The University of Manitoba campuses are located on original lands of Anishinaabeg, Ininew, Anisininew, Dakota and Dene peoples, and on the National Homeland of the Red River Métis. More
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada, R3T 2N2
Room D326, 780 Bannatyne Avenue
Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry
Department of Oral Biology
University of Manitoba, Bannatyne campus
Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3E 0W2 Canada
Tel: 204-789-3256
Email: Devi.Atukorallaya@umanitoba.ca
Her research interest is on identifying the morphogenetic mechanisms of craniofacial organ development, including the aetiology of human structural birth defects. Taking teleost fish such as zebrafish (Danio rerio) and Mexican tetra fish (Astyanax mexicanus) as model animals, her laboratory studies the conserved developmental mechanisms of the sensory systems, and craniofacial skeleton.
The Mexican tetra fish (Astyanax mexicanus) is a unique and new animal model. This fish exists in two forms; surface fish, with eyes, skin pigments, and lives in fresh water streams. The cavefish is the blind albino fish, which live in caves. Cavefish has large number of taste buds. The taste signalling mechanisms are poorly characterized and understood in vertebrates, including this species. Atukorala lab uses this model animal to understand the conserved development of the chemosensory taste system in vertebrates. Further, they try to characterize the molecular mechanisms of bitter taste receptors in A. mexicanus. This program will provide novel insights into taste sensory system in A. mexicanus, and highlight the relative importance between taste sensation and vision.
Dr. Devi Atukorallaya is a foreign trained dentist and developmental biology researcher in the department of oral biology, Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences.
She earned her Bachelor of Dental Surgery degree from University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.
She received her doctoral degree at Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Japan.
She continued her research as a postdoctoral fellow at Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Atukorallaya has over ten years of experience in teaching and research in various academic settings including Sri Lanka, Japan and Canada.
She has been actively involved in scientific knowledge disseminating activities such as being a role model and delivering lectures on various oral health research topics to primary health care workers and to the general public.
Her research interest is on the morphogenetic mechanisms of craniofacial development which focus on identifying the etiology of human structural birth defects.
Visit Devi Atukorallaya’s ORCID profile for a complete listing.
Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry
D113, 780 Bannatyne Avenue
University of Manitoba, Bannatyne Campus
Winnipeg, MB R3E 0W2 Canada
