Dr. Nishantha Kumarasinghe

MBBS (SJU), PhD in Behavioural Sciences in Relation to Medicine (Newcastle) Australia
Senior Lecturer in Anatomy
Head of the Department - Pre Clinical Sciences
Coordinator-Centre for Behavioural Neurosciences | Coordinator-Personal and Professional Development
  • Qualifications
  • Qualifications

    • PhD in Behavioural Sciences in Relation to Medicine (Newcastle) Australia
    • MBBS (SJU) Sri Lanka
  • Teaching Areas
  • Teaching Areas

    • Anatomy
    • Behavioural Sciences
  • Publications
  • Publications

    1. Nishantha Kumarasinghe, Paul A. Tooney, and Ulrich Schall. (2012) Finding the needle in the haystack: A critical review of microarray gene expression research into schizophrenia. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry: manuscript ID: ANP-2011-00132. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22441207
    2. Nishantha Kumarasinghe, Paul E. Rasser, Jayan Mendis, Jessica Bergmann, Lilly Knechtel, Stewart Oxley, Antoinette Perera, Paul M. Thompson, Paul A. Tooney, and Ulrich Schall. (2013) Age effects on cerebral grey matter in schizophrenia and their associations with psychopathology, cognition and treatment response in previously untreated patients. Neuropsychopharmacology: manuscript ID: IntJNP-12-0004. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0941950014000025
    3. Perera PK, Perera M ,Kumarsinghe N, Effect of Sri Lankan traditional medicine and Ayurveda on Sandhigata Vata (osteoarthritis of knee joint). Ayu. 2014 Oct-Dec;35(4):411-5. doi: 10.4103/0974-8520.159007. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26195904
    4. Kumarasinghe N, Beveridge NJ, Gardiner E, Scott RJ, Yasawardene S, Perera A, Mendis J, Suriyakumara K, Schall U, Tooney PA. Gene expression profiling in treatment-naive schizophrenia patients identifies abnormalities in biological pathways involving AKT1 that are corrected by antipsychotic medication. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol. 2013 Aug;16(7):1483-503. doi: 10.1017/S1461145713000035. Epub 2013 Feb 27. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23442539
    5. Subha Fernando, Nishantha Kumarasinghe, Modeling a Honeybee using Spiking Neural Network to Simulate Nectar Reporting Behavior, International Journal of Computer Applications, vol. 130, issue 8, pp. 32-39 http://www.ijcaonline.org/archives/volume130/number8/23233-2015907078

