Rate My Professor Ayanka Wijayawardena

Dr Ayanka Wijayawardena serves as Conjoint Senior Lecturer in the School of Science within the College of Engineering, Science and Environment at the University of Newcastle, Australia, and holds the position of Research Fellow at the Global Centre for Environmental Remediation (GCER). Her primary research goal is to develop reliable and cost-effective testing methods for the bioavailability of heavy metal(loid)s, such as arsenic, lead, zinc, and cadmium, to precisely inform human and environmental health risk assessments. This work minimizes uncertainty in evaluating actual risks from contaminated sites, particularly urban areas affected by historical industrial activities. She employs in vivo models including swine and earthworms (Eisenia fetida) to study metal biotransformation, interactions, bioaccumulation, and toxicity. Wijayawardena collaborates internationally, including with Lancaster University and the British Geological Survey in the UK, on projects examining the effects of soil properties and contaminant sources on arsenic and lead bioavailability.

Wijayawardena earned her BSc (Pharmacy) with Honors from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka (2001-2005), where she received the Astron scholarship and Gulamhusein A. J. Noorbhai gold medal. She obtained an MSc in Medical Biology specializing in Medical Microbiology from Long Island University, New York, USA (2007), and a PhD in Environmental Remediation and Public Health from the University of South Australia (2010-2014). Her career includes roles as analytical chemist at the South Asian Clinical Toxicology Research Collaboration, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka; visiting lecturer and lecturer in pharmacy-related subjects at universities in Sri Lanka; PhD scholar and Research Associate at the Centre for Environmental Risk Assessment and Remediation, UniSA; and transition to GCER following the relocation of CRC CARE to the University of Newcastle in 2015. Awards include University President Scholarship, CRC CARE PhD top-up scholarship, Best Student Poster at Communicate12 conference (2012), First Place in CRCCARE Bright Ideas competition (2012), and a UniSA travel grant for an oral presentation at the 7th International Workshop on Chemical Bioavailability (2013). Key publications encompass 'Exposure, toxicity, health impacts, and bioavailability of heavy metal mixtures' (Advances in Agronomy, 2016), 'Measurement of soil lead bioavailability and influence of soil types and properties: A review' (Chemosphere, 2017), and 'Chronic kidney disease of unknown aetiology in Sri Lanka and the exposure to environmental chemicals: a review of literature' (Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 2019). She has contributed book chapters on soil pollution and PFAS, and numerous conference presentations.