Rohan Samarakoon

Background

About Rohan Samarakoon

An authority in various forms of kidney injury, maladaptive repair/fibrosis, vascular and neoplastic disorders with 25 years of graduate or post-graduate experience with over 48 peer reviewed high-profile peer reviewed original publications, invited review articles, editorials with my trainees. • A Harvard Medical School trained expert in chronic disease and cancer having served on grant review panels of prestigious US and International grant agencies and on Editorial boards of high-profile scientific journals relating to fibrotic and neoplastic diseases. A former trainee of Dr. Joseph V. Bonventre, a foremost authority in acute and chronic kidney disease from Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. • Leads an innovative research team consisting of graduate (PhD), medical (MD), post-graduate trainees and research associates/technicians uncovering novel mechanisms and therapeutic targets for kidney injury and fibrosis. My trainees (over 30) and I have presented over 50 scientific abstracts or oral presentations at major renal and urology conferences (including American Society of Nephrology and American Society of Urology) and cancer (American Society of Cancer Research). • Extensive publication record in the discovery and validation of novel anti-fibrotic targets for kidney disease using in vitro, three-dimensional cell culture and various mouse models. Such recent targets include YAP/TAZ, Rac-GTPase, EGFR, NOX and p53 in the context of acute and chronic renal diseases. • Over 20 years of experience in TGF-beta/non-SMAD pathway and TGF-beta negative regulators in the context of fibrotic, vascular, and neoplastic diseases. His studies have led to the identification of several novel TGF-beta signaling targets. • An expert of Hippo- YAP/TAZ pathway involvement in kidney fibrosis and cancer. • Developed an extensive network of nephrology, nephropathology and urology colleagues and collaborators in the US and worldwide to develop novel targets and approaches to reduce CKD prevalence.