Dr Saumya Samaraweera

Research Fellow Centre for Cancer Biology

City West Campus (HB9-29)
tel +61 8 830 27826

email Saumya.Samaraweera@unisa.edu.au

Research Degree Supervisor

About me

Haematology and Leukaemia
Genetics of disease
Cancer research

Dr Samaraweera is a mid-career researcher based in the Acute Leukaemia Laboratory at the Centre for Cancer Biology (CCB) under the mentorship of Prof. D’Andrea. Her PhD training is in genetics (University of Adelaide), where she made important contributions, notably through her finding on pathogenic mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases associated with expanded DNA repeat sequences. Her strong background in genetics has been important for her postdoctoral research, which has focused on understanding the genetics and disease mechanisms in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) and myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) with a view to improving treatment options for patients. Her current research focusses on defining genetic risk in childhood... Read more

Centre for Cancer Biology

Making breakthrough discoveries in the fundamental causes of cancer, and translating these into prevention and treatment.

Tweets by @UniversitySA

Orcid
Scopus

Research

Research focus

Clinical Sciences
Oncology and Carcinogenesis
Biochemistry and Cell Biology
Cardiovascular Medicine and Haematology
Neurosciences

Research

Outputs

Research outputs for the last seven years are shown below. Some long-standing staff members may have older outputs included. To see earlier years visit ORCID or Scopus

Open access indicates that an output is open access.

Highlights

Year	Output
2022	Bassal, MA, Samaraweera, SE, Lim, K, Bernard, BA, Bailey, S, Toubia, J, Nguyen, T, Maung, KZY, Casolari, DA, Iarossi, DG, Powell, J, Pitson, S, Brown, AL, Robinson, N, Ross, DM, Gonda, TJ & D'Andrea, RJ and 10 other authors 2022, 'Germline mutations in mitochondrial complex I reveal genetic and targetable vulnerability in IDH1-mutant acute myeloid leukaemia', Nature Communications, vol. 13, article no. 2614, pp. 1-12. Open access 10 11 9
2021	Samaraweera, SE, Wang, PP, Li, KL, Casolari, DA, Feng, J, Maung, KZY, Scott, HS, Schreiber, AW, Brown, AL, Ross, DM, Gonda, TJ, Hahn, CN & D'Andrea, RJ and 13 other authors 2021, 'Childhood acute myeloid leukemia shows a high level of germline predisposition', Blood, vol. 138, no. 22, pp. 2293-2298. 8 8 39

