Project title
Functional roles of Iroquois (IRX) family protein isoforms in prostate cancer
Supervisory Team
Principal supervisor: Associate Professor Jyotsna Batra
Project description
Aberrant RNA splicing of cancer-causing genes has been reported as one of the major causes of treatment resistance in advanced PCa patients. Genome-wide association studies and functional follow-up studies have implicated Iroquois class (IRX), a TALE homeobox family in PCa risk. My research interest is discovering oncogenic spliced protein isoforms/ splice variants within IRX family and their potential as molecular biomarkers and therapeutic targets for advanced prostate cancer.
Short biography
Achala is passionate about research on discovering new therapeutic targets/biomarkers for prostate cancer. She is a PhD candidate at the Translational Research Institute (TRI) Australia and Queensland University of Technology (QUT). She holds a first-class honours degree in Medical Laboratory Sciences from the University of Peradeniya Sri Lanka.
Education
B.Sc. (Hons) in Medical Laboratory Sciences