Dr. Madhavi Hewadikaram is a B.Sc. Zoology (special degree) graduate from the Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura Sri Lanka. She has got a first-class degree and was awarded the coveted 2011 Gold Medal for the best performing student in Zoology. She obtained her Master’s degree in Biology from the Central Michigan University USA in 2015. She was specialized in Genomics, Bioinformatics and Molecular Biology areas. Currently, PhD in Synthetic Biology and Molecular Biology from the Sri Lanka Institute of Nano Technology. Her research focuses mainly on molecular diagnostic techniques in human diseases and understanding biosynthetic pathways of important medicinal plants that are important in biopharmaceuticals. She aims to produce those essential metabolites via bacterial and yeast cells to increase the yield and cheaper products to the pharmaceutical industry.

She has served as a lecturer at the Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, and as a teaching assistant at the Department of Biology at Central Michigan University, the USA, during her eight years’ experience in academia. In addition, she has worked as a research scientist at the Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology and was a pioneer member to implement molecular diagnostic LAMP KIT for SARS COV-2 Detection for Sri Lankan patients.