Irosha Nawarathne

Dr. Irosha Nawarathne is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at Lyon College, located in Batesville, Arkansas. She earned her Bachelor's degree (First Class Honors) in Chemistry from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, and her PhD in Bioorganic Chemistry from Michigan State University. Her research focuses on drug discovery, particularly targeting multi-drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis and lung cancer therapies. She leads an undergraduate research team developing novel rifamycins and exploring naphthoquinone derivatives for cancer treatment.

• Education: BSc (University of Colombo), PhD (Michigan State University)
• Grants: Funded by NIH/NIGMS (P20 GM103429), Arkansas INBRE, and FutureFuel Chemical Company
• Key Projects: Rifamycin modifications, lung cancer therapeutics, food chemistry analysis
• Publications: Over 15 peer-reviewed manuscripts and multiple conference presentations

Research interests include biocatalytic methods for natural product modification, antibiotic development, and applying organic chemistry to biomedical challenges. Her lab emphasizes undergraduate involvement in drug discovery, with students contributing to publications and winning awards at regional and national conferences.

She is a coordinator for Lyon's Science Outreach Program and advises the Order of the Tartans Mortar Board Chapter. Her work is supported by grants totaling over $700,000, enabling state-of-the-art instrumentation and student participation in conferences.