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Lahiru Handunnetthi aims to understand the underlying biological mechanisms in psychosis and to use this knowledge to discover new treatments. His research programme leverages the power of genetic information and stem cell derived model systems. 

He is involved in the functional characterisation of genetic risk alleles discovered through genome wide association studies in schizophrenia and integration of various forms of genomic data to discover new therapeutic targets.

Lahiru combines gene editing techniques with induced pluripotent stem cell (IPSC) derived model systems to understand the effects of genetic and environmental risk factors on neurodevelopment and synaptic function. 

Lahiru has a specific interest in understanding neuro-immune interactions in psychosis. He is actively involved in modelling the effects of autoantibodies and infections linked to psychotic symptoms. 

Lahiru completed his DPhil at the Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford. His work focused on understanding the interactions between genetic and environmental risk factors in neuroimmunological disorders. He studied medicine at the University of Cambridge and currently holds a NIHR funded Clinical Lectureship in Neurology. He is open to collaboration.

Key words:  Stem Cells, Neuroimmunology, Immunopsychiatry