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Department of Biology and Biochemistry

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Faculty Profile

Preethi GunaratnePreethi Gunaratne

Moores Professor
Department of Biology and Biochemistry
Research Division: Biochemistry (Primary)

Office: Science & Engineering Research Center, 4028
Contact: phgunaratne@uh.edu - 713-743-2686

Education: Ph.D, Cornell University

CV

Google Scholar Profile

Dr. Preethi Gunaratne is a Moore’s Professor in the Department of Biology & Biochemistry at the University of Houston (UH) with adjunct appointments in the Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology and Human Genome Sequencing Center at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM). She obtained her B.Sc. (Zoology Hons), from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka and Ph.D. in Genetics, from Cornell University, New York. Following postdoctoral fellowships at the Lurie Cancer Center, Northwestern University and Department of Human & Molecular Genetics at BCM, Dr. Gunaratne received Board Certification in Clinical Molecular Genetics and Medical Genetics (ABMG) in 1999. After serving as Assistant Director, Baylor-DNA Diagnostic laboratory, she joined the the Baylor-Human Genome Sequencing Center (Baylor-HGSC), as the Director, Gene (cDNA) Sequencing Team. Here Dr. Gunaratne contributed to the sequencing and annotation of Human Chromosomes 3, 12 and X for the International Human Genome Project (HGP) Consortium and led her team to make the largest single contribution to the Mammalian Gene Collection (MGC) in Phase I.

In 2006 Dr. Gunaratne, joined the University of Houston (UH) and went on to establish a functional genomics platform focused on discovering new biological insights and druggable targets through the microRNA-regulated transcriptome. During the period of 2011-2019 Dr. Gunaratne served as one of the leaders/co-leaders of the microRNA and LncRNA-Analysis Working Groups for the NCI-The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), NHGRI-Zebrafinch and NHGRI-Marmoset Genome Projects. Through funding from 8 NIH Institute (NCI, NIGMS, NHLBI, NICHD, NIMH, NIAID, NIAMS, SBIR) and >135 co-authored articles (32237 Citations, h-index 64, i10-index 116); Dr. Gunaratne and collaborators have laid the groundwork for determining the role of the microRNAs and microRNA-regulated genes in cancer, schizophrenia, asthma, COPD/emphysema, and song response in the auditory forebrain of songbird. In 2015, Dr. Gunaratne was appointed Director, UH-Genome Sequencing Core (UH-SNEC, https://uhseq.nsm.uh.edu/).

The Precision Oncology & Reservoir & Drainage Diagnostics pipelines established to provide comprehensive, sample to data insight pipelines for academic and commercial user groups have led to co-inventorship on 11 US patent applications to her name. Tumor suppressor microRNAs (USPTO/Patent Number: 919622, 8765707, 9758785) and peptide and mRNA vaccines for treating and preventing cancer (USPTO/Publication number: 20230338485) are focused on bringing game changing impact on clinical outcomes of the 1.8 million new cancer cases diagnosed in 2020. The blood biomarker for predicting and preventing death from Opioid Overuse Disorder (miRTracker U.S. Patent Appl. No. 63/556,962) is expected to make a significant contribution toward the >600 000 deaths were attributable to drug use (80% of these deaths being related to opioids, and 25% caused by opioid overdose). The Reservoir & Drainage Diagnostics (RDD) patent (USPTO/Publication number: 20240060410) uses non-invasive DNA testing to extract personalized biomarkers to predict drainage heights, % contribution and production allocation from hydraulic fracking operations. GeOME Analytics co-founded by Dr. Gunaratne to deploy RDD, for monitoring oil fields during the full production cycle has been tested on 6 pads/60 oil wells and used to provide metrics for upstream asset development and 134 cores/100 fluid samples for 3 subsea pilots in the first year of deployment.

