Wimal Pathmasiri, PhD

wimal_pathmasiri@unc.edu
(704) 250-5069 office
(919) 951-4086 mobile

Wimal Pathmasiri, PhD

Associate Professor of Nutrition, Sumner Lab

Wimal Pathmasiri, PhD is an Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Nutrition Research Institute (NRI).  An overarching goal of Dr. Pathmasiri’ s research includes understanding the links between exposures (diet, constituents in natural projects, environmental chemicals, drugs), microbial metabolism, and human health. He has worked with the Sumner-Lab for over 12 years, as the director of a technology core for the NIH Common Fund Eastern Regional Comprehensive Metabolomics Resource Core (ERCMRC) and works as a co-investigator in the North Carolina Human Health Exposure Analysis Resource Untargeted Analysis Laboratory (NC HHEAR UAL). Dr. Pathmasiri develops and applies metabolomics to reveal metabolic pathway perturbations associated with disease states, therapeutic treatments, and environmentally relevant exposures. He has contributed to research in the areas of cancer, childhood obesity, early-life exposure to antibiotics, environmental exposure, kidney disease, osteoarthritis, rare diseases, and toxicology. Dr. Pathmasiri earned a BSc and MPhil from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, and a Licentiate of Philosophy from the Uppsala University, Sweden. He earned a PhD in Chemistry from Uppsala University and conducted postdoctoral research at UNC-Chapel Hill, and at RTI International.

Wimal Pathmasiri, PhD is an Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Nutrition Research Institute (NRI).  An overarching goal of Dr. Pathmasiri’ s research includes understanding the links between exposures (diet, constituents in natural projects, environmental chemicals, drugs), microbial metabolism, and human health. He has worked with the Sumner-Lab for over 12 years, as the director of a technology core for the NIH Common Fund Eastern Regional Comprehensive Metabolomics Resource Core (ERCMRC) and works as a co-investigator in the North Carolina Human Health Exposure Analysis Resource Untargeted Analysis Laboratory (NC HHEAR UAL).

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Dr. Pathmasiri develops and applies metabolomics to reveal metabolic pathway perturbations associated with disease states, therapeutic treatments, and environmentally relevant exposures. He has contributed to research in the areas of cancer, childhood obesity, early-life exposure to antibiotics, environmental exposure, kidney disease, osteoarthritis, rare diseases, and toxicology. Dr. Pathmasiri earned a BSc and MPhil from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, and a Licentiate of Philosophy from the Uppsala University, Sweden. He earned a PhD in Chemistry from Uppsala University and conducted postdoctoral research at UNC-Chapel Hill, and at RTI International.

In the News

Every Discovery Begins with a Participant

Every Discovery Begins with a Participant

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In this personal essay, Brooke Giles reflects on what it is like to experience NRI research from the participant side — and why taking part in a study can help advance science, support better health and contribute to discoveries that may benefit families, communities and future generations. Continue Reading Every Discovery Begins with a Participant

The Invisible Middle of Research

The Invisible Middle of Research

At the UNC Nutrition Research Institute, discovery does not happen in a single moment. Between the first research question and the final publication is the careful, often unseen work of planning, recruiting participants, gathering data, building teams, and refining ideas. This invisible middle is where science takes shape. Continue Reading The Invisible Middle of Research

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