Athula Wikramanayake

Athula H. Wikramanayake is a Sri Lankan American developmental biologist and Professor at the University of Miami.

Early life and education Wikramanayake was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and like his brothers Arittha R Wikramanayake and Eric Wikramanayake, father Elanga Wikramanayake, grandfather (Senator E. B. Wikramanayake, Minister of Justice) and great grandfather he was educated at S. Thomas' College, Mt Lavinia Sri Lanka. Wikramanayake represented the school in the first XV Rugby team coached by Quentin Israel which were National Champions in 1978.

He obtained a Ph.D. in Zoology from University of California, Davis, California, USA.

Later life and career He has worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow, Research Associate and Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Texas' M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, and later went on to serve as an Assistant Professor of Zoology and then Associate Professor of Zoology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He is currently a Professor and Chair of the Department of Biology at The University of Miami at Coral Gables.

His research interests include the developmental biology of marine invertebrates and in particular the evolution of gastrulation. He has published widely in this area and has been the holder of grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, with his overall grants totaling $1,384,620. Wikramanayake is also a guest speaker at conferences.

Awards and honours Awards National Academies Education Fellow in the Life Sciences, 2005-2006 Outstanding Biology Educator, Department of Biology, University of Miami, 2012

Grants National Science Foundation. Evolution of embryonic polarity: The role of the Wnt signaling pathways. July 1, 2007- July 30, 2011 National Science Foundation. Specification and patterning of the animal-vegetal axis. January 1, 2005 – December 31, 2008