Ranmal Aloka Samarasinghe

Ranmal Samarasinghe is an Assistant Professor-in-Residence in the Department of Neurology at the University of California, Los Angeles. He leads NIH-funded research on neural circuit dysfunction in epilepsy and neurodevelopmental disorders using human brain organoid models. His work bridges clinical neurology with fundamental stem cell biology.

Dr. Samarasinghe's research focuses on:

• Human brain organoid development for modeling neurological disorders
• Neural oscillations and epileptiform activity mechanisms
• Glucocorticoid signaling in neural progenitor regulation
• Novel therapeutic targets for epilepsy and intellectual disabilities

His publications demonstrate a consistent focus on neurodevelopmental mechanisms, with recent work emphasizing human brain assembloids and cerebellar organoids. Research employs cutting-edge techniques including single-cell analysis and electrophysiological characterization of neural networks.

He is Principal Investigator of the NIH grant K08NS119747: Utilizing Human Brain Organoids to Model the Differential Effects of SCN8A Mutation on Cortex and Hippocampus (2021-2026). Collaborators include Bennett Novitch, Istvan Mody, and William Lowry at UCLA, with whom he co-leads projects on stem cell-derived neural models.