My name is Reyka Jayasinghe. My mother and father somehow met in California after venturing over the pond from Uganda and Sri Lanka. I was born and raised in Los Angeles California and attended college at San Francisco State University majoring in Cell and Molecular Biology and minoring in Math and Chemistry. I pursued doctoral study in Dr. Li Ding’s lab at Washington University School of Medicine (WashU) as part of the Molecular Genetics and Genomics program. As a graduate student, I discovered mis-annotated splice-site-creating mutations across many cancer types using high-throughput computational methods in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset. As a postdoc, I transitioned to studying the transcriptomic diversity of cancers using single-cell technologies. This exciting work spearheaded by the Human Tumor Atlas Network (HTAN) identified unique transitional populations in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and dynamic changes in cells transitioning in luminal and basal breast cancer. Outside of research, I have lead and worked with non-profit organizations and programs focused on increasing the representation of diverse students in STEM disciplines with the Young Scientist Program (YSP) and Opportunities in Genomics Research (OGR) Program.
In April 2021 I joined the faculty at WashU as an Instructor on the Research Track in the Division of Oncology with an emphasis on the following topics: Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (CAR-T) and cytokine release syndrome (CRS); Single-cell analysis of breast and pancreatic adenocarcinoma with the HTAN network; Studying multiple myeloma and colorectal cancer in underrepresented groups to better characterize the genomic and transcriptional cancer landscape of understudied ethnic groups with the participant engagement and cancer genome sequencing (PE-CGS) consortium.
Through my research, I hope to address both cancer disparities and improve anti-tumor efficacy of CART therapies.
Relevant Links
LinkedIN: https://www.linked.com/reykaj
Young Scientist Program: http://ysp.wustl.edu/
Chancellors Graduate Fellowship: http://pages.wustl.edu/cgfp
GitHub Repository: https://github.com/reykajayasinghe
Loop profile: http://loop.frontiersin.org/people/228519/overview
ORCID profile: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2368-4890
Meow.