    Presentations

    1. Kumarasinghe N. et al., (2010) Aust. Nz. J. Psychiatry 44 Suppl. 1, A52
    2. Gene expression analysis of schizophrenia patients. (2010) Displayed at 11th Schizophrenia conference Sydney Australia
    3. Gene expression in Schizophrenia in the course of Antipsychotic pharmacotherapy. (2011) 3rd European conference on Schizophrenia Research Berlin Germany.
    4. Microarray gene expression in treatment naïve schizophrenia patients in Sri Lanka and their associations (2011) 10th conference of Collage of Psychiatrists Sri Lanka.
    5. Association of cerebral cortical grey matter deficits, cognitive neurological measures and symptom ratings in schizophrenia. (2011) 1st international conference on Psychology and Allied Professionals Sri Lanka.
    6. PBMC gene expression in Schizophrenia; way to develop putative a peripheral biomarker (2012) 3rd Biennial conference of South Asian Association of Physiologists Sri Lanka.
    7. Cerebral cortical grey matter deficits and their association with age, psychopathology and treatment response in Schizophrenia (2013) 10th Australasian Schizophrenia Conference Melbourne Australia.
    8. A Sri Lankan Traditional Medicine (Bamboo Swarasa) to control Dengue symptoms and Signs - a Preliminary Study. ICAUST 2014
    9. Pallie M.S., Perera P.K., Arawwawela M., Gonasekara C.L., Kumarasinghe, K.M.N. (2014) A comprehensive review on TragiaInvolucrata. 2nd International Conference on Aurveda, Unani, Siddha and Traditional Medicine, Colombo.
    10. Pallie M.S., Perera P.K., Arawwawela M., Gonasekara C.L., Kumarasinghe, K.M.N. (2014) FagoniaCretica - A literary study. 2nd International Conference on Aurveda, Unani, Siddha and Traditional Medicine, Colombo.
    11. Pallie M.S., Perera P.K., Goonasekera C.L., Kumarasinghe K.M.N., Arawwawala L.D.A.M. (2015) Comparative study of Tragiainvolucrata L. and Tragia spp. by using preliminary standardization techniques. 8th International Research Conference of Kotelawala Defence University, Colombo.
    12. Pallie M.S., Perera P.K., Gonasekara C.L., Kumarasinghe, K.M.N.Arawwawela M., (2015) Evaluation of the diuretic activity of hot water extract of TragiaInvolucrata in healthy male wistar rats. 3rd International Conference on Aurveda, Unani, Siddha and Traditional Medicine, Colombo.
    13. Pallie M.S., Perera P.K., Gonasekara C.L., Kumarasinghe, K.M.N.Arawwawela M., (2015) Formulations and uses of TragiaInvolucrata L. with reference to Sri Lankan Ayurveda pharmacopoeia. 3rd International Conference on Aurveda, Unani, Siddha and Traditional Medicine, Colombo.
    14. Testing the anti-inflammatory activity of Sri Lankan Traditional Medicine (SLTM) pill using albumin denaturation method, KDU IRC 2016 Sri Lanka.
    15. Effect of Sri Lankan Traditional Medicine on Quality of Life of patients suffering from Chronic Kidney Disease of Uncertain Aetiology KDU IRC 2016 Sri Lanka.
    16. Subha Fernando, Nishantha Kumarasinghe, Modeling a Honeybee using Network of Spiking Neural Network to Simulate Nectar Reporting Behavior, IROB 2017 (Tokyo University) Japan.
      https://www.ijcaonline.org/archives/volume130/number8/23233-2015907078
    17. N. Kumarasinghe, V. Suriyakumara, U. Siriwardene, G.L.S. Galgamuwa, P. Jayawardana, C. Karunarathna, P. Kulanatha, K. Jayasekara, I. Abeykoon, W. Abeyrathne. The efficacy of Sri Lankan Traditional Medicine on Chronic Kidney Disease of unknown etiology patients in Sri Lanka. Presented at Tradmed International 2017 (Sri Lanka)
      https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321462405_The_efficacy_of_Sri_Lankan_traditional_medicine_on_patients_with_Chronic_Kidney_Disease_of_unknown_etiology_in_Sri_Lanka

    Health Related Projects involved

    • Coordinator for CKDu Care a community based project for palliative care for the patients affected by CKDu in North Central Sri Lanka.
      This project aims to promote relief service, health education and research on CKDu.
      Researches on aetiological factors associated with CKDu and effectiveness of Western - Ayurveda integrated modules for CKDu are currently on-going.
    • Details:
      http://srilankanscientist.com/traditional-approach-to-fight-ckdu-a-sri-lankan-story/
      www.ckducare.lk
      https://www.facebook.com/CKDuCARE/

    Research Personality

    • Open minded researcher who believes humanity as the most valuable resource in this world

    Research behaviour

    • Enthusiastic researcher and explorer into true potentials of invaluable resources of ancient Asian civilizations through multidisciplinary research
  • Research Interests
  • Research Interests

    Multidisciplinary research in,

    • Anatomy
    • Health Behaviour in CKDu/CKD
    • Exploring novel management methods for CKDu/CKD
    • Modifying aetiological factors for CKDu/CKD
    • Neurosciences
    • Swam intelligence - Artificial Intelligence
    • Alternative Medicine
  • Awards & Grants
  • Awards & Grants

    Awards

    • 2015 - Presidential Award for Scientific Publications National Research Council Sri Lanka
    • 2014- Merit Award for Scientific Publications National Research Council Sri Lanka

    Grants

    • 2017- Rupees 45 Million for the development of user friendly bio fertilizer for the Ministry of Agriculture Sri Lanka (Pending)
    • 2015-2017 - Rupees 3 Million Grant to support CKDu Care Western -Ayurveda integrated clinic for CKDu in NCR Sri Lanka from IAAM Sri Lanka
    • 2008-2013 - Research External Grant - University of Newcastle Australia
    • 2007- IRQUE PhD grant of Rupees 5 Million from WHO (Through the university of Sri Jayewardenepura Sri Lanka)
  • Involvement with other Organizations
  • Involvement with other Organizations

    • Consultant - Institute for Research and Development (IRD)
    • Coordinator - CKDu CARE - A not for profit organization that facilitates relief services, education and research on CKDu
    • Affiliated Scientist - Schizophrenia Research Institute (SRI) Sydney Australia
    • Member - Clay Target Shooting Club of Colombo