Dr. K.K. Asanka Sanjeewa
Dr. Ishara S. Manawasinghe
Dr. Milan C. Samarakoon
Dr. K.K. Asanka Sanjeewa
Dr. Asanka Sanjeewa holds a BSc (Hons) in Agriculture from Rajarata University of Sri Lanka and MSc and PhD degrees in Marine Life Sciences from Jeju National University, South Korea. He completed his postdoctoral research in Marine Bioresource Technology at Jeju National University before joining the Department of Biosystems Technology, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, as a Senior Lecturer in 2021.
His research focuses on bioprospecting marine organisms for bioactive compounds with applications in nutraceuticals, cosmeceuticals, and functional foods. He also specializes in investigating cell signaling mechanisms related to the regulation of inflammation and oxidative stress-associated protein and gene expressions in macrophage, zebrafish, and mouse models.
Dr. Sanjeewa has published over 100+ SCI-indexed papers, 50+ conference abstracts, book chapters, edited books, and textbooks, with an H-index of 35 and over 3,800 citations. He serves on the editorial board of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences and as a reviewer and guest editor for number of indexed journals.
His accolades include the Top 2% Highly Cited Researcher recognition (Elsevier BV & Stanford University, 2022–2025), Best Researcher Award (Korean Society of Phycology, 2019), Award of Excellence (Jeju National University, 2019), CVCD Best Young Researcher in Life Sciences (2023), and IOBSL Young Scientist Award (2023).
Dr. Ishara S. Manawasinghe
shara Manawasinghe, PhD, is an associate researcher at Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou, China. She graduated from Mae Fah Luang University, Thailand, and obtained her PhD in biosciences. Her fields of expertise are fungal taxonomy, molecular phylogeny, population biology, and plant pathology. She mainly focuses on phytopathogenic fungal species associated with various hosts. She has been working on several important phytopathogenic genera, such as Colletotrichum, Fusarium, Diaporthe, and Botryosphaeriaceae. Her current research interests extend beyond the species level of fungal plant pathogens and lifestyle changes of opportunistic fungal pathogens. In addition, she works on endophytic, saprobic, and pathogenic fungal species from various ecosystems in south China with the aim of developing biocontrol agents and understanding the fungal biodiversity variations. She has published her work in over 80 SCI publications. Dr. Ishara Manawasinghe is the editor in chief of Current Research in Environmental and Applied Mycology journal (Q3), senior associate editor of Mycosphere (Q1), and special issue editor of Fungal Diversity (Q1).
Dr. Milan C. Samarakoon
Milan C. Samarakoon is a dedicated researcher and lecturer in plant pathology with a strong commitment to advancing environmental and agricultural sustainability through innovative scientific approaches. He has authored over 90 peer-reviewed research articles (>8000 citations) and serves as an editor for several prestigious international journals. He is also an active reviewer for more than 20 journals worldwide.
