Discover NASA with CTSGC

Dr. Piyumi Wijesekara is a NASA postdoctoral program fellow 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 and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. 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, including lunar regolith and ionizing radiation, on the human respiratory system with the eventual goal of applying them to ensure the health and safety of astronauts during lunar and Mars missions.