Dr. Gunaratne has served as an Expert Peer Reviewer for over 25 scientific journals and 10 grant review panels. These include the National Institute of Health (NIH)-USA, U.S. Department of Defense (DOD-CDMRP), KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden, Netherlands-Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)-Australia, Cancer Research Council-UK, Israel Science Foundation, Florida Department of Health (F-DOH), Pennsylvania Department of Health (PA-DOH) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In addition to her research accomplishments, Dr. Gunaratne has made significant contributions to advancing women and minorities in science. She served on the NSF-ADVANCE committee to advance women and minorities in the faculty. As one of the Directors, of the US Army Research & Engineering Apprenticeship (USAEOP/REAP) program (2008-Present) focused on advancing minorities in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) fields, she has provided internships to 100 high-school interns and mentorship opportunities to 30 undergraduate students.

Honors & Awards

2014 McNair Foundation Award
2012 McNair Foundation Award
2011 Virginia & L. E. Simmons Family Foundation Award (joint award with Jason Shohet and Xiabo Zhou)
2011 Cullen Foundation Award
2010 Baylor Partnership Fund Raising Featured Beneficiary Award (joint award with Matthew Anderson and Martin Matzuk)
2004-2006 Moran Foundation Award (joint award with Dolores Lopez Terrada)
1989 Leukemia Research Foundation Fellowship Award
1988 Northwestern Memorial Galter Fellowship Award
1986 Amoco Research Award, Chicago

Organizations, Outreach, Boards, Memberships

Co-Founder/Chief Scientific Officer – NEXTmiRNA Technologies

National Consortia

  • NCI – TCGA PanCancer Consortium – 2016-2019
    • Leader Long non-coding RNA Group
  • NCI/NHGRI –The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Consortium 2009-present
    • Leader microRNA Analysis Groups – Ovarian, Colorectal, Kidney cancers
  • NHGRI – Marmoset Genome Consortium – 2010-2013
    • Leader microRNA Analysis Group
  • NHGRI – Zebrafinch Genome Consortium 2009
    • Leader microRNA Analysis Group
  • NIDDK – Stem Cell Genome Anatomy Project (SCGAP) Consortium 2003-2005
  • NHGRI/NCI – Mammalian Gene Collection (MGC) Consortium 2002-2005
    • Leader Baylor Human Genome Sequencing Center-Gene sequencing Group
    • Led Baylor Team to make the largest single contribution to the NCI- Mammalian Gene Collection in Phase I
  • NHGRI – The International Human Genome Project Consortium 1999-2003
    • Human Chromosomes 3, 12 and X

Editorial Boards

2011-2019 Review Editor, Frontiers in Non-coding RNA Journal

Manuscript Review

Nature Reviews, Nature Protocols, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (PNAS), Molecular Cell, Genome Research, Cancer Research, Clinical Cancer Research, Oncotarget, Nucleic Acids Research, PLoS ONE, BMC Genomics, BMC Bioinformatics, Briefings in Bioinformatics, British Journal of Cancer, Genome Biology, Molecular Carcinogenesis, Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, Frontiers in Non- coding RNA, Genomics, Genome Medicine, Gene Expression Patterns (GEP), Elsevier, Cell Research, Toxicology & Applied Pharmacology (TAAP), Journal of Theoretical Biology, Pancreas Journal

