Dhanushka Udayanga

Dhanushka Udayanga is a Professor affiliated to the Department of Applied Sciences at the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology. He earned his B.Sc. in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology from the University of Peradeniya, where his fascination with science first took root. Motivated by a deep interest in molecular phylogeny, fungal diversity, and the ecological roles of phytopathogenic fungi, he pursued a Ph.D. in Biotechnology at Mae Fah Luang University, Thailand. His doctoral research focused on the taxonomy and molecular systematics of Diaporthe, a taxonomically complex fungal genus. He conducted extensive fieldwork and sample collection in Thailand, USA and China, in collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Beijing) and the USDA Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS, Beltsville, MD), under the mentorship of Prof. Kevin D. Hyde, Prof. Xingzhong Liu, Dr. Amy Rossman, and Dr. Lisa Castlebury. Between 2015 and 2017, during his postdoctoral research at USDA-ARS, he further explored the molecular systematics of Diaporthalean taxa, endophytic fungi, and the genomics of plant pathogens.

In 2017, Dr. Udayanga joined the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka as a Senior Lecturer and later served as Head of the Department of Biosystems Technology. In 2024, he joined Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology as a Professor. Udayanga’s current research focuses on molecular systematics of plant pathogenic fungi on crops, host-pathogen interactions, mycelium-based materials, and other innovative biotechnological applications of fungi. He received the Martin Baker Research Award from the Mycological Society of America in 2018. He is also passionately engaged in science communication, popularization, networking, and capacity-building initiatives in Sri Lanka leading innovations and mentoring the next generation of fungal biologists.