Research Spotlight

Dr. Dilan Dissanayake, Transition Clinician-Scientist, Division of Rheumatology

Dr. Dissanayake is Transition Clinician-Scientist and junior clinical faculty in the Division of Rheumatology, Department of Paediatrics. 

Dr. Dissanayake's clinical and research focus is on complex and difficult auto-inflammatory diseases affecting children. As part of the Transition program, Dr. Dissanayake works under the research mentorship of Dr. Rae Yeung – a world leading clinician-scientist in rheumatologic diseases, and is also mentored by Dr. Ron Laxer – a senior clinical expert in auto-inflammatory disease with whom he shares a clinical practice.  In his research program, Dr. Dissanayake leverages the bio-materials from these complex patients with undiagnosed aetiologies to uncover novel genes and pathways using a variety of tools including genomics, proteomics and cell biology with the goal of delineating fundamental cellular and molecular mechanisms that can be therapeutically targeted in these patients, who currently lack specific treatment. To date he has helped to develop a comprehensive flow based (cytoF) immunophenotyping panel to more precisely detect and measure auto-inflammatory dysfunction from patient serum. He has also discovered novel targetable mechanisms for a subset of the challenging patients he manages in the clinic.