A.12. Expert Peer Reviewer – Grants & Programs

  • 2020-2023 - KTH (Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm), Sweden RAE-2020-2023
  • 2020-2022 - Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), Belgium
  • 2020-2021 - Department of Defense (DOD) – Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP)
  • 2015, 2021 - Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF)
  • 2017-2021 - Florida Department of Health (F-DOH)
  • 2020 - Department of Defense (DOD)
    Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP) COVID-T-2
  • 2020 - Department of Defense (DOD)
    Breast Cancer Research Program – Nanotechnology Panel (BCRP-NT)
  • 2017-2019 - Pennsylvania Department of Health (PA-DOH)
  • 2017-2018 - Expert Peer Review U.S. FDA Research Program
  • 2016 - NCI-2016/05 ZCA1 SRB-J (M2) R–Special Emphasis Panel/Scientific Review Group
    Provocative Question 6, “What are the underlying molecular mechanisms that are responsible for the functional differences between benign proliferative diseases and premalignant states”
  • 2015 - NCI-ZCA1 SRB-J (M2) S–Special Emphasis Panel/Scientific Review Group Pennsylvania Department of Health (PA DOH) Scientific Review Group
  • 2011/2012 - NIH-ZRG1GGG-H30S–Special Emphasis Panel/Scientific Review Group
    NIH-ZRG1 GGG-H31S – High-end Instrumentation Grants
    NHMRC-National Health and Medical Research Council- Australia
  • 2012 - Duncan Family Institute (DFI) Seed Funding Research Program
  • 2011 - Czech Science Foundation
  • 2011 - Netherlands-Research Foundation Flanders (FWO)
  • 2010 - NIH–CNIHR–AdHoc
    Cancer Research UK
  • 2009-2010 - US-Israel Binational Science Foundation
  • 2010 - Israel Science Foundation

Patents - Inventor/Co-Inventor

  1. Provisional Application: UH ID No. 2021-002|Attorney Docket No. 23853-P162V1 Discovery and use of immunogenic peptides for the treatment and prevention of cancers
  2. Provisional Application: UH ID No. 2021-002|Attorney Docket No. 2019-058 (T-11416-
    P)
    Systems and methods for analytic mapping of the metageomic and hydrocarbon footprints of geologic subzones
  3. U.S. Patent Appl. No. 13/136,498; PCT patent # PCT/US2011/001356
    Interior Functionalized Hyperbranched Dendron-Conjugated Nanoparticles and uses Thereof
  4. U.S. Patent Appl. No. 13/319,446. CLFR.P0342US miRNA Expression in Allergic Disease
  5. U.S. Patent Appl. No. 13/437,128; PCT patent PCT/US2012/31809 microRNA-29a,b,c as a sensitizing agent for chemotherapy
  6. Issued: U.S. Patent Appl. No. 13/437,251; PCT patent PCT/US2012/31822 microRNA-130a,b as a tumor suppressor of cancer
  7. Issued: U.S. Patent Appl. No. 13/453,553; PCT patent PCT/US2012/34655 microRNA-140-5p as a tumor suppressor of cancer
  8. U.S. Patent Appl. No. 13/501,806; PCT patent PCT/US2012/34655 microRNA miRNA-31 as a therapeutic approach for the treatment of cancer
  9. BLG# 11-052: MicroRNAs sensitize ovarian cancers to platinum chemotherapy
  10. Provisional patent application for UHID-2021-002-Immunogenic Peptides for the
    Treatment and Prevention of Cancer-Winstead Ref. No. 23853-P162V1
  11. UHID 2020-060; Appl No. 63/063,815; A Dual Viral Infection|Host Response detection Test Kit: Winstead Ref. 23853-P161V1
  12. UHID 2329-51 (2019-058) Systems and Methods for Analytic Mapping of the Metageomic and Hydrocarbon Footprints of Geologic Subzones. Chevron Corporation.

New Company Formation

  • 2019: Co-Founder, CEO and CSO, GeOME Analytics
  • 2014: Founder and Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) NEXTmiRNA Technologies (http://www.nextmirna.com/)

B.2. Trainees

Faculty

  • 2019-2022: Kimberly Holloway, Ph.D. (UH-Sequencing Core – Project Manager)
    • Associate Director, Translational Oncology, Iterion Therapeutics
  • 2019-2021: Jignesh Chandana, M.S. (UH-Sequencing Core - Automation/Clinical Sequencing Specialist)
    • Lead Lab Automation Developer-Invitae
  • 2016–2018: Sujash Chaterjee, Ph.D. (Research Assistant Professor)
    • Lead-Product Marketing and Commercialization, Genomics, NA at QIAGEN
    • Global Cancer Research Lead, Illumina
  • 2017: Navin Rustagi, Ph.D. (Research Assistant Professor)
    • Data Scientist at McKinsey & Company
  • 2015–2016: Utpal Pandya, Ph.D. (Research Assistant Professor)
  • 2011–2013: Weiming Xiao, Ph.D. (Research Assistant Professor)
    • Co-founder and Chief Scientist at Shenzhen Lucky Source Investment Management Corporation.