Journal Articles

Year	Output
2024	Hassan, N, Yi, H, Malik, B, Gaspard-Boulinc, L, Samaraweera, SE, Casolari, DA, D'Andrea, RJ & Wang, JY and 14 other authors 2024, 'Loss of the stress sensor GADD45A promotes stem cell activity and ferroptosis resistance in LGR4/HOXA9-dependent AML', Blood, vol. 144, no. 1, pp. 84-98. 1 1 5
2024	Hong, LE, Wechalekar, MD, Kutyna, M, Small, A, Scott, HS, Brown, A, Hahn, CN, Robinson, N, Branford, S, D'Andrea, RJ, Samaraweera, SE, Kok, CH & Hiwase, DK and 13 other authors 2024, 'IDH-mutant myeloid neoplasms are associated with seronegative rheumatoid arthritis and innate immune activation', Blood, vol. 143, no. 18, pp. 1873-1877. 3 2 32
2023	Conn, VM, Gabryelska, M, Toubia, J, Kirk, K, Powell, JA, Cildir, G, Samaraweera, SE, Bailey, S, Liu, D, Wallington-Gates, CT, D'Andrea, RJ, Pitson, SM, Goodall, GJ & Conn, SJ and 15 other authors 2023, 'Circular RNAs drive oncogenic chromosomal translocations within the MLL recombinome in leukemia', Cancer Cell, vol. 41, no. 7, pp. 1309-1326. 28 27 268
2023	Kan, WL, Dhagat, U, Kaufmann, KB, Hercus, TR, Toubia, J, Barry, EF, Gomez, GA, Dottore, M, Samaraweera, SE, Goodall, GJ, Thomas, D, Tvorogov, D, D'Andrea, RJ & Lopez, AF and 12 other authors 2023, 'Distinct assemblies of heterodimeric cytokine receptors govern stemness programs in leukemia', Cancer Discovery, vol. 13, no. 8, pp. 1922-1947. Open access 4 5 18
2023	Samaraweera, SE, Geukens, T, Casolari, DA, Nguyen, T, Sun, C, Bailey, S, Moore, S, Feng, J, Schreiber, AW, Parker, WT, Brown, AL, Butcher, C, Bardy, PG, Osborn, M, Scott, HS, Talaulikar, D, Grove, CS, Hahn, CN, D'Andrea, RJ & Ross, DM 2023, 'Novel modes of MPL activation in triple-negative myeloproliferative neoplasms', Pathology, vol. 55, no. 1, pp. 77-85. Open access 1 1 1
2022	Bassal, MA, Samaraweera, SE, Lim, K, Bernard, BA, Bailey, S, Toubia, J, Nguyen, T, Maung, KZY, Casolari, DA, Iarossi, DG, Powell, J, Pitson, S, Brown, AL, Robinson, N, Ross, DM, Gonda, TJ & D'Andrea, RJ and 10 other authors 2022, 'Germline mutations in mitochondrial complex I reveal genetic and targetable vulnerability in IDH1-mutant acute myeloid leukaemia', Nature Communications, vol. 13, article no. 2614, pp. 1-12. Open access 10 11 9
2021	Samaraweera, SE, Wang, PP, Li, KL, Casolari, DA, Feng, J, Maung, KZY, Scott, HS, Schreiber, AW, Brown, AL, Ross, DM, Gonda, TJ, Hahn, CN & D'Andrea, RJ and 13 other authors 2021, 'Childhood acute myeloid leukemia shows a high level of germline predisposition', Blood, vol. 138, no. 22, pp. 2293-2298. 8 8 39
2020	McCalmont, H, Li, KL, Jones, L, Toubia, J, Bray, SC, Casolari, DA, Mayoh, C, Samaraweera, SE, Lewis, ID, Prinjha, RK, Smithers, N, Wang, S & Lock, RB 2020, 'Efficacy of combined CDK9/BET inhibition in preclinical models of MLL-rearranged acute leukemia', Blood Advances, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 296-300. Open access 22 21
2019	van Eyk, CL, Samaraweera, SE, Scott, A, Webber, DL, Harvey, DP, Mecinger, O, O'Keefe, L V, Cropley, JE, Young, P, Ho, J, Suter, C & Richards, R I 2019, 'Non-self mutation: double-stranded RNA elicits antiviral pathogenic response in a drosophila model of expanded CAG repeat neurodegenerative diseases', Human Molecular Genetics, vol. 28, no. 18, pp. 3000-3012. Open access 5 4 87
2018	Maung, KZY, Leo, PJ, Bassal, M, Casolari, DA, Bray, SC, Singhal, D, Samaraweera, SE, Nguyen, T, Cildir, G, Tergaonkar, V, Lewis, I, Brown, AL, D'Andrea, RJ & Gonda, TJ and 11 other authors 2018, 'Rare variants in Fanconi anemia genes are enriched in acute myeloid leukemia', Blood Cancer Journal, vol. 8, no. 6, article no. 50, pp. 1-5. Open access 15 15 3
2017	Powell, JA, Lewis, AC, Zhu, W, Toubia, J, Pitman, MR, Wallington-Beddoe, CT, Moretti, PA, Iarossi, D, Samaraweera, SE, Cummings, N, Ramshaw, HS, Thomas, D, Wei, AH, Lopez, AF, D'Andrea, RJ, Lewis, ID & Pitson, SM 2017, 'Targeting sphingosine kinase 1 induces MCL1-dependent cell death in acute myeloid leukemia', Blood, vol. 126, no. 6, pp. 771-782. Open access 74 71 85
2013	Richards, R I, Samaraweera, SE, Van, ECL, O'Keefe, L V & Suter, CM 2013, 'RNA pathogenesis via Toll-like receptor-activated inflammation in expanded repeat neurodegenerative diseases', Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience, vol. 6, no. 25, pp. 1-9. Open access 10 9
2013	Samaraweera, S, O'Keefe, L, Van Eyk, C, Lawlor, K, Humphreys, D, Suter, C & Richards, R 2013, 'Modeling and analysis of repeat RNA toxicity in drosophila', Methods in Molecular Biology, vol. 1017, pp. 173-192. 3
2013	Samaraweera, SE, O'Keefe, L V, Price, GR, Venter, DJ & Richards, R I 2013, 'Distinct roles for toll and autophagy pathways in double-stranded RNA toxicity in a drosophila model of expanded repeat neurodegenerative diseases', Human Molecular Genetics, vol. 22, no. 14, pp. 2811-2819. Open access 17 17
2012	Brown, AL, Salerno, DG, Sadras, T, Engler, GA, Kok, CH, Wilkinson, CR, Samaraweera, SE, Sadlon, TJ, Perugini, M, Lewis, ID, Gonda, TJ & D'Andrea, RJ 2012, 'The GM-CSF receptor utilizes β-catenin and Tcf4 to specify macrophage lineage differentiation', Differentiation, vol. 83, no. 1, pp. 47-59. Open access 22 20
2012	Lawlor, KT, O'Keefe, L V, Samaraweera, SE, Van Eyk, CL & Richards, R I 2012, 'Ubiquitous expression of CUG or CAG trinucleotide repeat RNA causes common morphological defects in a drosophila model of RNA-mediated pathology', PLoS One, vol. 7, no. 6, article number e38516, pp. 1-14. Open access 9 7
2011	Lawlor, KT, O'Keefe, L V, Samaraweera, SE, van Eyk, CL, McLeod, CJ, Maloney, CA, Dang, TH, Suter, CM & Richards, R I 2011, 'Double-stranded RNA is pathogenic in Drosophila models of expanded repeat neurodegenerative diseases', Human Molecular Genetics, vol. 20, no. 19, pp. 3757-3768. Open access 45 39
2011	Van Eyk, CL, O'Keefe, L V, Lawlor, KT, Samaraweera, SE, McLeod, CJ, Price, GR, Venter, DJ & Richards, R I 2011, 'Perturbation of the akt/gsk3-Beta signalling pathway is common to Drosophila expressing expanded untranslated CAG, CUG and AUUCU repeat RNAs', Human Molecular Genetics, vol. 20, no. 14, pp. 2783-2794. Open access 27 25

