Dr Anjana Karawita
/An`juh`na/
Pronouns: he,him,his
Senior Research Scientist
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Biography
Professional Summary
I am a Senior Research Scientist and veterinary pathologist at CSIRO's Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP), with a distinctive dual expertise in veterinary anatomic pathology and genomics/bioinformatics — a combination that is rare both nationally and internationally. I bring over a decade of experience spanning diagnostic pathology, infectious disease research, comparative genomics, and high-containment laboratory operations.
At CSIRO, I lead research at the interface of pathology and pathogen biology, investigating the genesis, pathogenesis and host responses to emerging infectious diseases in wildlife and domestic species, with particular depth in avian influenza, Japanese encephalitis virus, lyssaviruses, and SARS-CoV-2. My work integrates whole-genome and transcriptomic analysis with classical pathological investigation to deliver insights that neither discipline could achieve alone.
I am actively progressing toward board certification as a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists (ACVP), having passed Phase I of the ACVP Board Examination. I have performed over 1,000 post-mortem examinations across domestic and wild species, and I am trained and certified to operate in Physical Containment Level 3 (PC3) facilities.
Beyond the bench, I serve as a member of the ACDP Academic Board, supervise two PhD students and multiple Honours and undergraduate research students, and have secured over $520,000 in competitive grant funding as lead or co-lead investigator, with additional internal grants and a pending external application in environmental biosecurity. I have contributed to national capacity development in the Northern Territory and to Indo-Pacific infectious disease surveillance partnerships through James Cook University.
My research has attracted international recognition, including the ESWI Young Scientist Award, the Sri Lankan Presidential Award for Scientific Publication, and nomination for the CSIRO Health & Biosecurity Research Excellence Award. My work on black swan susceptibility to avian influenza received national media coverage (ABC Science) and was published in Genome Biology.
Academic Qualifications
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2022
PhD
The University of Queensland -
2017
MPhil(Veterinary Pathology Research)
University of Peradeniya -
2011
BVSc
University of Peradeniya
Achievements and Awards
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2018-2021
CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization)– Top Up Scholarship – Australian Animal Health Laboratory
CSRIO -
2019-02-18-2019-02-22
Winner – scholarship for the “wildlife health and pathology short course”
Taronga Conservation Society Australia -
2018-Present
Sri Lankan President’s Award for the Scientific Publication
Sri Lankan President’s Award for the Scientific Publication -
2020-10-Present
Young Scientist Award
European Scientific Working Group on Influenza (ESWI) 2020
Current Roles
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Adjunct Senior Research Fellow - James Cook University
JCU - CSIRO Collaborative partnership
Fields of Research
Grants
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2022-2023
Environomics FSP Grant for the Development of airborne DNA/RNA detection platform
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2023-2024
Improving capacity for emerging infectious diseases research and surveillance in the Indo-Pacific – James Cook University and CSIRO project – co-lead (2023 – 2025)
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2024-Present
IADZ CREATE grant - Spatial transcriptomics based investigation of Lumpy Skin Disease
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2025-Present
IADZ Create Grant 2.0 - Elucidating pathogenesis of H7 HPAI in layer birds in Australia through Spatial transcriptomics
Professional Experiences
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2012-2013
Lecturer in Veterinary Pathology (Contract)
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, University of Peradeniya -
2013-2017
Graduate Research Assistant
University of Peradeniya
Professional Areas
Publications
ORCID 0000-0003-0271-0180
We have publications by Dr Anjana Karawita