Postdoctoral

  • 2022-Present: Partha Bhagavatula, Ph.D. (UH-Sequencing Core, Senior Data Analytst)
  • 2013–2018: Yinghong Pan, Ph.D. (Research Associate)
    • Project Manager, Genome Center, University of Pittsburgh Medical College (UPMC)
    • Sr. Application Scientist at PerkinElmer, Inc.
  • 2009–2013: Lalithya Jayarathne, Ph.D. (Research Associate)
  • 2007: Rafal Drabek, Ph.D. (Postdoctoral Fellow)

Graduate Students

  • 2020-Present: Micah Castillo, Ph.D. Candidate, Biochemistry
  • 2019-Present: Sakuni Rankothgedera, Ph.D. Candidate, Biochemistry
  • 2021-Present: Aaranya Kandasamy, Ph.D. Candidate, Biochemistry
  • 2021-Present: Shiyanth Thevasagayampillai, Ph.D. Candidate, Biochemistry
  • 2021-Present: Dilshan Adhikari, Ph.D. Candidate, Biochemistry
  • 2016–2020: Asha Palat: Ph.D. Candidate, Molecular & Cellular Biology
    • McCammon Fellowship 2019
    • Technical Support Scientist, Novogene America
    • Post Doctoral Fellow, UH-Sequencing Core, Houston, TX
    • Brandon Mistretta, Ph.D. Candidate, Biochemistry
    • McCammon Fellowship 2020
    • Field Application Scientist, 10X Genomics
  • 2016–2019: Jason Hoggard, Ph.D. Candidate, Biochemistry
    • McCammon Fellowship, 2018
    • Post Doctoral Fellow, Human Genome Sequencing Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
    • Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Division of Congenital Heart Surgery, Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, TX
  • 2012–2017: Ian Wilson. M.Sc. Candidate, Biochemistry
    • M.Sc. (2020)
    • Sagar Patil: Ph.D. Candidate, Biochemistry
    • Harwood Fellowship 2016
    • Postdoctoral Fellow, Columbia University, New York, NY
    • Lead Researcher at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
    • Project Manager, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) -Philadelphia
  • 2012–2017: Johnson Hoang: Ph.D Candidate, Biochemistry
    • Ph.D., SCYM (ASCP),
  • 2009–2014: Anadulce Hernandez-Herrera, Ph.D. Biochemistry (Contactyn-Fellowship)
    • Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center, Biobank Research Coordinator,
    • Baylor College of Medicine – 2017
    • Clinical Trials Team, UCSF, San Francisco, CA; Breast Center
  • 2008–2012: Rajib Ghosh, Ph.D. Molecular & Cellular Biology
    • Post Doctoral Fellow – Johns Hopkins University, MD
    • Research Assistant Professor, University of West Virginia, VA
    • Senior Scientist at Abcam
    • Principal Scientist, Bristol Myers Squibb
  • 2007–2011: Jayantha Tennakoon, Ph.D. Molecular & Cellular Biology
    • Healthcare Consulting Firm, Chicago, IL
  • 2007–2011: Ashley Benham-Duret, Ph.D. Biochemistry
    • Post Doctoral Fellow – Texas Heart Institute, Houston
    • Senior Scientist, 10X Genomics
    • Sales Executive II
  • 2007–2008: Arash Naghavi-M.SC., Molecular & Cellular Biology
    • MD program UTMB, Radiology Fellow-Moffit Cancer Center, Radiation Oncologist, FL