Prize for PhD student Lakshanie Wickramasinghe's research on neonatal lung diseases

Ms Lakshanie Wickramasinghe, PhD student in the Department of 
Immunology and Pathology, wins Royal Society of Victoria prize

Congratulations to Ms Lakshanie Wickramasinghe, who has been awarded the 2020 Royal Society of Victoria Young Scientist Research Prize in Biomedicine and Health Sciences. Well done Lakshanie!

Lakshanie is doing her PhD in Central Clinical School's Department of Immunology and Pathology, supervised by Associate Professor Margaret Hibbs. Her PhD is on “Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor: A new target in neonatal lung disease”.

Lakshanie was able to demonstrate excellence in scientific research in her field, showcasing the importance of her fundamental immunological research in a severe neonatal respiratory condition, Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia, in efforts to identify better disease targets for therapeutic intervention. 

The Royal Society of Victoria has established four prestigious competitive prizes open to Victorian students in their final year of doctoral candidature, in all areas of the Biomedical & Health Sciences, Biological Sciences (Non-human), Earth Sciences and Physical Sciences.

Lakshanie was one of two finalists in the biomedical category who were selected to present their work. Each finalist had to give a 10 minute oral presentation, followed by a 5 minute discussion before a general audience of scientists and members at the Royal Society of Victoria. Formidable!

In 2020, this competition was held during National Science Week on the evening of Wednesday, 19 August, 2020. 

At the awards ceremony at the end of the evening, Lakshanie received high commendation for making her scientific work interesting and accessible to a wide audience.

Congratulations Lakshanie on this major achievement and bringing home this prestigious prize!