What does it take to move from a high school classroom in Sri Lanka to leading a key sequencing team in the historic race to decode the Human Genome?
Upon the special invitation of Prof. Preethi Udagama—who reached out to The Sri Lankan Scientist Magazine to witness and cover this landmark event—our editorial team attended an extraordinary expert talk to learn about and communicate the achievements of an outstanding figure in global science: Prof. Preethi Herat Gunaratne.
Held on July 20, 2026, at the Main Auditorium of SLIIT in Malabe, the expert presentation titled Personalized Vaccines for Cancer Immunoprevention gave attendees a captivating look into modern genomics, single-cell transcriptomics, and the future of precision medicine.
A Legacy Rooted in Sri Lankan Education
Prof. Gunaratne’s entry into science was fueled by family legacy and academic discipline. The daughter of two physicists, her path took a definitive turn when her father showed her a 1954 group photograph from the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge—a photo taken at the exact time and place where James Watson and Francis Crick discovered the double helix structure of DNA. Inspired to explore the logical, code-like nature of biology, she pursued her Bachelor of Science in Zoology at the University of Colombo before earning her Ph.D. in Genetics at Cornell University.
“My journey from Visakha Vidyalaya and the University of Colombo to leading genomics teams in the U.S. is proof of the power of Sri Lanka’s free education system. It gives young people the foundational strength to compete with the very best in the world.”
Inside the Race for the Human Genome
During her time at the Baylor College of Medicine Human Genome Sequencing Center, Prof. Gunaratne led the cDNA sequencing team during one of the most intense periods in modern scientific history: the $3-billion Human Genome Project (HGP).
When corporate competitors threatened to patent human genetic code, public institutions had to scale overnight. Prof. Gunaratne directed an operation that grew to 250 people running 75 automated sequencers in 24/7 shifts. Her team made the largest single contribution (>15,000 full-length cDNA sequences) to Phase I of the Mammalian Gene Collection, successfully keeping the human genome in the public domain for researchers worldwide.
The Next Frontier: Precision Health & Personalized Vaccines
The technology that once cost $3 billion and took 13 years can now sequence a genome in days for under $400. In her address, Prof. Gunaratne highlighted how this exponential drop in cost has unlocked Precision Medicine and Cancer Immunoprevention:
- Single-Cell Sequencing: Instead of analyzing tissue as a whole, scientists can now read gene expression cell-by-cell to detect precancerous changes long before tumors form.
- Chimeric RNA Fusions & Neoantigens: Non-classical mutations create unique fusion junction peptides that exist only in tumor cells, making them ideal targets with low risk of autoimmunity.
- Personalized Cancer Vaccines: By identifying these tumor-specific neoantigens in individual patients, researchers are developing mRNA and peptide vaccines designed to train the patient’s own immune system to destroy or prevent cancer before it spreads.
Inspiring the Next Generation of Sri Lankan Scientists
Beyond the data and patents, Prof. Gunaratne’s primary message was aimed at Sri Lanka’s next generation of scientists and policymakers. She emphasized that investment in public health and free tertiary education pays massive long-term dividends—producing leaders capable of driving multi-million-dollar global research platforms. During her address, Prof. Gunaratne highlighted a deeply personal aspect of her research lab in Houston: the majority of her lab members are young Sri Lankan researchers.
She gave special credit to her university colleague, Prof. Preethi Udagama, acknowledging her instrumental role in identifying and mentoring top scientific talent in Sri Lanka. Through this mentorship and academic bridge, many of Prof. Udagama’s former students have joined Prof. Gunaratne’s lab at the University of Houston, carrying out high-impact, cutting-edge biomedical research at an international level.
For young Sri Lankans watching, her trajectory offers a clear message: world-class scientific breakthroughs are entirely within reach.
🎥 Watch the Presentation
Experience part of Prof. Preethi Gunaratne’s address on Personalized Vaccines for Cancer Immunoprevention on the Sri Lanka Science Channel:
👉 Click Here to Watch the Video on YouTube
Acknowledgments
The Sri Lankan Scientist Magazine extends its sincere thanks to Prof. Preethi Udagama for highlighting this event and facilitating our participation.
We also express our gratitude to the organizing bodies that made this expert talk possible:
- SLIIT University (Main Auditorium Host)
- Faculty of Humanities & Sciences, SLIIT
- ALTHIA (SLIIT – Hemas Health Uni) (Event Sponsor)
