Inspiring the Next Generation of Scientists

In November, we welcomed Lihini Jayawardena, a year 5 student from Canberra Girls Grammar School and daughter of our Postdoctoral Researcher Dr Dulika Sumathipala, to the lab as part of her end of Primary Years Program.

Lihini jumped straight into the world of personalised medicine, beginning with a video interview with Dr Vicki Athanasopoulos to explore what personalised medicine means for the future of healthcare. She then spent time at the microscope with PhD student Gemma Hart, where she learned about dendritic cells and how they are cultivated from bone marrow.

Lihini Jayawardena and PhD student Gemma Hart

 To round out her experience, Lihini shadowed our lab manager Jean Cappello, learning pipetting skills and observing a demonstration of gel electrophoresis, a technique that uses electricity to separate DNA, RNA or proteins.

Jean Cappello and Lihini Jayawardena

We love seeing young scientists in action. Lihini’s enthusiasm and curiosity were inspiring, and we were impressed to hear about her dream to pursue science to help fight Cystic Fibrosis in the future. 💙

Dr Vicki Athanasopoulos, Jean Cappello, Lihini Jayawardena and Dr Dulika Sumathipala