterize environmental B. pseudomallei and identify strains as well as virulence factors that may play a role in infecting patients in the close vicinity of the soil bound B. pseudomallei