Dr Lahiru Handunnetthi
Clinical Lecturer
Neuro-immune Interactions
Lahiru Handunnetthi aims to understand how inflammation and infections contribute to the development of psychiatric and neurological disease. He combines genomics methodology with stem cell derived model systems to better understand neuro-immune interactions and to identify therapeutic targets for neuroinflammatory disease.
Lahiru is involved in the functional characterisation of genetic risk alleles discovered through genome wide association studies. This involves gene editing techniques, induced pluripotent stem cell (IPSC) derived neuronal and glial model systems, as well as working with biological samples from patients.
Lahiru has a specific interest in understanding how the immune system contributes to psychosis. He is actively involved in discovering the roles that autoantibodies and viral infections play in psychosis.
Lahiru completed his DPhil at the Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford. His work focused on understanding the interactions between genetic and environmental risk factors in neuroimmunological disorders. He studied medicine at the University of Cambridge and currently holds a NIHR funded Clinical Lectureship in Neurology.
Key words: Stem Cells, Neuroimmunology, Immunopsychiatry, Neuroinfectious diseases
Recent publications
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Stem-cell derived neurosphere assay highlights the effects of viral infection on human cortical development.
Journal article
Drydale E. et al, (2023), Brain Behav Immun, 115, 718 - 726
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The role of latitude and infections in the month-of-birth effect linked to schizophrenia.
Journal article
Saatci D. et al, (2022), Brain, behavior, & immunity - health, 24
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Risk of Myocarditis After Sequential Doses of COVID-19 Vaccine and SARS-CoV-2 Infection by Age and Sex.
Journal article
Patone M. et al, (2022), Circulation, 146, 743 - 754
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Risks of myocarditis, pericarditis, and cardiac arrhythmias associated with COVID-19 vaccination or SARS-CoV-2 infection
Journal article
Patone M. et al, (2022), Nature Medicine, 28, 410 - 422
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CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockout of IL1RAPL1 in stem cells highlights a role in neural cell migration during cortical development
Preprint
Holden K. et al, (2022)