External engagement & recognition

Collaborations

External engagement & recognition

Collaborations

Organisation	Country
Adelaide Oncology and Haematology	AUSTRALIA
Canberra Hospital	AUSTRALIA
Central Adelaide Local Health Network Incorporated	AUSTRALIA
Flinders University	AUSTRALIA
GlaxoSmithKline	AUSTRALIA
Harvard University	UNITED STATES
Mater Children's Hospital	AUSTRALIA
Mater Health Services	AUSTRALIA
Mater Medical Research Institute	AUSTRALIA
Monash University	AUSTRALIA
Queensland University of Technology	AUSTRALIA
Royal Adelaide Hospital	AUSTRALIA
SA Pathology	AUSTRALIA
Sir Charles Gardiner Hospital	AUSTRALIA
South Australian Health and Medical and Research Institute (SAHMRI)	AUSTRALIA
St. Vincent's Institute of Medical Research	AUSTRALIA
Stanford University	UNITED STATES
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital	AUSTRALIA
University Health Network	CANADA
University of Adelaide	AUSTRALIA
University of Hong Kong	HONG KONG
University of New South Wales	AUSTRALIA
University of Queensland	AUSTRALIA
University of South Australia	AUSTRALIA
University of Sydney	AUSTRALIA
Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute	AUSTRALIA
Women's and Children's Health Network	AUSTRALIA

Teaching & student supervision

Research degree supervision

Supervisions from 2010 shown

Thesis title	Student status
111185 - Engaging cord blood-derived natural killer cells for enhanced cytotoxicity in childhood acute myeloid leukaemia	Current
Metabolic profiling of adult acute myeloid leukaemia (AML)	Completed

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Dr Saumya Samaraweera

About me

About me

Centre for Cancer Biology

About me

Professional Associations

Experience

Qualifications

Research

Research focus

Projects

Outputs

Highlights

Journal Articles

External engagement & recognition

Collaborations

Collaborations

Teaching & student supervision

Courses and programs

Research degree supervision

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