The lab studies gene and epigenomic regulatory processes that contribute to normal physiology and disease pathology. This includes the regulation of host defense responses (antiviral, inflammatory and anti tumour responses), ageing, immune & inflammatory diseases, metabolic diseases and carcinogenesis.

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A key aspect of our work is in understanding carcinogenesis and metastasis. Cancer is a collection of over 200 different diseases (most with multiple subtypes) characterized by abnormal cell growth, deregulated proliferation, and tissue invasion. Its evolutionary nature, the resultant heterogeneity within and between tumours, together with complex interactions with the microenvironment, lead to difficulty in treating or finding a cure. Perturbation in cellular information flow due to mutations, genetic aberrations, ploidy, metabolic reprogramming and cellular pathway and network deregulation, result in complex phenotypes that promote carcinogenesis. The Samarajiwa lab integratively studies gene (transcriptome and translatome), epigenome and chromatin architecture regulation affecting these carcinogenic processes and phenotypes at the systems level. 

We utilise a mixture of Computational & Systems Biology, Genomics and Data Science (including Artificial Intelligence methods) to integrate, data-mine and de-convolute large, complex and heterogeneous 'omic' datasets (extracted from data repositories or generated by us, and our numerous experimental and clinical collaborators) with the aim of identifying fundamental rules and regulatory logic underlying gene and (epi)genome regulation of disease processes.