wimal_pathmasiri@unc.edu
(704) 250-5069 office
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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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Every Discovery Begins with a Participant
Every discovery begins with a question. But at the UNC Nutrition Research Institute, many discoveries also begin with a participant willing to say yes.
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
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
Discover the NRI’s Impact: FY24 Report
Impact Report FY23
Publications
2025
Association of metabolomics measurements with blood cell phenotypes
Securing the Future of NMR Metabolomics Reproducibility: A Call for Standardized Reporting
Multi-omics signature of healthy versus unhealthy lifestyles reveals associations with diseases
Defining subgroups of pediatric nephrotic patients with urine proteomics
2024
Transforming Big Data into AI-ready data for nutrition and obesity research
Untargeted Metabolomics Reveal Signatures of a Healthy Lifestyle
Perspective: Use and reuse of NMR-based metabolomics data: What works and what remains challenging
Prospective Association of the Infant Gut Microbiome with Social Behaviors in the ECHO Consortium
Patterns of Infant Fecal Metabolite Concentrations and Social Behavioral Development in Toddlers



