Dr. Piyumi Wijesekara
Postdoctoral Scientist at NASA Ames Research Center
Bio
Dr. Piyumi Wijesekara is a postdoctoral scientist in the Radiation Biophysics Laboratory, Space Biosciences Research Branch at NASA Ames Research Center. She is a multidisciplinary researcher with experience in tissue and organ engineering and regenerative medicine. She received her B.S. in Bioengineering from the University of California San Diego in 2015 and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 2017 and 2022, respectively. While pursuing her Ph.D. at Carnegie Mellon University, she focused on stem cell and organ engineering, with a particular emphasis on lung engineering, to investigate human respiratory pathophysiology.
Her main research interest at NASA Ames Research Center includes developing technologically advanced, high-throughput, and three-dimensional human tissue models for investigating the effects of spaceflight stressors, such as ionizing radiation, lunar regolith, microgravity, and high CO2, on the human respiratory system with the eventual goal of applying them to ensure the health and safety of astronauts during upcoming lunar and Mars missions.